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Sculpting techniques & tips, material use, behind-the-scenes stories from film industry work, and honest insights into career advice and building healthy habits as a working artist. This is where I share what I’ve learned from nearly 30 years of figurative sculpting — from creature work at Weta Workshop to the daily discipline of studio life.
Quick sculpting exercises vs. finished, rendered sculptures — what each one teaches you, and why you need both to master the human figure.
Creating a good portrait is one of sculpture’s greatest challenges. I’ve completed many portraits throughout my career, and I can tell you that capturing true
When you draw, you’re doing something profound: establishing visual relationships between different parts of the body, searching for balance, flow, and structural harmony within the
My first piece of advice? Simply enjoy the process. Don’t worry about mastering rules or perfect techniques right away. Instead, experiment freely and try things
Once I’ve laid out the basic structure, I start by applying clay in rough volumes. Then, using a spatula, I “draw” the anatomical shapes or
In this article, I’ll guide you through practical steps to photograph your sculpture, regardless of whether you’re using a professional DSLR or a smartphone.
We move a step further—from basic structure to simplified anatomy. This phase is all about translating anatomy into readable forms.
To help you get started, I’ve put together a video tutorial walking through the entire process — step by step — to build an armature
When approaching any part of the figure, one of the most important things is the structure. This is one of the basic and it is
When we build a figure, it’s natural to pour most of our energy into the areas we use most to interact with the world: the
If you don’t have much experience, you might be tempted to mix materials. Before you do, read this article—it might save you some serious headaches.
Why make your own? Two big reasons: I use a lot of it, and high-quality plasticine is expensive—. By making my own, I control the
Water-based clay is soft, fast to work with, and really expressive—it’s great for large pieces and organic textures. But it dries out. Oil-based clay, gives
If you’re a sculptor or just starting out with clay modeling, having the right tools can make a big difference. But did you know you
I decided to put theory into practice and explore how I could apply these ideas to my own sculptures using ChatGPT — to see just
AI has clearly arrived and is here to stay, creating significant concern across industries, particularly in the creative sector. While we still don’t fully understand
For many artists, the creative process is part ritual, part chaos. When you need a fresh idea and don’t know where to begin, the best
There are a few things you get from working with a live model that are difficult, sometimes impossible, to get any other way. And those
Recently, a couple of my students asked me two important questions: “What would you have liked to know when starting out?” & “What’s the best
Throughout this course, we’ve explored the fundamental building blocks of figure sculpting—proportion, geometry, structure, and balance—all leading to this point. Here are the results.
In 2023, I was invited to join the team at Weta Workshop to help build the practical creature suits for a new entry in the
When I joined the Ghost in the Shell project, 3D printing technology was just starting to become more widely used at Weta.
This is the first stage in which sculptor Javier Murcia brings to life the figure of Paul Stanley for a new line of collectibles produced
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