Bust Student Examples

Below are student examples of the Bust Project (which also encompasses a head study). Some are self portraits, some are portraits of friends or partners, and some are purely invented from fantasy concepts that the students have been mulling over for years. All are made from recycled clay provided by the ceramics department at very low cost. The clay is an amalgamation of any leftover clays from a variety of classes. This clay is not specifically for sculpting, but has plastic qualities that make it formable as long as it has the right moisture content. It is inexpensive, and works well for the project; however, other clays exist that are suited for sculpting with specific properties, such as graininess or smoothness.

None of the pieces shown are simply heads without context within the body, but the ones that include a portion of clothing or shoulders and/or collarbones are considered "busts". The term bust comes from the Latin word bustum, which referred to a tomb. Tombs often contained sculptures of the upper chest and head of those entombed. A bust sculpture is truncated above the belly at the lowest, and above the breast line at the highest. Most busts do not include full arms, and if included at all are usually truncated between the shoulder and elbow. This makes the sculpture focus on framing the head rather than the body. A pure head study, on the other hand, is simply the head with the possible inclusion of a neck stem. This is only appropriate as a project if the timeframe available is shortened. A head study has no context, and is not as sculpturally interesting or engaging as a bust.

Notice that in all cases there is a full depiction of hair. Long hair can define the overall size of the bust, as truncating the hair would look odd. If the subject has long hair, and the length is a defining feature of their persona, then this should be taken into account. Sometimes it is sculpturally appropriate to put long hair into a bunch, or to direct it in a fashion flowing around the shoulders for movement and visual interest.

A bust can either depict clothing or be unclothed. Both are appropriate based upon the aesthetic choices of the artist. Clothing has compositional impact on the sculpture, and conveys a timeframe and style of the subject. If clothing is depicted, make aesthetics a factor in choosing what to wear or to have someone wear. If the bust is unclothed, make sure to acquire visual references of the necessary torso and shoulder details - obviously this choice is a personal comfort one, and always the model has full decision power. How does the style of clothing depicted in busts impact your view of the piece?

Scale of a bust in this class must be either life-size or larger than life. It is not to be made smaller than life. One reason for this is because it is easier to understand what you are making and to do a physical comparison to a real-life subject if it is the same scale than if it is either larger or smaller. Another reason is that it is common practice to make a bust larger than life if it is to be in a public setting, or anywhere that it will be impacted by a large space, or outdoors. Life sized sculptures in large spaces feel very diminished. This is where the term monumental scale comes from. A monument needs to be large to have impact - or even to feel like it is a natural size.

Overall, besides how hair may frame a bust, the pose and amount of torso to include is an aesthetic and practical decision. The practicality aspect is influenced by how much space there is to display the bust, and how much time you have to complete it. The aesthetic decision includes composition and story telling. How do the bust elements work together in the art piece, is there an implied motion to the body pose, and what does the inclusion or exclusion of details tell you about the individual?