How to Make Wire Armatures for Sculpting

[@Vierry]

"wrap the wire once tightly around the neck" can confirm. this'll do the trick

[@karabean]

It's time for a game of 'Spot The Assassin'.... 🤣

[@sandrastowell]

I did that too, even on the third try! All that wrapping was a wee bit 😅painful!

[@mkultra2242]

First time that I've created an armature in decades and this method was fantastic! Thanks Proko! I went with 1 unit = 1.5cm. In order to easily measure the proportions out I drew 1unit, 2 units first. That way instead of measuring with a ruler the whole time I had everything laid out already to measure against. Anyway this is a really cool method! Thanks!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Yeah that works great! That's why I like this method is it's so versatile and easy once you practice a bit.

[@gostowl]

That’s an interesting way of doing an armature. The previous ways I’ve learned used multiple pieces of wire, and I had a time. This method also makes it easier to anchor the armature to a base because of the loops. Thanks for sharing.

[@MugiwaraRuffy]

Same for me. I'll definitely try out this "one wire armature" technique for my next figure sculpt.

[@reema939]

did you try it

[@gostowl]

@@reema939 Yes, I did. I like it for human figures; haven't tried with animal/four-legged figures.

[@shesees432]

Dude, I am so glad I found your channel! You have to be the absolute best teacher who cuts out all the crap by keeping it simple but it's super memorable too!. Thank you soooo much!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

You're welcome! thanks for the comment!

[@jessiemcjess702]

I just finished making this armature after following along and I am so thankful you made such a great tutorial! Your instructions were clear every step of the way and I’ve never made such a perfect armature before! Thank you!!!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Awesome! Glad to hear it!

[@totoro5527]

What a natural communicator. Thank you so much for these videos.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Thanks! and you are welcome!

[@jesselegood7454]

This helped me so darn much. It is really rewarding to see the finished product. After taking a hiatus from this hobby it is not easy to pick up where you left off. Good news is it only gets easier and if you had any bad habits from before re-learming Tabala Rasa style is very refreshing.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Glad to hear it!

[@fortidogi8620]

This is one of the best communicators on the channel. Clear and thorough all the way.

[@vintagehorrorcinema]

This totally transformed my armature creation process. Thank you so much!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Hey glad to hear it!

[@burntmarshwigglestudio597]

Wow. Way more in depth than I anticipated. Excellent! I really hope you one day do a video on sculpting horses

[@pliniohessel]

With the 20 awg was impossible to finish without break the wire. the aluminum wire does not allow me to make a 90° bend without breaking at the slightest movement. With the 12 awg my armature construction was a success! Thanks

[@renemarquez7947]

Thank you for your help today I finally got the best peace of information that I NEVER knew , I need it. Thank you so much for all the help that you provided for all of us who love to sculpt you are a great teacher 🙏🏽

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Hey thanks! glad to hear you found the information useful.

[@sarahstewart2059]

Great frign video. Thank you for sharing. I'm a sucker for scale and for some unexplainable reason, my torso length is either acceptable or flat out hilarious. Great refresher for sure. Worth a mention. Sometimes, I reinforce my armature by wrapping a thin/fine gauge wire. Gives it a bit more stability and helps when adding sculpture medium. Cheers from BC Canada 🇨🇦

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Yeah additional wire can help for structure!

[@mimizdoodles]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! It was so easy to follow, I made this for the purpose of stop motion and I had never made an armature before and it turned out awesome 😁

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

You’re welcome! Glad to hear it!

[@kiesyo]

This looks super simple but a great method, I can't wait to try it right after watching the video. The explanation is very very clear, the setting/background of the video is slick, it is very entertaining and you are such a charming person to watch and listen to. Thank you.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Hey thanks for such a positive comment! glad to hear you found the info helpful! hopefully as you make the armature it goes well!

[@danielacastillo7453]

Thank you for this. I am new to sculpting and this was easy to follow and the perfect size for what I am creating.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Glad to hear it! What are you creating.

[@Жора-ь6и]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤з😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 1:35

[@tommycoppola6684]

3 armatures done! Thanks man!! Can’t wait to actually make some sculptures!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Awesome! 👏

[@GreyWolf11022]

wow this was the best tutorial i´ve ever seen. Clear and structured. thank u

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Glad to hear it!

[@dndsl3436]

I remember Proko's first video on cranial proportions. I was a convert. Glad to see it's important for sculpting too.

