How To Carve Clay Figures
The sculpting-off technique is the act of carving the clay to remove everything the artist does not intend to be part of the finished sculpture.
How to carve clay figures. The cool part is that the stronger the alcohol solution is the mushier the surface of the clay will become. This means that you can dilute the alcohol with water to make a less aggressive solution effectively making a finer grain of liquid sandpaper. The carver may focus on the clothing folds and carve into the body parts beneath the fabric.
Carve your shape with an artists gouge carving tool. After the rough basic form emerges the sculptor uses a variety of tools to fine-tune the piece. Sculpting or Carving A sculptor uses a variety of tools to carve into clay.
Sculpting a figure with air dry clay is a terrific option if you wont want to bother with firing your sculpture in a kin or casting it in plaster. A quick overview of my favorite sculpting tools. The secondary carving is done with a needle tool or the carving tool but afterward I dont smooth it with the cosmetic sponge as I want to preserve the sharper edge.
Begin by laying down directional lines that define the motion and flow of the pattern then flush out the drawing by working back from the tip of each spiral 2. When the clay is very soft it is formed into a rough coil and smeared onto a bisque surface joining additional coils to form a basic motif. While the clay is fairly wet place the stamp where you want your carving to go and gently push the stamp to create your outline.
A common question from beginners is how to make clay figures. The resulting carving may have great detail but overall look slightly off. At this point I may add dots and lines with a slip-trailing bottle filled with porcelain slip to add visual three-dimensionality and tactile communication back on to the surface figure.
Each fragment is created by a gesture of her hand. When carving clay consider the first lines incised into the clay to be the skeleton of your design. Coils of clay are a good way of building up the sides of a hollow shape laying the clay down in a spiral prevents it collapsing easily.
