ANATOMICAL FIGURE SCULPTURE COURSE

Contact: 301 633 2858, or 443 764 5364 by cell phone call, or text message, or contact: sculptorBradP@sculptorBradP.com to arrange a visit, or to enroll in a class or open group. Message Board below seems to have issues. Calendar is general information on classes available, days and times vary.

Figure Sculpture with Anatomical Study (Écorché)

Course Structure

• The course is divided into four parts.
• Each part runs for 12 weeks, with 24 sessions total.
• Two scheduling options:
  • Daytime: 24 sessions, 5 hours each (including 30–60 min review).
  • Evening: 24 sessions, 4 hours each (including 30 min review).
• Students work with the same pose and life model (or anatomical model) throughout each part.
• Optional free workshop time 5 hours day, 4 hours evening (without the life model) is available to practice from a demonstration sculpture, or plaster cast subject. Workshop time is included in tuition but must be scheduled at the start of the semester and cannot be rescheduled.

Course Content

• Students will construct an écorché figure (half skeletal/muscular structure, half surface anatomy).
• First half: build the skeleton and deep muscles.
• Second half: complete overlying muscle masses.
• Work is done in plasteline (non-drying clay).
• Emphasis is on naturalistic anatomy faithful to the model.

Tuition

• $2,136 per quarter (12 weeks / 24 sessions), twice per week.
• Other options available: once-a-week classes and private lessons (Day/Evening).

Course Objectives

• Develop perception of patterned shape.
• Learn to measure angles and proportions.
• Understand glyptek shape as it describes form.
• Build rhythms of turning to create effective compositions.
• Establish visual scale from life to sculpture.
• Understand commensurate planes.
• Learn basic anatomy.

Armature Preparation

• Materials & Armature Prep

  Choose one

  • Option A — Build your own:
    Build an armature before classes begin. A free armature-building workshop is included for students enrolled in the first 12-week session.

  • Option B — Use a loaner (limited):
    Loaners are for in-studio use only and must remain in the studio. If you use a loaner, you agree to replace the aluminum alloy wire and one stainless-steel pipe fitting (Tee or 4-way Cross) at the end of your enrollment.

  You may keep a self-built armature and/or use it for making a plaster cast.

  What to supply – Option A — Build your own:

  Plywood base (bring finished to the workshop)

  • Laminate two 18″ × 18″ × 3/4″ A/C exterior fir plywood panels with wood glue.

  • While immediately after the two boards are together, curing, pin aligned boards flush together with ~20 resin-coated brads (≈1–1/8 to 1¼” long); countersink so no heads or points are exposed on the board surface.

    • Suggested layout: 16 around the perimeter (2″ in from edges) and 4 midway to center.

  • • Round all edges/corners with sandpaper – easier using a sandpaper holder rubber block and after seal all sides with 4–5 coats of polyurethane until smooth and fully sealed, should feel like a plastic coating.

  Hardware & wire (see full supply list)

  • Stainless-steel plumbing pipe and fittings (including one Tee or 4-way Cross)

  • Stainless-steel machine bolts

  • Aluminum sculpture wire (specified gauges/lengths)

  Bring to the free workshop: finished plywood base, stainless-steel pipe/fittings, aluminum wire, and stainless-steel bolts.
  A detailed supply list is provided upon enrollment.

  Materials: Sculpture Tools

  • Loaner tools (in-class only):
    A minimal set is provided for use during class sessions and must remain in the studio for the duration of the course.

  • Basic personal tools:
    A supply list of core tools (many with an ~1-year lifespan) will be provided. Plan to replace these as they wear out.

  • Optional: make your own tools:
    During designated workshop time, you may craft personal tools. This requires purchasing Lignum Vitae (or approved hardwood) and access to a table saw, band saw, and metal files (rat-tail and half-round).

  • Chavant NSP (Non-Sulfur, soft or medium hardness Brown) or Chavant Le Beau Touche HM (High Melt) clay.
• Studio provides: wheeled sculpture stands, limited loaner armatures (with replacement parts required). Limited loaner sculpture tools on loan only in class

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Course Description

This course is designed for students of painting, drawing, and sculpture who want to strengthen their understanding of the human figure. Through the study of anatomy, rhythm, natural geometric forms, projection of shapes, balance, symmetry, and asymmetry, students will learn to see the figure as a living structure—capable of function and movement.

The instructor will highlight specific shape types in the model, showing how larger forms echo in smaller parts of the head or body. Students will study structural anatomy, weight, and mass, with emphasis on understanding large forms as the foundation for detail. Shadows will be used as a tool to reveal shape, not conceal it.

By the end of the course, students will avoid oversimplified or cartoon-like work, instead producing figures that appear natural, clear, and well-ordered. Individual artistic styles may then be developed by choice, not by accident.

Students will also have access to an extensive collection of rare anatomical and sculptural references, including:

• Early 20th-century German hand-painted plaster dissections (head/neck in four layers, full torso, and hands).

• European male and female skeletons.

• Anatomical models of various scales.

• Full-body plaster dissections from New York.

• Antique European sculpture casts and anatomical figure plasters.

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Parking is free, there is plenty of space available for the model and students to park on the Square, as well as additional parking behind the townhouse in a private parking area.
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Mr. Parker is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where he studied for six years.

Mr. Parker studied concurrently at the Frudakis Academy of Fine Art at which time he received a National Sculpture Society Merit Scholarship. Later study in Europe in the first half of the 1990s.

Private Sculpture Studio, Drawing & Sculpture Classes, By Appointment – Open Drawing & Sculpture Group Sessions, Commissioned Portrait Bust Sculpture, Fountain Sculpture, Figure Sculpture, & Relief Sculpture Compositions. Private Gallery of exhibited sculpture, by appointment.

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