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Why bake individual parts of a sculpture?

Adding detail to a sculpture is probably the most time consuming part of sculpting. I have personally spent hours and sometimes days detailing just one area of a sculpture. Depending on your skill level, experience and speed, sculpting individual body parts like the face and arms can be a time consuming process.

I am a very “hands on” sculptor in the sense that I like to hold and grab the sculpture with one hand while sculpting with the other. I do not have hands as steady as a surgeons so at times I will grab the sculpture with my free hand. Unfortunately in the past I have accidentally grabbed an area of a sculpture that I had spent a lot of time detailing. As one expects, my hard work usually ends up with a giant fingerprint or smudge running through it.To bypass this problem you can bake your sculpture in stages using a heat gun. This is really beneficial when you are not ready to bake the entire sculpture.
 

Baking individual parts tutorial

To better explain the process I am going to use an example of a warrior angel sculpture that I am working on. In this example I have already detailed the angels right arm and chest but I still have a lot of work to do on the left side of the body and his face. * Click on the thumbnails to see a larger view of the picture
** This sculpture is created with Super Sculpey

	1. The first step is to protect the areas of our sculpture that we do not want the heat gun to apply heat to. I will start off by gently wrapping aluminum foil around the areas of my sculpture that I do not want to bake at this stage.
	2. Always use caution when using a heat gun, they get extremely hot and can easily burn your sculpture. I use a medium heat on my gun and keep a good distance from the sculpture (around 5 to 8 inches)I also move the heat gun around a little so that I do not apply direct heat to one area for too long.
	3. I used a lower heat setting for my sculpture and baked it, with the heat gun, for about 10 to 12 minutes.Once I have finished I will let the sculpture sit for about 30 minutes to an hour to cool down.There will be a little change in color from the baked and non-baked clay but nothing that should distract you from your work.

The sculpture is not fully baked to the core so I will bake it again later in the oven once I have finished. The steps outlined above simply just show how you can protect one area of a sculpture while you continue your work on the rest of your artwork.

Now keep in mind that if you want to go back and add additional detail to the sculpture you can easily do so . Just because you baked one area of a sculpture does not mean that you can’t make changes to that area at a later time (reference the second half of the baking sculptures in the oven article) .

If you are interested in a step-by-step progress of this particular sculpture then you can view more about it on my blog at www.warrior-angels.com.

Popularity: 15% [?]

How to sculpt a unique rocky seascape base

In the following tutorial I am going to show you how you can quickly and easily sculpt a cool looking rocky base for your sculptures. The entire process for the base took me around 30 minutes to an hour to complete. As of this writing I just finished a sculpture of a sea dragon. I wanted to add a unique base to my dragon sculpture but I didn’t want anything that I felt was taking away from the sculpture.

** The pictures below will show you step-by-step how I created a base that I think compliments the sculpture. Note that the pictures are thumbnails so click on the individual images for a larger view.
 

My seascape base

* I just recently upgraded my digital camera so these pics should hopefully be better then some of the earlier reviews.
** This sculpture is created with Super Sculpey

	1. To start out I just used a simple wood base that compliments my sculpture (not too big or too small) Note: I used a base that I was going to use for another project. The base was already stained and varnished which I would recommend not using in the future (varnish bubbled up in the oven when the sculpture was baked)
	2. To start off I will put a thin layer of clay on the top of my base. I will also drill a hole where I will insert my dragon sculpture (armature wire will be inserted into the hole)
	3. The next step is to attach my existing the sculpture to the base. I measure out how far from the base I want my sculpture and cut my armature wire.
	4. Here is the picture of the sculpture attached to the base (loosely attached at this stage)
	5. I now start building out aluminum foil towers for my rocky seascape (aluminum foil helps bulk out the sculpture to avoid using an excessive amount of clay).
	6. Since I will be adding new clay to my previously baked clay I will need to lightly coat the backed clay with Vaseline (helps the new clay stick to the baked clay).
	7. Take a tissue and wipe off the excessive Vaseline (Petroleum Jelly)
	8. In this image you can see a rough design of my seascape mapped out
	9. Using wadded up aluminum foil I press different patterns into my clay.
	10. An example of my seascape. Now just bake the sculpture at 250 to 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes to harden the clay.
	11. And a finished picture of my sculpture as it is primed and ready for paint.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Using a Pasta Machine with Polymer Clay

Whenever you create an original piece of artwork, the preparation stage whether it be for jewelry, beads or a sculpture can be a mundane and daunting task. Now don’t get me wrong, there are many people out there that enjoy the process of mixing clays, conditioning the clay and building armatures however I am not one of them. Some people find conditioning clay a therapeutic exercise but I personally look for anything that can make the preparation stage easier and quicker to finish. The quicker I get through this stage the quicker I can start sculpting.

If done by hand, conditioning and mixing polymer clay can take a considerable amount of time. For small pieces like beads it may not be a big deal but mixing and conditioning a couple boxes of Super Sculpey and Fimo can be a painstaking task. One of my larger sculptures took both me and my daughter two days to mix all of the clay and after that another day or two to let my hands recuperate from the soreness that they received.

