Jason Arkles, sculptor

book on sight-size and sculpture

Over the last several years, I have been asked by many people where they might find more information about sculpting using the sight-size method (see my 'technique' page for a brief description of this). As the only place one can learn this method is in Florence, Italy, and since I was one of the developers of this method, I decided to write a studio handbook for the benefit of my students and for anyone else who might be interested.

I have self-published this little handbook,under the name of Sculpting From Life - A Studio Manual of the Sight-Size Method

now available through Lulu Press, and also available on Amazon's and Barnes and Noble's websites. It's a no-frills, no-flash handbook, just lots of useful information illustrated with copious images. The book contains step-by-step figure, portrait, and low relief projects, as well as info on how a studio should be set up, lit, and furnished for clay work with a model. I also talk a bit about the sight-size tradition and its relationship with the naturalistic tradtion in painting and sculpture.

I'm currently working on a second edition that will contain much more, including a concordance of sculpture texts written by sculptors throughout the last 250 years, and a geneaology of masters and pupils whose legacy of studio training, whether through ateliers or through instructional manuals, still survives. Due out in 2009.

Just click on this link! Thanks! Support independent publishing: buy this book on Lulu.