Sculpting the Portrait with Stephen Perkins

October 16-18 10:00 am-5:00 pm EST Instructor:  Stephen Perkins all levels This three-day class will cover all aspects of modeling a portrait in clay, minus the casting process. Working from a live model,  we will focus on the universal nature of all human heads while also working toward an individual likeness. The universality is like the construction. Essentially, we are all the same in that way. If you know how one nose is constructed, you will know them all. The likeness comes in the proportions. So in the end, we are all the same, and there is one mental map to have for that, and then the proportions make us all unique.    Before expressing the form, we have to know it. Starting with the largest volumes of the head, which again are universal in pattern but unique in proportion, we will work to define those and then go to subdivisions of them, and on and on. In this classic manner of working from large to small, one is always building on the truth of the previous statement. This method allows an artist to stop at any point, depending on the definition that they want in their own style.  All levels are welcome. Working with water-based clay is preferable as it is faster and more malleable.  Some of the specific topics will be the gesture or carriage of the head. This is part of the expression of personality and is different for everyone. It brings out the person, so to speak. The counterpart of that in the face is the fascinating field of facial expressions. Essentially, we telecast our emotions all day through our face, but knowing how each muscle does this and the manner that they are linked to our 6 major expressions allows for infinite expressions. In this area, knowledge is indeed power, the power to express. The instructor will give lots of demonstrations followed by hands-on sculpting so the student can solidify the method. There is a lot of mystery in art, those things that cannot be conveyed by words alone. But the mystery should not be in the way a nose or an ear or a skull is constructed. This is all learnable. It is a sort of mental map that allows one to create. That is what I have spent a lifetime trying to learn and now teach. CLICK HERE for materials list About the instructor: Stephen Perkins is a classically trained figurative sculptor, draughtsman, and painter. His work is influenced by growing up on the Mediterranean and studying with some of the last sculptors of the great American Renaissance period. This training informed his work and made its expression possible. His highly influential instructors were Walker Hancock, Leslie Posey, Henry Hensche, Deane Keller, and Nelson Shanks. Though his technique is informed solidly by traditions, it expresses the issues of today as well as the timeless conditions of humankind. Sincerity of expression is one prerequisite in art, and his work is his own. As for style, his work is influenced by Ancient Greek and Hellenistic sculpture, the Italian Renaissance, and the French Beaux-Arts period, which subsequently spread worldwide due to its excellence. His work tends toward a more refined and finished look as opposed to rough. Stephen’s sculpture mediums range from terra cotta to bronze and marble. Teaching has been a constant in Stephen’s life. The New York Academy, The Grand Central Academy, Janus Atelier, Studio Incamminati, and the Academy of Art University are among his former posts, where he created sculpture departments and new classes such as Ecorche. He has also taught workshops and online classes for decades. He is now creating his own online classes in sculpture, drawing, and anatomy. He has recently joined the faculty of The Lyme Academy of Art. Awards include the Gloria Medal and the John Gregory Memorial Prize, both from the National Sculpture Society, multiple Certificates of Excellence from the National Portrait Society, the Most Ambitious Award from the Art Renewal Society, and this year’s Stanley Bliefeld Memorial Prize from the National Sculpture Society. His work and commissions are in public and private collections throughout the country. We are unable to give refunds or exchanges for visiting artist workshops unless Townsend Atelier cancels the workshop or if we can fill a cancelled spot with someone on the waiting list.