How to Sculpt Eyes

How to Sculpt Eyes

This tutorial is for Life Drawing Academy Correspondence Course students, who receive this Eye Sculpture Template as a part of their drawing curriculum. This template should be printed on 180 gsm paper at 100% scale. The next step is to cut out the template pieces. For this, you would need a cutting mat and a scalpel with a brand-new blade. For cutting straight lines, use a metal ruler. The footprint is a simple rectangle. Its size will determine the sculpture scale, which is about one and a half times bigger than life-size. I will fix this paper footprint template to a wooden board. Other templates also need to be prepared before you begin sculpting. Cut straight lines using a metal ruler; all curved lines can be cut freehand. Each template has its number. The template called "Profile" is for the central line of the face. There are several templates that go vertically and a few more horizontal templates. For sculpting, I will use "Monster Clay", the Hard grade. It is oil-based waxy clay that never dries.

The first sculpting step is to build up a plinth. I will do it by applying small pieces of clay, firmly pressing them to the wooden board. All the area within this rectangle has to be covered. It is important to achieve a good adhesion to the board, otherwise the whole sculpture might come off later on. So far, the task is very simple, I just need to cover the entire rectangle with a uniform layer of clay. The thickness of this layer is about one centimeter.

The first template will outline the top plane of this sculpture. At the bottom, there will be a template number eight. To save on expensive clay, I will use free sand. Because I don't want to spoil clay, sand will be placed in a plastic bag. This step is optional. Also, you may use some other material should you want to save on clay. The bag with sand is fixed with clay to the plinth. It will take more than one half of this sculpture volume. As you can see, this bag is within the boundaries of the template, so plastic would be covered with a thin layer of clay. I can now stick pieces of clay on top to hide the plastic bag completely. Here's a very rough chunk slightly smaller in volume than the finished sculpture will be. I can use it to build up the sculpture surface.

The template called "Profile" goes in the middle of this sculpture. It is fixed to the footprint with small pieces of clay. By the way, the footprint is protected with a clear self-adhesive plastic tape, so clay sticks to it easily. The following step is rather easy, all I need to do is to fill in with clay the gap beneath the profile arch.

The next step is to fill in the gap beneath the first template. The paper contour is a great guide for this purpose. At the bottom, I do the same with template number eight. The outline of the nose together with the top and bottom outlines define the boundaries of this sculpture. With such a template it is easy to fine-tune contours and make sure that this sculpture is symmetrical. A metal tool or a needle can be used to draw the sculpture outline. The excess clay can be cut off with a sharp palette knife. I hope you can see why the paper template is needed and how to use it.

Such a sculpting template is designed by me for Life Drawing Academy Correspondence Course students. Apart from the eyes, they also get step-by-step instructions and templates for sculpting nose, mouth, ear, as well as many other models, including a human skull, low-polygon head, shoulder girdle, hand, not to mention numerous geometric solids.

The eyes templates from two to seven are used to roughly build the surface of this sculpture. They are helping guides that you can use one by one.

The surface is gradually taking shape. At this step, it is not about precision, but volume. I sculpt the approximate shape and do not pay attention to small details.

Now, it's time to use vertical templates. Because the face is symmetrical, the same template can be used for the sculpture's right and left halves. In previous clay models, such as nose and mouth, the paper template was outlining those facial features with precision. This time is different. I want you to learn how to sculpt freehand and to make such a transition in your art education gradual, this template is approximate. It can be used for sculpting major volumes, but the final finish of the surface has to be done freehand, without a template. It is much easier to do when the sculpture is half-done. Now, it is down to your sculpting skills to make smaller details, such as eyeballs and eyelids. The paper template is no longer needed, so I could remove the footprint from the board.

When it comes to sculpting eyes, there are several rules you need to remember. According to the classical canon of proportions, the distance between eyes is equal to one eye. The eye is essentially a sphere; it is called an eyeball for a reason. The eyelids have thickness and wrap around that ball. The upper eyelid is slightly thicker than the lower one. It also protrudes forward a bit more than the lower eyelid. When sculpting eyelids, you need to make sure that they are located on the same horizontal level. Avoid a junior mistake of placing one eye higher or lower than another. The shape of eyelids is not symmetrical. The upper eyelid has the highest point about one-third from the inner corner while the lower eyelid has the lowest point one-third from the lateral corner. Make sure that your sculpture is symmetrical.

I will now polish the surface to prepare this clay model for cold casting. It will take about an hour. Here's the finished eye sculpture. It is polished and signed with my name.

I want to cast this sculpture in white plaster, so high quality clay can be reused for other sculptures and I will have a model that is hard and white.

To prevent soft mold sticking to the wooden board, I cover the board surface with a release agent that does not contain sulfur. This is important because sulfur inhibits silicone drying. There is no need in covering the entire sculpture because waxy clay would separate easily from silicone.

