■ The Écorché Approach to Sculpting 49The Écorché Approach to Sculpting
The approach used to sculpt the head and body in Figure 2.21 is called écorché. Écorché is
derived from the French word for “skinned” and generally refers to a sculpture of a human
or animal with the skin and subcutaneous fat removed so the muscle and skeletal systems are
visible. As a method of anatomical study, écorché sculpture involves a constructive approach
to building the figure by sculpting the bones and overlying muscles layer by layer, working
up to the surface forms. This allows the artist to gain a deeper level of insight into how bone,
muscle, and fat combine to create the human form. This tutorial is similar to the process I
demonstrate for sculpting the human head in my book ZBrush Digital Sculpting Human
Anatomy. If you are interested in more in-depth demonstrations on sculpting the human
form in ZBrush, consider checking out that book.
ZBrush layers and clay sculpting tools allow you to use this same approach in a digi-
tal medium. Starting with the PolySphere tool, we’ll mass in the forms of the skull, add the
major facial and epicranial muscles, and then add the skin and fatty tissue that fills out the
transitions. This exercise is inspired by a video produced by digital sculptor Ryan Kingslien,
available at http://www.zbrushcentral.com.
In this exercise I approach the head, neck, and ear separately for the sake of clarity in
illustrating the steps. In reality I would sculpt all parts simultaneously, thus keeping a uni-
fied level of finish to the whole head as it progresses. See the accompanying DVD for a video
of this sculpture from start to finish.
Before we begin sculpting, let’s take a moment to look at the human skull and note some
particulars about its shape and the proportion of the masses to one another. The skull can be
divided into the cranial mass and the facial mass; these are color-coded in Figure 2.22. The
cranial mass is an ovoid shape that forms the protective covering around the brain. Hanging
off the front of this ovoid shape is the wedge of the facial mass.
Figure 2.21 Examples of écorché sculpture by artist
Andrew Cawrse, available at http://www.anatomytools.com/
© 2009 anatomytools.com
Figure 2.22 The two head masses,
cranial and facial