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Cigar Ashtray Sculpting Trick

Posted by goregt On August - 11 - 2011

Skull cigar ashtray

For the most part I live a very healthy lifestyle, I’m in the gym six to seven days a week, eat very clean (except for Saturdays) and rarely drink.  I’m not oblivious to the fact that most people will probably find me to be a pretty boring person but hey I am what I am.  However, that being said one of the vices in my life is that I like to smoke cigars.  I don’t get to smoke them often, at best only a couple times a week, but they are something I’ve come to really enjoy over the years.

I enjoy collecting different cigar accessories, for example lighters and cutters, however one of the key accessories that was missing from my collection was a cigar ashtray.  There are quite a few cigar ashtrays out there that have a good design but I have yet to find one that really grabs my attention.  One of the key advantages of being an artist is that if I’m unable to find what I’m looking for in the commercial market I can always create it myself.  I wanted an ashtray consisting of skulls and skulls so it was off to the workshop to begin my project.

I usually have at least a couple projects going on at once so the last thing that I want to do is spend months on a single sculpture.  Unfortunately it happens a lot with my fantasy figures but there was no way I was going to keep an interest in my ashtray if it took me months to complete.  The ashtray was already taking a lot longer than originally expected so I quickly shifted gears and decided to sculpt only half of the ashtray.  They key was to create a cast of the two halves, join them together and then finalize the sculpting for a finished piece.   Long story short, I was able to create a project that not only flowed well but was symmetrical as well.  I’ve outlined the steps below (with pictures at the bottom of the page).

  1. Purchase a cigar ashtray in the shape that I already like (in my case I purchased a round ashtray)
  2. Sculpt on top of half of the ashtray (imagine that you cut the ashtray in half and just sculpt that half of it)
  3. Make a mold of the sculpted half
  4. Pour two cast
  5. Glue the two cast together
  6. Sculpt over the seam line to blend the two halves
  7. Make a mold of the resin/wax ashtray
  8. Pour a cold cast bronze cast (which I’ll have to cover in another tutorial)

I’ve included a few pictures to give you a better sense of the ashtray.  You can also see more details on my skull cigar ashtray at www.goreartistry.com.

2 Responses to “Cigar Ashtray Sculpting Trick”

  1. Al Ataide says:

    Hi,

    Are you selling any of the skull cigar ash trays? If so can you please send me information on that?

    Thanks,

    Al

  2. goregt says:

    Hi Al,

    My apologies for the late reply. Unfortunately at this time I am no longer selling the skull cigar ashtrays.

    Thank you for your interest.

    Regards,
    Gerald

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Nothing special, just a self-taught sculptor having fun with my art and showing all of you the tips and tricks I use to create my own artwork

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