If you enjoy conditioning and mixing clay with your own hands then I recommend that you continue to do so. However, if you are like me and are looking for a shortcut to this process then I invite you to read further.

I have to say that one of the best tools that I have come across for polymer clay is a pasta machine. What use to take me hours now only takes a few minutes. Conditioning and mixing clay has never been an easier process and a pasta machine is a must have for anyone that is looking to shortcut this process. The best deal of all is that you can pick up a pasta machine yourself for a small amount of money.

	For my example I will use a block of Super Sculpey with my pasta machine
	My pasta machine allows me to adjust the space between the rollers at seven different levels. I start out the process with the widest setting (which on my pasta machine happens to be level 7).
	In my example I’ll use my three year old as an assistant to roll the clay - hard to take pictures and roll the clay at the same time :-). I carefully insert the clay as he turns the handle.
	Depending on the condition of the clay it can break apart in chunks during the first run in the pasta machine
	You will want to run the clay several times through the pasta machine. Keep folding and rerunning the clay through the machine until you get a consistency that you like
	Once I run the clay through a few times I will adjust the setting on my pasta machine to a narrower width. I’ll run the clay through one or two more times to fully condition the clay. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

Safety tips and guidelines

- Don’t use the same pasta machine for food and polymer clay. Pasta machines are cheap so go out and buy a separate one for food. - If you have little ones around the house, like I do, store the pasta machine’s handle in a separate and safe location. The last thing you want is for one of your little ones to roll their fingers in the pasta machine when you are not around.- Securely fasten the pasta machine to a counter or table when using it.- Be mindful of your fingers when pushing the clay into the rollers.
 Where to buy a pasta machine

Popularity: 19% [?]

Using Dental Tools for Sculpting

When I first started sculpting with Super Sculpey I went out and purchased a little $5 set of plastic sculpting tools at my local Hobby Lobby. These tools were great for the time and I used them consistently for about a year and half to two years. However, as my skills improved I started to realize the limitations of my starter set of sculpting tools.

Now I had heard through the grapevine that dental tools were great for sculpting. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes and best of all are made of metal. I first started by asking my local dentist if they had any old tools that they were disposing of. After a few crazy looks it was clear that I should just break down and go out and buy a set of my own. To my surprise I found a set of 18 dental tools on Amazon.com for a price around $25. I was skeptical at first but thought for that low amount of money it was worth taking the risk.

I have to say that it was the best investment that I ever made and the quality of the tools more than exceeded my expectations. First of all, I really liked how my new sculpting tools had some weight to them. Another great quality is that they are made of stainless steel. My set came with more shapes and designs than I would probably use but always gives me the opportunity to try something new in the future. I can’t express enough how pleased I am with my tool set and not excluding my pasta machine have to put these tools as one of the best investments I have made.

Will dental tools make me a better sculptor?

Now keep in mind that a tool alone is not going to make you a better sculptor.  There are people out there that just sculpt with their hands, butter knives, tooth picks and even q-tips.  It takes time and practice to develop ones skill and a tool alone will not make you a better sculptor over night.

Now, all that being said the right tools can help you improve on the quality of your sculptures.  Whether it be an improvement on the way you smooth out the clay or a simple little tool that helps you get to those hard to reach places, some sculpting tools just make sculpting a lot easier.

I highly recommend using dental tools for sculpting but there is no need to break the bank when purchasing a set.  As I said earlier, I bought mine for around $25 off of Amazon.com and it was one of the best purchases that I made.  You can see Amazon.com’s current prices for the set that I bought by clicking here.

tag:dental tools Polymer Clay Tools sculpting tools

Popularity: 20% [?]

Using a heat gun to bake a sculpture

One of the more recent additions to my workbench is a heat gun. I initially purchased a heat gun because one of the sculptures that I was working on was too large to fit into my oven. Although it takes a little longer then baking a sculpture in the oven, my heat gun allowed me to cure my sculpture so that it can later one be prepared for a mold. Since my purchase I have learned that the heat gun is also a great tool if you want to only bake certain parts of your sculpture.

Let’s use an example where you were sculpting the human figure. In our example you have worked out the details to the front of the torso and now need to move onto the other areas such as the back, arms and legs. To avoid any damage to your hard work, a heat gun will allow you to bake the sculptures torso so that you can comfortably work on the other areas. Now keep in mind that using a heat gun is similar to an oven and you will need to let the sculpture cool after it has been baked.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Using a Q-tip to smooth and detail a sculpture

As strange as it may sound, one of my favorite and most effective sculpting tools is a Q-tip. Q-tips, when soaked in 90% alcohol, are a great tool for smoothing, blending and detailing your sculptures. Before I go into the details on how to use this wonderful little tool, I’ll explain how I cam across the idea in the first place.

My first experience with sculpting was with water-based clay. Now there are a lot of properties that I personally do not care for with water based clays but one of the properties that I absolutely loved is that it is a very fast medium to work with. Another great property is that with a sponge and some water you can really smooth out and blend in different areas of the artwork. In a short amount of time I was at a stage where I could create a lot of detail in my sculpture using a combination of different shapes and sizes of sponges soaked in water. For smaller hard to reach areas I even used Q-tips soaked in water to create the detail in my sculpture. Which leads me into how I started using Q-Tips with polymer clay.

