The Planar Portrait: Sculpting the Head (In-Person Class)

The Planar Portrait: Sculpting the Head - In Person

James Sondow | Summer | Mondays, Jun 1 - Aug 3

Class Description:

Join renowned sculptor James Sondow for this 10-week class on the portrait bust.

Each day will begin with a lecture and demonstration from the live model, moving in stages from the internal planar structure of the skull, to the features that lie upon those planes, to the surface details of skin folds created by muscles of expression. Heavy emphases will be placed on sculpting forms with clearly demarcated plane breaks to add conviction to students’ interpretation of the model and allow freedom to play with idiosyncrasies in soft-tissue, enhancing likeness while maintaining the solidity of clearly constructed bone structure to support it. **Materials for this class that are included: Clay & Armature. Students must bring their own clay modeling tools**

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Summer Session Dates:

Scheduled occurrences for this class are as follows:

Week	Date	Time
Week 1:	6/1/2026	10 am - 1 pm ET
Week 2:	6/8/2026	10 am - 1 pm ET
Week 3:	6/15/2026	10 am - 1 pm ET
Week 4:	6/22/2026	10 am - 1 pm ET
Week 5:	6/29/2026	10 am - 1 pm ET
Week 6:	7/6/2026	10 am - 1 pm ET
Week 7:	7/13/2026	10 am - 1 pm ET
Week 8:	7/20/2026	10 am - 1 pm ET
Week 9:	7/27/2026	10 am - 1 pm ET
Week 10:	8/3/2026	10 am - 1 pm ET

Before Class - Welcome & How to Prepare for Class
Week 1 - Mass, Large planes, Big Proportions
Week 2 - Massing cont.
Week 3 - Jaw
Week 4 - Neck
Week 5 - Placement and Proportion of Features
Week 6 - Nose
Week 7 - Ears
Week 8 - Mouth
Week 9 - The Eyes
Week 10 - Refinement

$800.00
In-Person
10 Weeks
Beginner to Advanced

Meet Your Instructor

James Sondow

Instructor

James Sondow is a native New Yorker with 36 years of sculpture experience. Sondow is the only American to graduate with highest honors from the sculpture department at the Repin Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Starting at an early age, Sondow studied at the Art Students’ League, SVA and The Bridgeview School of Fine Arts in Queens. Sondow has taught figurative drawing and sculpture in New York at the Art Students’ League, Beaux-Arts Atelier, and Grand Central Academy, in Florence, and Rome at the Beaux-Arts Academy, and at the Princeton Academy. An elected member of the National Sculpture Society, his awards include the Rhoda Sherbell Award for Portraiture, the Agop Agopoff Memorial Award for sculpture, the Gloria Medal, and the Audubon Artists Gold Medal of Honor in Sculpture.