Sculpting dollmakers: how do you sculpt their lips?

here's a little tutorial found on a french forum (Matériel Célèste) :
http://materielceleste.forumactif.com/creation-f4/tutorial-sculpter-une-bouche-pas-a-pas-t7125.htm

the photos kinda speak for themselves, but in case you need an explanation :

1/ roll a bit of clay like a sausage, and put it where you mouth is gonna be (this is the top lip)

2/ with your finger, or a round spatula, smooth the top of the lip

3/ do the same thing with the bottom lip, placing it against the top one

4/ then you have to "sculpt" the lips to give them the shape you want them to have ; to do this, you can use your fingers, a paintbrush, and a needle for the little spaces between the lips ^__^

that's about it really ^___^

hope it'll help !

 

I'm using paperclay, so the fact that it'll airdry is really usefull here. I start sculpting by creating a thin plate of about 5 mm thickness and cut out the profile of the whole head. Only where the mouth will be I'll leave a little triangle open, so I can, once the rest of the head is done add the lips.
Then I will create the whole head, make it round, add a nose, a chin, the eyes etc (only not the ears, but that is 'cause I find them too fragile)
Now, I make sure the rest of the head is dry and I start working on his lower lip. Just fill up half of the triangle and make it stick out a bit, just like lips do. I will wait 'till it's dry again and then I add the upper lip. That's it, really.

 

O...thanks!

 

I replaced disapeared picts on the french thread, like it you see all !!

 

I usually start with a thin smallish sheet that I apply for the upper lip - remember, the lips go all the way up the slope of the teeth and join at the base of the nose, though the lip shape you typically think of is formed at the base of that sheet.
I cup that thin sheet around the upper mouth area, blending it into the face, and usually having it protrude slightly from the bottom, with a gap behind it such as where the teeth would go. I sculpt the upper lip shape from that, harden the clay and then attach my lower jaw/lip section.
I find this is the only way to prevent having that 'pasted on lip' problem.