A sculptor of international acclaim, David Simon’s career has ranged from life-size portraits and figures to massive bronze statues. Among others, he helped oversee the giant Leonardo da Vinci Horse project. David created maquette and sculptures for films such as Where the Wild Things Are, Fantastic Four, and Watchmen, and holds private workshops abroad and in his Los Angeles studio.

In this series, David Simon shows you his entire process for sculpting a female figure in oil-based clay. In this first lesson, he begins on the blackboard with a detailed breakdown of the proportional systems used for building an armature. Then, he bends the wire to approximate the underlying structure of the model’s pose, and discusses workflows for retaining a similar line of sight on the model and his armature. Sculpting from life is a dynamic and process-heavy endeavor, by watching this series we hope that you learn about the intricacies involved and are inspired to tackle the challenge!