[@RobbW-ay]

It doesn’t work on everyone. I built an armature and I compared to to a photo of dr strange (Benedict Cumberpatch) and from the Hopp’s it does not line up at all. Other photos I compared it to matched perfectly. So cranial units doesn’t work on all models unless o did something wrong.

[@dndsl3436]

@@RobbW-ay The same could be said about other body proportion methods like the Lumis one. I think this method is a better starting point though.

[@karabean]

@@RobbW-ay Well comparing anything to Benedict Cabbagepatch is going to go poorly, since his alien parents didn't take any Proko classes when they made him.

[@jellusbox]

Wow I'm learning so much! Thank you very much for all your help! Great videos! So thrilled I found your channel.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Glad you've found it helpful!

[@michelletaylor9278]

Hi! I just signed up for your sculpture course in Proko. Loving your classes & your wit & fun teaching style. I just bought the material to make my own armature stand. I was curious how you remove the sculpture from the stand once you’re done though. The course doesn’t seem to include anything on that & I can’t find anything on KZbin. Could you make a video on your process? I think it would be so helpful. Can’t wait to continue your course!! Michelle

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

I usually make a mold with the wire armature inside of the sculpture. If you're using natural clay and want to fire it then I would use a simple straight iron rod for supporting the figure as that is much easier to remove once the clay begins to harden. An armature can still be used to check the measurements of the body and the pose. Leroy Transfield has a master demo on proko (proko.com/leroy) that shows this method for sculpting and he uses it to great effect! Hope this comment helps!

[@crazedcatlady867]

Thanks, I’m trying something ambitious for a gift for my brother but I’ve never made a armature, so big help!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Way cool! Glad it helped!

[@mroudemus410]

Very well explained. Thank you so much for this video. This is the clearest instruction I have received for this important step in sculpture.

[@abiodunhowell]

I just finished my armature now and it look great thanks for the explanation

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Glad to hear it helped!

[@NatashiaBoatner-oe5xo]

I’m interested in learning more. Do you have an online course or something?

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Absolutely! Proko.com/sculpture for the full course.

[@taisaelensminde7261]

Thank you so much for this video. I'm first time learn to sculpt. I had done 3 wire armetures. 🎉 What is the next lesson? 😍

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Next is gesture studies and adding clay to the armature!

[@YunaElphabaLovegood]

This video is very helpful. I'm still bad at creating armature, but with this video I have always been successful in the end. Just takes me ages to make... I am using the armature for needle felting, btw. Clay is, unfortunately, not my medium.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Interesting I haven't head of many doing felting using wire armatures but that's way cool.

[@YunaElphabaLovegood]

@@AndrewJosephKeith It's very common, actually. Especially for animals. I make characters from video games and TV from time to time, so having a good human armature to work off of is very helpful!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Very cool! @@YunaElphabaLovegood

[@andreag3561]

Great tutorial so easy to understand, plus the assignment motivates me lol thank youuuuu❤️❤️❤️

[@princesskassandra4253]

“You want to make sure that they are…mature.” I love your dad jokes! When does a joke become a dad joke? When it becomes a-pparent.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

😂

[@ScottH]

Thanks this was a great video. Cut the 1 inch to 1/2 and got a 6 inch height, exactly what i wanted. I need more practice but dang, im posing this thing and its ready for clay!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Awesome!

[@ArtofRennie]

Sculpture pun. Was actually fantastic. 😂 thank you for the informative video. Always learning.

[@marialette1]

Absolutely brilliant. One thing -I cannot see the head being formed in the vid; am I missing something?

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

In this video I didn't show it, I just twist the wires at the top. In the premium course I go over modifications (like the little circle in the head) it's basically just bending out a circle and then looping the wire around and twisting them together. (hard to explain exactly in a comment)

[@rheanuppal103]

Hey there, thanks for such an awesome video! This is super helpful and your instruction is really clear. Question for you - I'm trying to make a figure based on my own proportions, would you recommend taking my own body measurements to make the armature at this stage? Or is it better to figure out those measurements later in clay?

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

I’d take a photo of yourself (see the video on taking photo references for sculpture) in an anatomical pose and then check your measurements that way. If you’re close to normal proportions then you can just move the armature joints to get the proportions. Consider posting your work at Proko.com/portraitsculpt so you can get feedback from other students and myself! Good luck!

[@benphillips318]

ar-mature is one of the funniest things i have ever heard thank you sculpture man Mc dude

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

😂 you are most welcome! Keep sculpting

[@murloctidecaller3601]

oh man now i need this all in centimeters

[@natwooding]

I want to make a 5 or 6 inch sculpture. So if the armature in this video works out to about 11.5 inches, should I just halve all of your measurements to keep things simple?

