Once the big forms are right, the features bring the head to life: the look in the eyes and the set of the mouth. Tiny changes here change the whole expression, from calm to proud to amused, so work slowly and keep comparing with your model. Then, careful drying and finishing turn a soft model into a lasting sculpture.
2Building the features
Eyes: press a small ball of clay into each socket as the eyeball; do not draw an eye onto a flat surface. Lay a thin coil over the top of the ball for the upper lid, thicker than the lower lid and overhanging it slightly, so that it casts a shadow. Add a thinner coil below for the lower lid. Keep one eye-width between the eyes. A small pressed hollow for each pupil catches shadow and reads as a dark iris.
Nose: add a wedge from the brow to the nose line; the bridge is narrowest between the eyes. Add a ball for the tip and two small pellets for the wings (the sides of the nostrils), then press the nostrils in from below with a round stick. The base of the nose is about as wide as the gap between the eyes.
Mouth: first build a curved band, like part of a barrel, because the teeth underneath are curved. Add the upper lip, with a small dip in the centre and a groove above it, then a fuller lower lip. Tuck the corners in; they sit roughly below the centres of the eyes.
Ears: shape flat C-shaped pieces with a curled rim and a pressed hollow. Set them between the brow line and the base of the nose, just behind the middle of the side view, tilted slightly back and standing a little away from the head. Attach them along the front edge by score and slip.
Hair: build the hair as one mass above and around the skull first, then add texture: fork or comb lines, small rolled coils for braids, pressed pellets for short curly hair, or crossed lines.
3Finishing the surface
Smoothing: stroke the surface with a damp sponge or a fingertip dipped in a little water. Too much water makes the clay soft and slimy.
Burnishing: when the clay is leather-hard, rub it with a smooth stone, the back of a spoon or a smooth seed. This presses the surface flat and gives it a soft shine. Many potters across Africa finish their pots this way.
Texture: leave some areas, such as hair, rough on purpose, so that the smooth skin contrasts with them.
4Drying and firing
Dry slowly and evenly, over one to two weeks, away from sun and wind. Cover the head loosely with plastic at first and uncover it a little more each day. Thin parts such as the ears and nose dry faster than the thick head, and that difference causes cracks, so wrap them with small pieces of damp cloth or plastic for the first days.
For firing: the head must already be hollowed, with walls 1.5 to 2 cm thick and an air hole, as described in the armature lesson. Let it become bone-dry: hold it against your cheek; if it feels cold, it still holds water. Your teacher or an experienced potter fires it in a kiln or a carefully built pit fire. Fired clay is terracotta.
Unfired heads stay fragile and soften in water, so keep them dry. You can colour them with earth colours (white clay, red soil) mixed with cassava paste, or polish them gently with a little wax.
Worked example: evaluating a finished head
Umutoni checks her head against her plan and a short list.
Proportion: eye line halfway? Yes. Ears between brow and nose base? The left ear is 1 cm too high, so she notes it for next time.
All views: from above, both cheeks match; from the side, the skull fills the square.
Craftsmanship: no visible seams, no cracks, a smooth burnished face and textured hair.
Expression: the slightly lifted mouth corners and the heavy upper lids give a calm, confident look, which is what she wanted.
5Look closely
This terracotta head was made by a sculptor of the Nok culture in present-day Nigeria; the museum dates it to between about 550 and 50 BC.
The eyebrows are arched ridges of clay standing out from the face (additive), while the pupils are pierced holes (subtractive).
The upper eyelids are heavy curves above the eyes, the lips sit on a curved mouth area, and the nostrils are pressed deep: the same rules you have used.
The features are stylised: simplified and exaggerated on purpose to create a strong, dignified expression, not copied exactly from one face.
Because it was fired, this clay head has survived for more than two thousand years.
Male head, Nok culture, Nigeria, about 550 to 50 BC, terracotta. Brooklyn Museum, New York. Photo: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Warning
Safety
Only your teacher or an experienced potter loads and fires a kiln or pit fire. Stay well back from any firing.
Never fire a head that is solid, thick, damp or has anything inside it: trapped water turns to steam and can make it burst.
Clean up with a damp cloth, never a dry broom, and wash your hands after work.
Tip
Score, slip, blend: every time. Every eyelid, lip, nose wing and ear is a join. A join that is not scored, slipped and blended is where the crack will appear.
✦
Practice
1
Why should you model an eyeball and lids rather than draw an eye onto the clay?
Show solutionHide solution
Solution: a head is seen in the round and in changing light; a real ball with an overhanging upper lid creates shadows and looks like an eye from every angle, while a drawn eye looks flat.
2
Where exactly should the ears be placed?
Show solutionHide solution
Solution: between the brow line and the base of the nose, just behind the middle of the side view, tilted slightly back.
3
Byiringiro's head cracked around the ears as it dried, but nowhere else. Give two likely causes.
Show solutionHide solution
Solution: the thin ears dried faster than the thick head, and the joins may not have been scored, slipped and blended. Wrapping the ears in damp cloth at first and joining them properly would help.
4
How can you tell whether a clay head is dry enough to fire?
Show solutionHide solution
Solution: it is pale all over and no longer feels cold when held against your cheek; a cold feel means water is still evaporating.
5
What is burnishing, and at what stage do you do it?
Show solutionHide solution
Solution: rubbing the clay with a smooth stone or spoon to make it smooth and shiny; it is done when the clay is leather-hard.
Remember
Eyes: ball, heavy upper lid, thin lower lid. Nose: wedge, tip, two wings. Mouth: curved band, then lips. Ears: brow to nose base, behind the middle.
Score, slip and blend every join; dry slowly and evenly.
Burnish at leather-hard; fire only hollow, bone-dry heads; unfired clay stays fragile.
Sources and credits
Lesson text, making steps, diagrams and practice: written by Ganzaa.