For the soft mold, I will use a two-part kit of tin silicone. It should be mixed in a one-to-one ratio. For measuring two parts, I will use these scales. Ten grams of silicone would be enough for the first coat, so five grams of each part are needed here. It has to be mixed very thoroughly. Because this silicone is designed for pouring, it has low viscosity. I will apply a very thin layer of silicone with a soft synthetic brush. It is more like painting the surface; thickness is not needed for now. The aim of this step is to cover the entire sculpture without any gaps and air bubbles. The quality of this layer will influence the quality of the casted sculpture. So, making it properly is essential.

When the first coat is touch-dry, I can build up the mold thickness by applying several more layers of silicone. For every next layer, I will add a few drops of a thickener that increases viscosity. As you can see, this batch of silicone is no longer liquid, but resembles a paste that does not flow down, but stays where I place it. A much thicker layer can be applied now. The first layer is very thin. I have to be very careful not to damage it. When using several coats of silicone, make sure that the previous layer is touch-dry, but not completely dry. If you leave it to dry overnight or for some longer period, layers might separate later on because a new coat of silicone would not stick well to the fully dry surface.

When you build up the needed thickness of the soft mold, about three millimeters in this case, leave it to dry overnight before cutting off edges.

I will cut several holes with a metal tube along the edge. Such a tube has a sharpened end and cuts through soft silicone easily. These holes will serve as holding keys between the soft and hard molds.

Now, it's time to make the hard mold. I will use plaster bandages for this purpose. It is better to pre-cut a sufficient quantity of bandage pieces at once rather than handle the entire roll with wet hands later on. I like using small pieces because it is easier to manage them. How many pieces you would need depends on the sculpture size. Just think how many you would need to cover the entire surface twice.

Working with plaster bandages is easy. First, dip a piece for one or two seconds into water, then, let water drip out and fold a piece in half. Then place it on the surface. A wet piece will cling to the silicone mold easily. Do the same with the next piece of bandage. Folding is needed to get more plaster per square inch. Every next piece should overlap the previous one at least half-an-inch. I will make the hard mold in one piece. It will be easier and faster to make one, but would require extra efforts for demolding. Because I only need one casted sculpture, this would be fine. However, if you plan to make more than one cast, consider making a hard mold consisting of two parts. The joint between parts should go along the symmetry axis, which coincides with the nose. I will continue sticking wet pieces of plaster bandage to cover the entire sculpture. In places where they overlap each other, there are four layers of muslin cloth. This will be enough to make this mold thin but rigid. Two molds, soft and hard are needed because silicone would not hold its shape without a rigid outer shell. Make sure to stick enough plaster into small holes of the soft mold.

The hard mold is dry by now. It is not easy to take it off, but with some effort it can be removed without any damage. The soft mold removes from the clay surface without any troubles. Also it did not stick to the wooden board. I have to handle it with care because it is quite thin.

The soft mold is placed inside the hard one and every hole in the silicone edge is joined with a plaster pin. This way, two molds will be fixed nicely and soft silicone would not move inside the outer shell. This simple solution is essential because I will not fill the entire volume with plaster, but make a casted sculpture hollow inside.

The assembled mold is ready for casting and I need to prepare plaster. For casting, I will use Jesmonite, a synthetic casting system made of two components - powder plaster and acrylic liquid. I will also add Marmolina, which is very fine white marble dust. All components will be measured by weight. To begin with, I will measure plaster powder. 200 grams will be enough for this sculpture. Then, I will add marble dust. It will change the appearance of this plaster; so the casted sculpture will look like a natural marble piece. 150 grams of marble dust is a good proportion for this purpose. These two components should be intermixed. I will put the mix into another container for now.

Because marble dust will absorb liquid, I will add a little bit of water. Then, the acrylic liquid component is added to water. Its weight should follow the ratio as per instructions on the label. Here's one rule you need to remember - always add plaster into liquid, not vice versa. I have several minutes to intermix all components. It has to be done very thoroughly, so lumps of marble dust or plaster left unmixed. I use a big palette knife for this purpose although it would be better to use some mechanical mixer, which I don't have.

When the casting mix is ready, it should be poured into the mold without any delay. Do it carefully, pouring into one spot to avoid trapping air bubbles. Now, with shaking movements, I can spread liquid plaster across the entire surface. Shaking is needed to squeeze out accidental air bubbles. The task for now is to distribute the entire plaster mass evenly across the whole surface of this sculpture. I will continue rotating the mold until the plaster dries. It will take some time. Extra care is needed when plaster reaches the mold's edge. You need to reach the very edge without spilling liquid plaster over the top.

The cast is dry by now. Inside this cast, I placed a handle made of a piece of cloth saturated with liquid plaster. This handle is needed to pull out the cast together with silicone from the hard mold. Now, let's see the results. I take off the soft mold to reveal the casted sculpture. I like it a lot. It looks and feels like real marble, although it is not as heavy because this sculpture is hollow inside. Every detail is casted nicely, including my signature.

This cast is only several millimeters thick in some places, but it is very firm. It will become even harder when it fully dries in several days. I hope you have learned a thing or two on how to sculpt eyes and make a cold cast of eye sculpture. To get personal tutoring on drawing and sculpting, take the Life Drawing Academy Correspondence Course.

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