Does anyone sculpt with clay?

[queenofthenorthwest]

I've bought some clay!

Coming tomorrow.

Does anyone sculpt? I've never tried it but I'm very excited.

Im going to attempt the attached pic.
I know it's a bit advanced but aim for the stars eh?

Any pointers?

Hi @queenofthenorthwest - I haven't started yet, but I plan to. I was a bit worried that lack of a kiln would put a dampener on my aspirations but it looks as if there are good clays that you can fire in a normal oven. Is this what you're doing, or do you have access to a proper kiln?

PS Were you inspired by Pottery Throw Down? Love that programme

I’ve just taken it up in lockdown, very enjoyable. I’m using Sculpey at the moment until I get better at it. There are some good reddit subs dedicated to sculpting.

Hi

I havent seen pottery throw down!

I have just bought clay off Amazon. Usually when my daughter has it we just let it air dry.

See I have no idea! Does it need to go in an oven? I have an oven lol. No kiln.

I just thought I would see if I'm any good at it.

It's only £6 so doesn't matter if I am crap at it. Just something nice to try with my DD together

@RedPandaFluff what are you going to sculpt?

If you’re looking to sculpt with your daughter you may be best off starting with polymer clay. It has a plasticine like feel to it so is very pliable and is baked in the oven on the lowest setting for around 30 minutes. It comes in a variety of colours too.

The one you have bought is air dry clay and is a little harder to get detail on your work.

Thank you @LizBennet that's useful to know.

I can state this when my DH makes fun of my sculpture!

I'm really really looking forward to trying it tomorrow when it arrives

I hope you enjoy doing it, and try looking for Pottery Throwdown on Channel 4 (I think) as a pp mentioned, it’s a great series.

I'm going to watch it Friday.

I hope it's as good as the bake off.

It’s definitely the same good natured feel to the competition as bake off.

Do you have some wire to create a frame for the clay? I don't sculpt but think you'll need something to wrap the clay around otherwise it will bend and fold before you get a chance to bake it firm.

Nope. I hadn't t even thought that I'd need wire. We prob have something I can use though knocking about.

Thank you for that suggestion!

I hope this clay turns up early. I am really looking forward to it. More for me than my DD

As HalfShrunkMoreToGo says, I think you'd need to make an armature of some kind. This guy on Youtube is has some good tips. He uses scrunched up tin foil for the armature and it seems to work very well, plus it's something you'll already have.

It can be hard to do details with the air drying clay. You need to work quite quickly as it dries out. I have only dabbled in it a few times so no expert but one thing I didn't realise in the beginning was that you can sand it when it's dry! So you can get quite a smooth finish. Also to can make hollow sculptural things by wrapping it around things like pens etc or your finger and the hollow thing will dry quicker and less likely to crack, I think.

These are all such good tips thank you. I will post a pic of my attempt tomorrow

I have used that stuff in the past OP, it seemed good! That was in an art class so I guess it’s good as the teacher provided it.
I’m doing an intro pottery course starting this month, sooooo excited!! Probably only a bit of sculpting, can’t wait!

That air dry clay also sticks to glass really well, so you can make little fairy houses from old jars. As a pp said you can then sand it and paint it.