Artist Javier Murcia offers figure sculpture workshops throughout New Zealand. These workshops are held either at his personal studio in Wellington or in partnership with various studios across the country.

workshops

Head Studies

In his previous workshops, Javier has frequently observed students encountering challenges when sculpting heads and facial features. Common issues, such as oversized eyes and misplaced ears, often arise. As a result of these observations, Javier developed the “Head Studies” workshops, specifically designed to address these common concerns.

In these classes, students delve deeply into the intricacies of facial, head, and neck construction. They learn to employ divisions and planes as essential tools to guide them in building the head from the ground up. Additionally, much like in our “Simplified Figure” approach, we adopt a sketch-like perspective when working on the face, making the process more accessible and engaging for all skill levels.

New dates 2025

 Auckland, The Clay Center 
BOOKED OUT

Queenstown, Wakatipu potters group
BOOKED OUTQUE

SIMPLIFIED FIGURE

 
Given the complexity of the human figure, it’s common for beginners to feel overwhelmed by intricate details, which can cause them to lose sight of the overall essence.

To address this challenge, Javier demonstrates how to break down the body into basic geometric components. Through this approach, students are better able to understand the body’s mechanical structure, helping them convey a sense of weight and balance with greater ease.

New dates 2025

Auckland, The Clay Center
BOOKED OUT

Queenstown, Wakatipu potters group
BOOKED OUTQUE

Head Studies

In these classes, students delve into the intricacies of facial, head, and neck construction. They employ divisions and planes as tools to guide them in creating the head from the ground up.  Much like our “Simplified Figure” approach, we take a sketch-like perspective when working on the face.

New dates 2025

 Auckland, The Clay Center
BOOKED OUT

SIMPLIFIED FIGURE

Given the complexity of the human figure, beginners often find themselves overwhelmed by intricate details, losing sight of the overall essence.

In this context, Javier adeptly illustrates the process of dividing the body into elementary simpli components. This method facilitates students’ comprehension of the body’s mechanical workings to convey a sense of weight and balance.

New dates 2025

 Auckland, The Clay Center
BOOKED OUT

Queenstown, Wakatipu potters group
BOOKED OUTQUE

Play Video

Figure workshop

 

The representation of the human figure in clay stands as a time-honored tradition within the realm of art history and education. For this reason, Javier, as a dedicated instructor, conducts 5-day figure workshops in different locations in mostly in New Zealand and also Australia.

Throughout these workshops, participants have the unique opportunity to work with a model, who presents a distinct pose during each session. Meanwhile, Javier moves through the class, drawing inspiration from the model and guiding students step-by-step as they transform the pose into a 750mm clay sculpture.

New dates 2024

 Auckland, The Clay Center
BOOKED OUT

ONLINE COURSE

In this course, students are guided step-by-step from scratch to create a figure from home. Since many people prefer the flexibility of working from home, one of the key benefits is the ability to take your time and work at your own pace over a 10-week timeframe. Although 10 weeks may sound lengthy, it’s an ideal way to fully immerse yourself in the learning process.

Additionally, we’ll delve into anatomy and the structure of poses by using real models here in my studio. Be sure to check out the video for a glimpse of what you can expect throughout the course.

New dates 2025

Dates expected to start next year 2025.

If you’re interested in this course and want to learn more, simply show your interest and GET IN TOUCH.
We will be happy to hear from you.

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MOLDMAKING

In these workshops and tutorials, we will cover some of the main materials used to mold and cast sculptures; providing you with the information you need to source yourself. If you are joining us in a workshop you will be molding your own work. If you work from home, you will get an overall idea of the most important things to know so you can apply it to your work. You can always get in touch if you get stuck, we will be happy to help.

New dates

No dates scheduled

5 hours practice with model.

Dont miss out!!

Head Studies

On line course

This is a 6 weeks course where you can work at home doing a full size head in clay. Javier covers the entire process from the proportions, simplification and anatomy in depth.  

You will be working on a full size head using pictures from a model, plus you will have some homework aside. Javier will be doing a demo during the workshop and he will be reviewing your progress weekly. 

New dates

From Sept 10 to Oct 15

6 Weeks

Figure

On line course

Proportions go wrong, too much time is spent on detailing when the structure doesn´t work, getting a natural feeling of weight or distorted anatomy, and many other issues we go through to get the results. Bringing the human figure right is an everyday struggle for many artists.
If this sounds like the kind of issue you experience and you want to learn more in practice about how to find tools to correct this, while you do a full figure at home hand-to-hand with Javier, here is an opportunity to do so.
This course is a ten weeks online course where we will focus on studying a full figure from scratch.

New dates 2023

From March 25 to May 27

10 Weeks

Get in touch

We´d like to hear from you !

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