Now when I switched to polymer clay as my preferred sculpting medium, I ran into a challenge on how to blend and smooth out the clay. Initially I tried the Q-tip soaked in water technique on my sculpture but the results were marginal at best. After doing a lot of research I discovered that polymer clay dissolves in alcohol. So, putting two and two together, I started using Q-Tips soaked in alcohol to smooth out the hard to reach areas on my sculpture.

Popularity: 15% [?]

How To Sculpt Hand With Polymer Clay

Two of the hardest things that I have found to sculpt are the hands and eyes. I don’t know why, they are just shapes like anything else, but for some reason they always present themselves as a challenge for me. I have a little technique that I am about to share with you that I use for most of the hands I sculpt. However, keep in mind that this is not the only method you can use to sculpt hands.

The technique that I use does not require an armature which has its advantages and disadvantages. I’ve have used and armature in the past but the problem I found is when I decided later on in the sculpting to move the fingers. The fingers can still be moved when using an armature but the detail work can sometimes get damaged in the process. The disadvantage of sculpting hands without an armature is that you do not get the additional support that an armature provides. If the hand you are sculpting is just hanging by the side it really is not an issue, however if your character is holding something like a sword it can then be a problem.

Now the hand in this tutorial is going to be more of a sketch to give you the general idea on how to sculpt a hand. This tutorial should give you a good foundation to start building your hands off of.

Hand sculpting tutorial

*I need to upgrade my digital camera and apologize in advance for the quality of the pictures

	1. Roll out a ball of clay and slightly flatten it to the size that you want your palm.2. Roll out five little tubes of clay to represent the fingers
	3. Strategically place the fingers onto the top of the squished ball of clay (look at your own hand as a reference)4. Using your sculpting tool, one of my dental tools in this example, pull the fingers into the base of the hand
	5. Roll out four more little tubes (snakes) to add as the bones in the hands
	6. Roll out little balls of clay for the knuckles
	7. Add little horizontal indentions or lines for the knuckles (using another one of my dental tools here)8. Sculpt the finger tips
	9. Turn over the hand and blend the fingers into the palms of the hand (try to avoid squishing the fingers)
	10. Add a little more clay to the palm to thicken it up a bit.
	11. Add lines to the fingers to match the location on knuckles (on the other side of the hand). I have cut my lines a little deeper then needed since I will bend my fingers.

Popularity: 57% [?]

How can Google make you a better sculptor?

Every time I approach a new idea for a sculpture I always look at it as a learning experience. My personal goal is to challenge myself with each new piece. The more I push myself the more my skills grow over time.

If you want to grow as an artist then you should always challenge yourself with something new; always try to push yourself to the limits with each piece. No matter how difficult a subject matter may be for you today, if you keep practicing then over time you will master it.

One of my past challenges was sculpting a horse. I do not have a horse and know very little about horses but I do think they are beautiful creatures. The challenge I gave myself for sculpting the horse is that I had to add my own personality into the sculpture. It would have been easier for me to sculpt a horse just standing in a field but that would not have accurately reflected me as an artist.

My personal favorite types of sculptures are those that are dynamic and create a sense of power. So for my horse I wanted something that demonstrated speed, agility and power. The only way I knew how to do that was to create a very muscular horse that was running through a field. Now as I have already stated I know very little about horses so for me to sculpt a horse was going to require some serious research. I do not have access to a horse either so the internet was the best resource I had to start gathering various images of horses.

Going back to what I said at the beginning of this article, you have to challenge yourself to become a better artist. Is my sculpture of a horse technically perfect? No, it isn’t. I’m sure I made a lot of mistakes in the anatomy but I do now have a better understanding of horses. You see I have built a foundation to grow on for the next time I sculpt a horse and the more that I practice the better I will get. No matter what type of artwork you are interested in, always push yourself, use the free tools available to you for your research and go out and have a blast.

Popularity: 73% [?]

Baking polymer clay sculptures in the oven

One of the best properties for polymer clay is that a kiln is not necessary to cure the clay. Polymer clay can be baked at low temperatures and the household oven or toaster oven is all that you need.

I predominately use Super Sculpey so the instructions below will use Super Sculpey for the example. However, no matter what clay you use, you should be able to see baking instructions for it on the box or container that the clay came in.

Super Sculpey’s instructions recommend baking your sculpture at 275 degrees for 15 minutes for every ¼ of an inch in thickness. If you have a sculpture that is over ¼ an inch thick then I would recommend either backing the sculpture in stages or lowering the temperature and baking the sculpture for a longer period of time. My personal preference is to bake my sculptures for a longer period of time at lower temperatures. I’ll put my sculpture in the oven at around 200 degrees and let it sit while the oven heats up to around 230 - 250 degrees. I will then bake it at that temperature for about 30 minutes. This process has worked well for me but you may want to test with a sketch piece before baking a finished piece.

Popularity: 15% [?]