Very few people appreciate this, but the overall success of a “first class” portrait sculpture hinges almost totally on not the head but typically the shoulders and chest. The thing is, a portrait sculpture – whilst it undoubtedly focuses attention on the head and face – will usually include the chest and shoulders, as if it failed to it might give the impression of a disembodied head. We should remember that the shoulders and chest help the person to support the head in a number of ways and often define the distinctiveness of the subject in question.
It is said that you could pick up on personality from the way the head is anchored to the body. Put simply defiance, joy, unhappiness and so on are associated with how the neck and head really sit. Imagine for a minute how the human being near to you is actually telling you how they feel without realising it simply by the way they are holding themselves.
It’s also crucial to make reference to the shoulders as well as chest with regards to a specific work, whether a contemporary sculpture or possibly otherwise, to get a richer understanding of the subject by referring to a rendition of the garments applicable to the individual.
One of the largest issues for just about any artist is in working to capture the substance of the person inside a fixed structure. For instance, how the subject’s eyes appear as well as their position, the facial expressions and also the tilt of their head. How shoulders change the posture and pose are issues that the designer has to consider or the completed work will just not look good to individuals who might intimately understand the subject involved.
There is lots to think about in terms of the development of a contemporary sculpture. This is definitely true in terms of a bronze sculpture since this is typically a far more demanding medium to work with.
The next time you look at a sculpture think about precisely what the creator had to address while he or she came up with the finished masterwork.