Tradtional Clay Sculpting - help a noob out

Ave · Sep 2014

Hi guys

I'm interested in getting into non-digital sculpting, but i haven't got much of an idea where to start. I'm sure there's a few traditional guys among the polycount crowd.

What sculpting substance/tools should a beginner be looking to get? I'm not keen to spend a ton of cash, so if you can - give me the rough minimum.

Is there any must-have books or reference material that helped you?

(I'm also Australian, not sure how that affects material availability.)

cheers!

rube · Sep 2014

I'd go with Super Sculpey. It's easy to work with, won't dry out like clay, bakes well if you get something you want to keep.

Steve Schulze · Sep 2014

Like everything else, sculpting stuff is excessively expensive in Australia. It might be worth looking into ordering online - you can probably considerably decrease your costs.

I'm not a great fan of Sculpey. I prefer a fine plasticine like Monster Clay. It has a much nicer feel and you can easily vary the hardness by heating it up, to the point where you can completely liquefy it if you want to pour it into something. It'll never harden like Sculpey does, but it's pretty firm when in its natural state.

Tools wise, start with one of these guys

There are a few different shapes and sizes available. I'd grab one with 10mm-ish loops (most of them will have this) and a smaller one for finer work. If you can get one with teeth on one side of the loop it can make smoothing out surfaces easier.

From there you'll probably want some spatulas. There are loads of different kinds of these. You'll probably be able to pick up a set of 5-6 from most hobby or art supplies stores. Or you can get some dental tools if you want to be fancy, but thats probably not what you want if you're just testing the water as they'll be pretty pricy.

Ave · Sep 2014

Yeah sculpey seems quite expensive here. A few hundred bucks for a couple of kilos? Shieeeeet. Thanks for the info though dudes, appreciate it.

Didn't realise you were Aussie Jacka. Nice

rube · Sep 2014

A few hundred? Wow, things must be expensive there. super sculpey here is about $15 for a 1lb brick.

Steve Schulze · Sep 2014

Yeah, It's about $25 per pound here.

Barnes is a good option for picking up the less common sculpting and moulding stuff. You'll find Sculpey in pretty much every art store, but stuff like Chavant or Monster Clay are a bit tougher to find.
http://www.barnes.com.au/

Stinger88 · Sep 2014

Jordu Schnell

http://vimeo.com/48413999
https://www.schellstudio.com/

David Lemon

https://www.youtube.com/user/clayguy1/videos

BOULARIS

http://boularis.deviantart.com/

Chris Krüger · Sep 2014

I would definitely start out with Chavant NSP medium;
http://www.chavant.com/new_site/index.html
Make sure to read up on it before you start using it.

Check this out:
http://cgcookie.com/sculpt/

https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/
Don Lanning's videos are awesome

Clay shapers are great by the way;
http://www.dickblick.com/products/royal-sovereign-clay-shaper-sets/

You only need the pointy and flat one doh.

seth. · Sep 2014

I would say that your choice of materials and tools is going to be influenced by what scale you want to work in, and what you want to do with the finished piece. Plastalines are ace for just busting out some shapes without wanting to keep the thing, Sculpey and the polymers are a lot better if you actually want the thing at the end of it to remain with you... Trust me house moves with plastaline sculpts is a pain in the arse

Steve Schulze · Sep 2014

That's why you learn to make moulds and pour resin.

seth. · Sep 2014

been there done that, Tbh most of the time I would make an alginate slip mould and pour a wax of anything roughed out in plastaline, before finishing....but the sculpt pile mounts up after a while

TheWildHunt · Sep 2014

^
didn't realize how many practical sculptors there were here.

As far as tools go; it really depends entirely on what you are attempting to do. I do most of my sculpture work with my hands, but when it comes to getting down to the nitty gritty of things, I like to keep a spatula, needle, and loop tool at hand, as well as a medium sized rake. That really does it for me, unless I need some seriously smooth surfaces such as mechanical pieces, than I'll pull out a variety of rake tools.

Clay is another that is really personality driven. I started out using Roma Plastilina, a sulfur based plastiline. Roma is very hard in a neutral environment and will crumble in the cold. Clay pours are also near impossible, Roma will become molten without losing its shape and is extremely dangerous to handle (I learned this the hard way). roma will also leave a greasy residue on your fingers that feels slightly like animal fat left over from cooking; touching your face without an extensive cleanse will make you feel like your back in highschool with all the breakouts it causes.

MonsterClay is one of the more interesting plastilines; You can get it over at monstermakers.com, if calling, ask for Arnold. As far as its consistency goes, monster clay is very waxy, it softens at low temperatures, is great for quickly building forms, holds detail well, and is absolutely phenomenal for clay pours. As far as personal taste goes, I love monster clay, but it isn't my medium of choice, the clay has an awkward consistency and likes to stick to whichever surface you don't want it to stick to. Namely your fingers.

Another one stated above is my personal favorite:
Chavant; chavant comes in four different types, soft, medium, hard, and le' beau touche. For most sculpts that come my way, I prefer the medium, the texture is almost velvety, running your fingers across the surface of the block is at the least, gratifying. It softens at a lower temperature than roma, but not as low as monster clay, and holds detail extraordinarily well. I find it best to leave strips of chavant on a pan underneath a lamp, a distance of around 8" will allow it to soften to an ideal working form without melting.

Tradtional Clay Sculpting - help a noob out

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