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Yeah that's what I would do.

[@stickupcrewuk8473]

you are awesome and I love the get your friends involved such a great idea, thank you for sharing

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Hey you are welcome!

[@wedo4fun251]

“Are Mature” - 🤣🤣🤣 I love it. Will definitely use this one… Thanks for great tutorial.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

😂 you are most welcome!

[@frankthetank1096]

Hi....great tutorial. Is there a difference between 14 gauge galvanized and aluminum wire? Are they basically the same?

[@karabean]

Galvanizing means coating steel or iron in molten zinc. So they are different metals. My guess is galvanized steel will be harder to bend, but that is just a guess.

[@gundamizer4352]

Thank you sir Proko. So informative. I learned a lot this day.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Glad to hear it!

[@DeanneNorris]

I really appreciate you re information!❤

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Glad to hear it!

[@thefriendlyaspie7984]

i love how you give homeworks

[@Bort.Olomiu]

"They are mature" I made is awesome, thanks!

[@Alangamingteevee]

😮 I love making sculptures

[@partharajkhowa03]

Same

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

me too!

[@nupurbango2122]

Could you show how to stand a figure just on finger tip?

[@jahmya58]

Practicing this while on the toilet

[@slushycastle8688]

lol I’m watching it while on the toilet 😂

[@RobbW-ay]

I see this works for most people. But I was going to use this method to sculpt dr strange which is essentially sculpting Benedict Cumberpatch. It doesn’t work on him. Cranial units does not work unless o did something wrong but i compared it to other photos and it matches perfectly. On Benedict it’s at his hips it stops lining up.

[@colethefatcat]

He may just have unique body proportions, maybe his torso is a little longer or shorter than the average person, making this not line up perfectly?

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

You may need to bend the hips down or up depending on if you need to lengthen or shorten the torso in comparison with the legs. Most people don't have these exact proportions and the armature will need slight modifications to better fit the body type.

[@cryt2801]

I love your humor x) And your videos !

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Haha thanks! At least someone gets my sense of humor. 😆

[@MuffinKat11]

This helped a lot thanks!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Glad to hear it!

[@ALEJANDROARANDARICKERT]

Congrats. Great and simple way. I like all your vídeos a lot

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Thanks! Good to hear!

[@Hvostikrediski]

How this method can be applied for sculpting animals, birds, seals, cats?

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

You can and I have you just have to figure out the measurements between the joints and use the same process.

[@insekto6341]

Great vídeo,thanks!

[@Hachikii]

This is some high quality content, thank you!

[@ClayDay]

thanks for making this video! super informative :)

[@danielquebedeaux1835]

Thanks so much for this and all the videos!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

You're welcome!

[@حسنصیاد-ح9ط]

Thank you for your good video❤👍🙏

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

You're welcome!

[@nazufani4016]

I just guess-ta-mated on the weird dolls I make. 🙃 Gonna have to go measure & see how I did. Lol 😂 I pose them. They are made of recycled parts of old clothes.....my parents lived through the depression of the '30s. Throw Not Away! It's a part of my being. 🙃 I learned through trial & error...... which is not a bad thing. Thank you for sharing your video. 👍 ☮️💖🌻

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Very cool and if you've done enough you start to kind of get a sense of what the lengths of the parts of the body should be.

[@arthardware5560]

"Are mature' great pun Love the video!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

😂 thanks!

[@123000chrissy]

Fantastic method. All makes sense, but........ I am wanting to make fantasy creatures like elves, goblins etc. What do i adjust?? Or do i just make an armature to match my drawing no matter what the proportions are. As goblins have large heads, squat bodies, long arms and shorter legs 🙄☺️

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

It’s not difficult to change the proportions. Just have in mind what you want to change before you start building the armature.

[@Yurup]

What are the wire sizes in MM? I'm from europe and cannot really find 12 gauage wire from non amazon websites.

[@pliniohessel]

Are 2.0 mm

[@melissesilhan2208]

Thank you for this video! 🥰🙌

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

You're welcome!

[@jeadevoe209]

I have now ventured in to sculpture thanks to you an Proko can you adapt this technique to horse or cat armatures? thanks again will be watching

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Yeah absolutely! I was even considering to do a lesson on making armatures for horses because those are common to sculpt so that may be something I do in the future.

[@jeadevoe209]

@@AndrewJosephKeith looking forward to it all the best J

[@nicmetz4269]

I laughed out loud literally to that armature joke when most would probably not laugh

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

😂

[@luxurydeathtrap]

Great video! I'm going to try this for our next music vid, thanks!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Way cool! For stop motion?

