How to Sculpt with Clay

You have to try to sculpt with clay once in your life! It is fun to do and you may be surprised with your results! So let's go sculpt with clay!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Machine worked clay
• Clay dug up from the ground
• Bowl for water
• Apron and Rubber Gloves (optional)

1. To start with sculpting with clay and we need to make the choice of either sculpting with Man Made or Machine Worked Clay or Clay-in-the-raw which is clay you may dig up from the ground that sometimes has a reddish tinge to it... The Indians popularize this technique but we are gonna go ahead and use the common Machine Worked clay for accuracy....
2. You should have a big barrel or plastic Garbage Can filled with chunks of clay inside... Your job is to tear, with your hands a good-sized chunk of clay... Then with the Clay you take a seat at the table that is Clay-working friendly and don't forget to go to the sink and get yourself a good-sized bowl of water....
3. Now you are sitting at the table with your chunk of clay and water dish so now it is time to sculpt... You may have already thought of some ideas beforehand so bring out any sketches you may have made and refer to them while sculpting...
4. The clay should feel smooth to the touch and if the clay feels dried out you need to add some water to it... If the clay feels just right it is time to sculpt a shape, like a fav of mine, the woman's torso... The human figure is very popular in sculpture but I advise you to sculpt whatever you choose and don't forget to add some water to any cracking lines...
5. Once you finish your masterpiece it is time to dry it out over-night... Refer to it the next day and if it is time to cook it in the kiln or hot "oven" that makes the clay hard and you may choose a glaze to give it a shiny effect....
6. When the clay is finished in the kiln it is time to see if all of your pieces made it thru the process of cooking... [if there were any air bubbles in the clay it is likely to explode in the kiln] But it looks as though are piece made it thru so we have to put the beautiful masterpiece on a pedestal of marble...

Tips & Warnings

• This can all be done in a Sculpture Lab at a school or college or you can use an artist's kiln!