This 214-page book is a visual delight. It is richly illustrated in 550 black and white photographs, which in no way detract from its value as a highly educational reference to the art of sculpting portraits in clay. What is also useful is that it has value as a reference for drawing portraits as well as sculpting them.

There are nine chapters, each dealing systematically with materials, tools and lighting; anatomy and aging; features and hair; working in planes; the portrait; common mistakes; expression; finishing techniques and beyond the clay. Appendices are included, providing a quick reference to the photos that are printed in the book and also a countrywide list of addresses and websites for products and their suppliers. There is a compendium of books and recommended reading, with the oldest book published in 1976 and the newest in 2001. A glossary and a comprehensive index are the two concluding pages of the book.

Not only does the book have illustrations that describe the individual features-bones, muscles and planes of the face, neck and back, it is supplemented by crisp, and easily understood photographs, with captions, of demonstrations that explain in lucid language the sequential processes necessary to complete a portrait of all ages and both genders. The introduction notes that the sculptures and illustrations are the original works of art completed by the authors. Perhaps that explains why there seems to be a lack of examples of how to sculpt Oriental portraits as opposed to European and African portraits.

The authors display mastery of their art as artists and educators by combing the essentials of anatomy without overpowering the reader with an overload of technical jargon. The fact that they have confined the book’s subject to portraiture in clay enables both the advanced sculptor and the neophyte to remain focused on the task. There is a section that helps with correcting common mistakes and even how to repair a shattered sculpture.

This is a thoroughly readable, practical, hands-on book that fulfills the needs of students in high school and college and also professionals. Although it looks like a “coffee-table” book, it is scholarly and adequate for an art sculpture department.

Sculpture is at its core the meeting place of two processes, a synthesis of internal vision with hands-on artistic techniques that produces the most physical of all art. Internal appreciation of the form’s fundamentals is insufficient to create without an accompanying ability to translate them into three dimensions, just as skill with the tools of the process has no value without a vision it can be pointed toward realizing. Accomplished New York-based sculptor and instructor Philippe Faraut clearly understands that building knowledge and craft in multiple areas is essential to successful portraiture, and has translated that understanding into a very useful form with an instructional text he and his wife Charisse have co-authored, Portrait Sculpting: Anatomy & Expressions in Clay. Offered as a step-by-step guide to sculpting the human face, as well as an illumination of many essential principles and techniques behind the process, it is a clear, insightful resource of significant value to neophyte sculptors and experts alike.

Faraut’s method takes an inside-out approach to replicating the human face, a forensic approach that begins with understanding the structures of muscle and bone that support the visible surface. The book dedicates chapters to such straightforward considerations as the structures of facial features down to and including the skull, how human features change due to aging, and how to fix the most common mistakes that pop up in the sculpting process, as well as an explanation of how working in curvilinear planes makes for a reliable, strong sculpting technique. Also featured are explanations of how to translate different moods and expressions into facial features, guidance through a variety of finishing techniques, and fundamental directions for preserving clay sculptures in other media. Each section is easy to follow and work with, and they fit together to function as a strong tutorial that opens the door to a rewarding pursuit of portrait sculpture.

The most desirable way to learn any skill or technique is with an instructor present to provide guidance, but Portrait Sculpting is a close second. Its straightforward step-by-step guidance and wealth of helpful explanatory photos and illustrations (more than 550 all told) combine to make it an invaluable reference. Its fundamental concepts provide very solid instruction for people looking to give sculpting a try for the first time, but it goes deep enough into Faraut’s unique methods to satisfy even the most accomplished artist.

- Thomas Kintner

In the introduction to Philippe Faraut’s second book on portraiture, he says that his study of the face "seems to be a bottomless pit of wonder. In every model I discover the beauty of curves, volumes and posture, but also character, intensity, and personality that make sculpting the human face an endless source of inspiration." Philippe and his wife Charisse produced an earlier book, Portrait Sculpting: Anatomy & Expressions in Clay, which covers his techniques for modeling faces and contains basic information on bone structure, anatomy, and expression, along with mold-making and firing processes. The response to the book led the authors to explore fields such as forensic facial reconstruction and facial sculpting in the field of prosthetics. Their students requested more information and techniques about expression, aging, and ethnicity, leading the Farauts to seek information from anthropologists, psychologists, plastic surgeons, psychiatrists, and artists who focus on the field of ethnology. The result of their in-depth research and Philippe's years of sculpting experience is this remarkable new hardback book, Mastering Portraiture.

The 230-page book's 600 stunning photographs illustrate numerous expressions, the physiological changes in the aging process, gender and ethnicity characteristics, hair, and drapery, all with accompanying theory and technical data. Using water-based clay, Faraut presents over a hundred new portrait busts. Each chapter includes comprehensive instruction and detailed information and presents various key points as well as methods to avoid mistakes. Among the book’s extensive chapters, you will find techniques for analyzing the facial planes of individual features, examples of various finishing options, and assorted styles.

This book will inspire both the experienced and aspiring artist and enlighten the art connoisseur or collector about the detailed work involved in creating portrait sculpture. It may be challenging to sculptors inexperienced in clay portraiture, but working with the basics presented in the first book can facilitate the beginner’s understanding of the new book. For artists with experience, Mastering Portraiture can lead to improved skills. Covering every aspect of the advanced process, the book also has an extensive bibliography, a glossary of the detailed photographs, and an index.

As a stone sculptor, if I wanted to carve a face in stone, I would approach it with new insight after reading the text and studying the photographs that outline the process and show finished works. I appreciated the exercises and tips given to show nuances in facial expressions that artists need to comprehend in order to replicate an exact emotion. Another page that impressed me is one showing the effect of weight loss and mental distress due to drug abuse. Faraut first sculpted an attractive young woman and then transformed her "into an emaciated, empty shell." This included changes in the hair and dress "to emphasize the feeling of mental distress." He says he used this sculpture to demonstrate the ravages of drug abuse to his own children. I also valued an example of a woman aging from six years to eighty with an explanation of the changes in each stage. Being in my seventies, I appreciated the considerate last sentence in the description of the eighty-year-old stage: "The look is alert and the beauty is still there." These are but two of the many examples of Faraut's masterful attention to detail as a teacher and sculptor.

Even if you're not interested in creating lifelike portraits, Mastering Portraiture is worth having on hand as a resource to understand the structural planes and nuances of a face so your abstractions are more successful. It also can enhance your appreciation for superbly sculpted realistic portraits.

© 2009 by Hammer & Pen Productions, LLC from Oct/Winter 2009, Vol.8, No.4 issue of Sculptural Pursuit magazine. Posted with permission to Philippe Faraut's website. To post, publish, or distribute elsewhere, you must contact the publisher at publishersp@sculpturalpursuit.com for written permission.

Mastering Portraiture: Advanced Analyses of the Face Sculpted in Clay

By Philippe & Charisse Faraut

Review by Marcus Southworth