Clay
boonie
first. I am having troiuble getting clay. When I do get it do I moulds it
with my fingers or shape it with carving tools.
There is a potter (professional) nearby - is it his clay I use? Or there is
a brickworks not far away should I ask for a lump of there clay?
None of the artist supply shops seem to have any, nor carry any.
TIA
Ken
BTW I have a piece of Hoop Pine four inches by four inches by twelve inches.
D.M.S. Lewis
get a little info on the product, not to promote or recommend any particular
supplier. Most of these products can be located in large art supply stores.
Clay from the potter would work. This clay will harden if exposed to air
for long so when you are done working on it for the day you will need to
cover with a damp cloth and seal in a bag. Don't leave the project for an
extended time or mildew will grow in the damp environment. A medium to
smooth texture red or grey clay should work well. If you really like your
finished item you can have it fired, if the thickness is limited or you used
some method to have a hollow center in the piece, i.e. a core of paper which
will burn away in firing. http://www.dickblick.com/categories/firingclays/
You can work with all sorts of "tools" but don't use your carving tools
unless you have a smooth clay and are using junk tools. The texture in the
clay can be hard on your good tools. I use an Xacto stencil knife some.
There are easy to make tools like popsicle sticks, dowel sticks carved to
flat or pointed ends. Stiff wire loops on sticks work to cut and scrape
clay. http://www.dickblick.com/categories/modelingtools/
There are also nondrying, oil based clays, more expensive initially but if
you are going to model items regularly it will pay off as you can use it
repeatedly without having to resoak in order to soften as with firing clays.
It does leave an oily residue on your hands but no clay is real "clean".
Plasticine clay does typically need to be warmed a bit to work with it,
either working in your hands or you can use other light heating method. I
find my hands to be sufficient as I add small bits or clay as I go and small
pieces warm quickly. Plasticine clay is my personal favorite for modeling
a project before carving. When using firing clay I am inclined to do
projects for their own sake, with the plan to fire and keep, although I may
still use these as models for carving.
http://www.dickblick.com/categories/modelingclays/
There is also polymer clay, such as sculpey, which are interesting to work
with as it can be fired in your oven little decorative projects from it are
fun. I don't find it takes or holds the detail the other clays do but for
rough modeling it would work. This can almost always be found in art/craft
supply stores. http://www.dickblick.com/categories/polymerclays/
This is probably more info than you ever wanted. Hope you find your
materials and get your model going.
DMS Lewis
"boonie" <boo...@australia.net> wrote in message
> I want to carve my dog (in wood).It was suggested to make a clay model
> first. I am having troiuble getting clay. When I do get it do I moulds it
> with my fingers or shape it with carving tools.
> There is a potter (professional) nearby - is it his clay I use? Or there
is
> a brickworks not far away should I ask for a lump of there clay?
> None of the artist supply shops seem to have any, nor carry any.
> Ken
boonie
see what I can wheedle. I shall take my wife hoping to meet his wife - the
path may be smoother.
Ken
jenn...@bassrockgallery.freeserve.co.uk
pliable etc.
Try some thing like 'plasticine' or 'new clay' or 'new plast' I think in the
US there is stuff called sculpty. Taxidermy or craft/wood/artist supply shop
sell it. As you are having some difficulty, try the mail order people who do
tools etc for bird carvers.
The clay your local potter uses is not so easy to use for the pre-modelling
done by carvers. You would need armatures etc to support the model if there
were fine details such as legs etc. For the head & body, it would support
itself, but I find it is the other bits of a dogs anatomy that I need the
clay mock up to make sure I am going in the right direction. It also allows
you to adust the pose, which helps to add to the finished work.
If you do have to use the potters clay, do a rough body & head, then support
it with clay under the belly, until you get the legs built up. Keep the
support, refine the head & body, remembering it is only a guide, make the
legs and join on, but don't let them bear the weight. You can also ask the
potter to fire it for you, then you have a permanent piece,
Once you get the stuff, you will naturally pick up on where your hands &
fingers work and where you need tools. teaspoon handles, screwdrivers and
toothpicks all help as you don't want to buy more tools for this. Hope this
helps.
Regards George
Confettiiiiiii
Jan/Feb issue has a short article about someone that is going to be teaching
how to do this with a short picture explanation. The person used an armature
made out of a quarter inch (6 or 7 mm) hardwood board outline of the sculpture
to support the clay the person shown modeling a deer bust. The board was cut
into three pieces. Duct tape was used to tape the joints together to give the
support some flexibility for the busts head so that it could be moved around.
The clay pictured was the Roma Plastilina clay that the previous poster had a
link to. This is an Italian clay with the article done in the USA I would think
it could be found some where in Australia also. The picture showed two packs of
what appears different grades a No.2 & No.4 that has packaging like the
picture at the previous web page posted. I believe the Roma is the reference or
name to a city in Italy possible Rome as the spelling is somewhat different in
the USA. Italian <-->English
Confettiiiiiii
(USA)