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Things You Will Learn
This course is designed to provide you with a step-by-step method for sculpting a human figure from scratch. We start with a simplified approach that helps you maintain proper proportions, geometry, and structure—laying the foundation for infusing flexibility and natural gesture into your work.
Using reference photos and videos, we examine the essential forms and anatomy of the body to understand what you’re observing, and then apply these insights to your sculpture. Additionally, we explore the philosophical mindset that guides decision-making during the final stages of your work, regardless of your envisioned outcome. You’ll learn to make thoughtful choices in texturing, form, design, and presentation—whether your focus is on the industry or the fine art world.
How to Work
This course requires a minimum commitment of 5-7 hours per week. The more time you invest, the more you’ll learn—just as in any area of life. This weekly commitment is designed to help you achieve the goals we’ve set for the course.
We recommend following the lessons sequentially and submitting photographs of your work as you progress. Over the 10-week period, Javier will provide personalized feedback to help guide your development. For corrections, you’ll receive a recorded video with comments and advice to ensure your continual improvement.
What to Expect
By the end of this course, you will have completed a fully rendered sculpture. You’ll become familiar with our simplified system—a set of tools designed to help you correct proportions, master key anatomical landmarks, and understand the superficial anatomy of the figure. Additionally, you’ll gain a better understanding of core body movement and its potential in your work.
For experienced sculptors, this course offers structured learning that may be new if you haven’t followed a systematic approach before. Expect to enhance your work with more solid, believable results, improved balance and weight distribution, and refined anatomy. If you’re looking to push your skills to a professional level, I’ll also provide recommendations on source material and exercises to further boost your performance.
We work at a 1/4 scale, resulting in a sculpture approximately 45 cm (18 inches) high. The workshop, information, and videos are based on this size because it provides ample space to work comfortably on every area of the sculpture. If you wish to work at a different scale, you are welcome to do so, but you’ll need to adjust the measurements accordingly.
For this course, we use plasticine instead of water-based clay because it does not dry out or change consistency. We strongly recommend that you avoid using water-based clay for these exercises.
DISCLAIMER
NUDITY:
This course presents the human body in its complete, natural state; therefore, nudity is included, and the genitals are shown. If this is a concern for you, please consider whether this course is the right fit before proceeding.
CONTENT & SOURCES:
Most of the graphics in this course—including illustrations, photographs, videos, text, and the platform itself—have been created specifically for this course. A small portion of the content is sourced from the following works:
- Morpho by Michael Lauricella
- Artistic Anatomy by Paul Richer
- The Complete Guide to Anatomy for Artists & Illustrators by Gottfried Bammes
You are welcome to use these illustrations as needed; please ensure that you credit them by citing “Javier Murcia Studio & workshopsculpting.com” as the source.
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