I am going to be taking a class this spring at my local community college for ""Basic Model Making" but wanted to ask some experienced people what they suggest I do to prepare? What kind of tools am I going to need? Should I go to a craft store and get some clay to just play around with before the class? I want to make molds, etc... too so....? Other than reading on the internet I dont have any clue what I'm doing.
I really just want to figure out where I should start? Any help would be great. Thanks - PaulAbout to start modeling with clay....need some advice.?
Check out Philippe Faraut website and click on Contact/FAQ for more information:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en%26amp;sugexp=kjrm鈥?/a>
Check out his YouTube channel SCULPIT:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sculpitAbout to start modeling with clay....need some advice.?
You can't have too much experience. How well you do depends on your sculpting ability - how well you visualize it and how well you execute that vision. Don't expect too much to start........Keep at it.
Yes, buy some clay, though you won't be able to fire it at home. Basic tools are a cutter, which is a wire between two dowels, and clay cutters, which are handles with various shaped sharp loops on the ends. those are for cutting out gouges and things, like chisels in wood. And there are various points, which are just sticks with shapes on the ends, for pushing clay around. And of course your hands and fingers. A place to work - it's messy - and some water..... That stuff will get you started. Look in a crafts store and it will be more clear. Clay is easy to work and quite difficult to be good with, at the same time. But you can't have too much experience.....About to start modeling with clay....need some advice.?
Well, pick your clay first - after contacting the class instructor to find out what will be used in the class.
Besides ceramic clay, which has to be fired, and you may gain the ability to do that by taking the class as a courtesy to those who took the class,
the other two choices are modeling clay and polymer clay.
Modeling clay is earth clay moistened with oil and wax and never hardens - softening with heat of hands while working. It comes in colors and is used for claymation and can be used for permanent shelf stuff although it can always be damaged. But it is commonly used for sculpture models to pull molds from for plaster or other materials.
Polymer clay also comes in colors and is much more often used for small crafts as it bakes up in home ovens to make PVC plastic.
One problem with taking the class is if it focuses on throwing ceramic clay on a wheel - a technique which can not be used with either modeling or polymer clay. If other techniques are taught, including pinch pot, coil building and slab construction, those do apply to other forms of clay.
Well to start if you want to make molds I wouldn't do it with clay. One, it's expensive. Two, if you don't have a kiln to fire them in it's pointless. I would use plaster for mold making. I would wait on the class because it is going to teach you what to do in the first place, and I have a bad habit of teaching myself bad habits then going into a class with bad habits to break...One suggestion I have is to go online and do a little reading. I've used plaster molds in a ceramics class and they are very useful to get the clay to lay the way I want it. To me using clay as a mold kind of seems backwards, and clay shrinks and distorts with drying and firing.
Best of luck and have fun with your new hobby!
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