[brian bailey]

Actually, I was inspired by Fred Zavadil's thread "Maestro" in the Caricature Carving forum to go out and get some modeling clay.

Last night I went to a local art store and picked up several blocks of Plastalina modeling clay and a few modeling tools.

While waiting for my wife to come out of her favorite store, I quickly did a little sculpting on the corner of one of the blocks.

I can see that using this medium to work out your design details before ruining a piece of wood is going to be of great help to me!

Thank you Fred and Mark for the inspiration.

[Thomp]

brian,
the clay is a real nice way to work out the look you want, but you might want to keep it on something the oil cant soak through,

lessons learned.
in the shop move recently i had my 25 pounds of modling clay in a plastic tub on a high shelve, with some bass wood carving blocks, and being outside in the new shop at 115 degreese, well you can guess the results,
when body tempature will make that stuff sticky... just glad i had it contained... but my cace i created looked like a puddle in the containermm

[Fred Zavadil]

Brian, I am laughing so much......you could not even wait to bring it home and take it out !!!!

This is exactly what I meant!!! It is fast and fun and really the major point here is that you can do with it whatever you want until you are happy with it!!!! Your project will be much easier to carve after you figure out all the things you were not sure about.

I know that the question "why would I want to do something twice?" will come up, but if you spend money on the wood, want your carving to have some value and not wonder where did I go wrong after the piece is done - this is probably the best way to go.

Great job!!! How long did it take?

About the clay - for everyone who will be tempted to buy some, Tom has a very good point. Make sure that what you buy is for sculptors, I would not recommend soft types (the clays usually come in soft, medium and firm) - they get too mushy and do not hold details well. I personally use the firm type - it might be hard for some people, but works the best for me. Also, it should be oil based - it will not dry and you can use it over and over.

Fred

[brian bailey]

Thanks for the tips.

The modeling clay (Plastalina) I bought is made by Van Aken. It's for sculptors, animators, and artists of all ages. I bought the flesh color, but it comes in different colors. It's also non-toxic and will never harden.

It took me about a half hour to do the head. Once I got use to how the clay tooled the sculpting moved right along.

This really opens up a whole new dimension for me, Thanks!

[Anthony Filetti]

Looks fantastic Brian, thats the stuff I use as well..I store it in a rubbermaid container. The nice thing is that in my case I've been able to reuse the clay once I have completed the carving.

Another thing is that when it gets cold up here like it does, ya might have to put it under a light to soften it up. A little trick I learned.

[brian bailey]

Thanks for the tip Tony.

BTW, I got the clay at "The Art Store" in the Southtowns Plaza near you.

Yeah, unfortunately it won't be long before the light will need to come out !

[Anthony Filetti]

Michaels and AC Moore carry it as well(other stores in the Rochester area). The Art Store is a great resource.

[Thomp]

i took one of them clear plastic halloween masks and smeared some of the clay over it using it as a modle to hold form, then worked out eyes and other features with some modified chopstick tools,

it really helps you to understand all the little wrinkles and crevises in facial expressions and when your done smooth it out and try again...

just a cheap way to fill the void behind the mask would be the expandable foam or steal your wives wig head...\
just pin the mask on it..

[Paul_Guraedy]

Marlen Downing (works in bronze/wood and still instructs woodcarving), from Prescott, AZ, came up with a simple cheap way of keeping the clay at a nice working temperature. He got one of the cheap styrofoam ice chests, took the plug off an extension cord, punched a hole through the styrofoam just large enough for the cord, put the plug back on the extension cord, had a light socket on the other end. A light bulb in there keeps the chest nice and warm and the clay not only works well.......it feels real good as the warm clay heats your hands. Easy way to heat a lot of clay and keep it ready.

Get a chest large enough to hold the clay and keep the light bulb about 3/4 of the way up one side. It does take a few hours to bring room temperature clay to working temperature.

Nope don't recall the size of the bulb. Must have been around 40 watts as it was a full-size bulb but was not a powerful one. I think that is about where the regular size light bulbs start.

[Mottles]

Wow, the clay work is great, and it does help! Interesting idea there of a facial set of bookends. Nice sculpting too.
Kathy