[@ART_INDIA]

String is very flexible 👍

[@Araspalani]

That is nicely explained, thanks for sharing

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

You're welcome!

[@Brenners2010]

Hi, this is a great tutorial. Can I ask if I wanted to build an armature that was 23 inches in height(the cranial unit would be 2 inches) what gauge wire should I use? Kind regards

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

About 8 gauge wire is what I would use. You can always wrap more wire around the armature if you only have thinner wire.

[@Brenners2010]

@@AndrewJosephKeith Thanks

[@art_afsaneh.plaster]

👏👏👏👏👏😍😍😍😍😍😍😍👌👌👌👌👌👌You teach very well, I wish I could attend your class😔

[@mermelada.]

Thanks for sharing!

[@yarikar]

This is really useful for puppets too! Thank you! :)

[@angelinagonzalez2006]

i bought this thick wire from micheals to make an ecorche but the wire is so thick bending it is a workout in itself espeically when looping it

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Yeah thicker wire is usually for building larger armatures and it can be tricky to bend out.

[@SageDoesArt]

Anyone know things u could use instead of wire? Like things u can find at home. Thanks! 😊

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Aluminum foil or paper with masking tape are some other materials I use for armatures. Usually for just the head or torso because it’s difficult to make arms or legs with those materials.

[@seenundercygnus6870]

Can we still use fairy dust?

[@malacara1335]

The terrible pun at the beginning made me subscribe.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

😂

[@WakenAngels]

how would i go about making an armature for a 10-12 year old child? (roughly 140cm or 54 inch/4'6 in)

[@Proko3D]

Do you mean making an armature for someone of that size to use or to make a sculpture of a child that large?

[@WakenAngels]

@@Proko3D A wire armature for an interior art doll with 10-12yo proportions (i think most children that age are 6 heads tall but would that still translate to 11.5 craniums?)

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

I did a video on my channel (this channel) on child proportions of a 5 year old but the same principles apply. Basically you can take references of the child and creat an armature from the reference by figuring out the cranial units for the specific person.

[@carolvalenta]

You had me at sculpture pun...

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

😅

[@JIMBO8472]

great tips thank you

[@alfonsocancino5756]

Thanks is Amazing.

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Why thank you!

[@davidkalima9213]

Well demonstrated.

[@shutupitisonlyjoke3529]

Can this be used with modeling clay too?

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Yes absolutely. Non-drying modeling clay is what I use all the time with these armatures. Polymer clay also works great.

[@kimberleesteele6652]

When you say units, is that the same thing in inches?

[@Odraude2105]

If you want your armature to be 11.5 inches tall

[@micahholmes1629]

That pun was flawless 🤣

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

😂

[@quarkcatd]

We will build our Armature Army together! :D

[@sparkdude5567]

I’m having difficult time bending the knot of the wire to wrap around itself 😢

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Yeah it is a bit tricky and takes some practice to get good at. Softer wire or thinner wire might help

[@juicyj813]

4:40 - Start of Figuring 8:38 - Entire Figure

[@Moharani21]

Do you keep the armature in when you bisque fire it?

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

If you are going to fire the sculpture I wouldn’t use a wire armature. My friend Leroy Transfield shows his method for using a single metal rod and hammering it into wood to use as an armature for natural clay so the sculpture can be fired after. His mini course is on proko.com/Leroy

[@shereerabon8551]

Wow- thanks!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

No problem!

[@GoosePloops25]

I recommend to use a marker

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Good idea

[@nickhamidi]

It was very useful thank you

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Glad to hear it!

[@frickjonota2298]

How do you build one for an ecroche

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

You can use this armature for an ecorche

[@VIPtotheVIP]

Thank you! 😊

[@bennysong3490]

so cool thank you very much

[@aspire1514]

if I send you a picture of a sculpture that I want to build can you make a video on it for me to do it

[@discord1317]

The terrible pun was fantastic!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

😂

[@h7opolo]

4:30 "joint" is misspelled

[@itsbobby..9033]

Awesome 👍👍👍

[@makellingo]

You had me at ARE mature😂😂

[@flerrisia6108]

How can I do this with paper clips, their all i have😢

[@sandrastowell]

Maybe I should not have started with 12 g wire for 18" figures ... I made three and found it painful. The results are good though.

[@donnamshaw]

Really really excellent tutorial! Thanks so much!

[@AndrewJosephKeith]

Thanks!