Ecorche
Artists, scientists, physical therapists, and physicians all need a deep understanding of the structure of bones and muscles in living things. Ecorche is a term artists have used for when they create drawings, paintings, sculptures, and 3-d where there is no skin on the form. The art is usually a study piece designed to improve their skill at creating living forms via a deep understanding of the structure of the human or animal muscles and skeleton.
Materials and Tools - Computer 3-D Tools
ZBrush is probably the computer 3D tool most like real clay tools. The site is at http://www.pixologic.com/. It is expensive though. THe education/student discount of the commercial price of about $700 still puts it at about $350. It has a full render engine and can output in a 3D format for use in other 3D applications.
Materials and Tools - Clay
A Focus on the Face and Head
A good place to start is to master the structure and expression range of the face.
A good place to begin building a library of books on the subjects is http://philippefaraut.com/books.html. He has some excellent books that go from beginner to advanced artist/sculptor. Most focus primarily on the musculature and expression range which makes these a great resources to learn the anatomy of the face. He has some cool YouTube videos too. One takes a young man through to old age. It is embedded below. He also has one that shows the metamorphoses of meth addiction on a young woman.
A good place to begin building a library of books on the subjects is http://philippefaraut.com/books.html. He has some excellent books that go from beginner to advanced artist/sculptor. Most focus primarily on the musculature and expression range which makes these a great resources to learn the anatomy of the face. He has some cool YouTube videos too. One takes a young man through to old age. It is embedded below. He also has one that shows the metamorphoses of meth addiction on a young woman.