Portrait Sculpture
Get ready to become hooked. Sculpting a portrait in clay is a very rewarding experience. This course will explore how to observe heads – how to see their differences and similarities, and in turn learn how to translate this understanding into a sculpture which captures a likeness of the sitter. On the first day we will sculpt rapidly an under-life-size head of the sitter, without measuring. During the next four days we will more systematically build a life-sized clay portrait of our sitter on an armature/bust-peg. This concentrated modelling will be interspersed with fun exercises – with clay and without – to help train up the eye and hands.
This course will be taught in a way suitable for those with experience of sculpting in clay and those new to it.
Most materials are included in the cost of the course including clay for a life-size portrait. A wooden armature (sometimes called a ‘bust peg’) will be provided. This is yours to keep.
Please bring an apron/bib and an A4 sketchpad and drawing implement (pencil, pen etc). If you have any of the following, bring them. But don’t worry if not as there will be some to share:
- Calipers for measuring
- Metal ruler
- Retractable metal measure
- Wooden and/or metal modeling tools
- Wire (or “cheese”) cutter
- Water spray bottle
- Barbecue sticks
- Cocktail sticks
- Masking tape
- Bin liners (x2)
- Hand-held mirror
- Old newspaper
Costs of hollowing-out and firing are not included. You can take your portrait bust home, hollow it out and take it to a local kiln to be fired. Or, you can hollow-out and fire your work via an artist at Phoenix Art Space, for an additional cost. More information will be provided during the course.
‘My passion is for telling stories in bronze – of the struggles for social justice and telling the stories of the lives of those missing from our visual and written histories‘.
Hazel Reeves is best known for her bronze public commissions such as Sir Nigel Gresley at King’s Cross Station, the women biscuit factory workers – the Cracker Packers – in Carlisle, suffragist Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy in Congleton and Our Emmeline, suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in Manchester, which was winner of the Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture 2021. Hazel is currently working with the ‘A Statue for Ada’ campaign in Crewe, to shed light on the extraordinary Ada Nield Chew (1870-1845), champion of workers’ rights and women’s rights. Hazel is an elected Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors (MRSS).
Get ready to become hooked. Sculpting a portrait in clay is a very rewarding experience. This course will explore how to observe heads – how to see their differences and similarities, and in turn learn how to translate this understanding into a sculpture which captures a likeness of the sitter. On the first day we will sculpt rapidly an under-life-size head of the sitter, without measuring. During the next four days we will more systematically build a life-sized clay portrait of our sitter on an armature/bust-peg. This concentrated modelling will be interspersed with fun exercises – with clay and without – to help train up the eye and hands.
This course will be taught in a way suitable for those with experience of sculpting in clay and those new to it.
Most materials are included in the cost of the course including clay for a life-size portrait. A wooden armature (sometimes called a ‘bust peg’) will be provided. This is yours to keep.
Please bring an apron/bib and an A4 sketchpad and drawing implement (pencil, pen etc). If you have any of the following, bring them. But don’t worry if not as there will be some to share:
- Calipers for measuring
- Metal ruler
- Retractable metal measure
- Wooden and/or metal modeling tools
- Wire (or “cheese”) cutter
- Water spray bottle
- Barbecue sticks
- Cocktail sticks
- Masking tape
- Bin liners (x2)
- Hand-held mirror
- Old newspaper
Costs of hollowing-out and firing are not included. You can take your portrait bust home, hollow it out and take it to a local kiln to be fired. Or, you can hollow-out and fire your work via an artist at Phoenix Art Space, for an additional cost. More information will be provided during the course.
‘My passion is for telling stories in bronze – of the struggles for social justice and telling the stories of the lives of those missing from our visual and written histories‘.
Hazel Reeves is best known for her bronze public commissions such as Sir Nigel Gresley at King’s Cross Station, the women biscuit factory workers – the Cracker Packers – in Carlisle, suffragist Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy in Congleton and Our Emmeline, suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in Manchester, which was winner of the Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture 2021. Hazel is currently working with the ‘A Statue for Ada’ campaign in Crewe, to shed light on the extraordinary Ada Nield Chew (1870-1845), champion of workers’ rights and women’s rights. Hazel is an elected Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors (MRSS).
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