Enhancing Portrait Sculpture Education with Skeletal Bust Models

This study employed aesthetico action research to enhance understanding and improve aesthetic experiences of portraiture in sculpture among second-year students enrolled in the sculpture programme at the Art Education Department of the University of Education, Winneba. Portraiture in Sculpture is a bona fide course taken by second-year art education students who select Sculpture as their 3D art option. A significant learning outcome of the course is to equip students with an appreciation for anatomical knowledge, critical observation, and applying traditional design principles to represent their subject matter accurately. Rooted in its practical nature, the primary pedagogical approach centres on studio-based, hands-on project work, and its assessment strategies focus on authentic assessment.  It has been observed that many beginners model heads whose beauty only resided in style, without heed to anatomical construction, resulting in busts which do not look like their subject. In response, we developed and tested the skeletal bust model approach for modelling in the studio, gathering student feedback to refine their modelling methods. The study concentrated on an iterative process in creating skeletal busts, highlighting the creative process and its outcomes as a means of generating knowledge.  The results indicated a significant mastery of the laws and principles of nature that enabled students to improve their sculpting.