How to Sculpt Concrete

You can make interesting objects for your garden and walkways with concrete sculpture. Concrete is readily available and you can make all sorts of simple objects from it. The following directions show you how to sculpt a bas-relief concrete decoration.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Pencil
• Paper
• Scissors
• Shovel
• 2x4s for the form
• Sand
• Concrete mix
• Water
• Buckets or mixing containers
• Gloves
• Sharp objects such as small wood chisels, knifes, spoons, picks

1. Make a life-size pattern to sculpt on a piece of paper. Look for simple repetitive patterns that may already exist in your garden, such as latticework. This pattern is going to become a stencil for the sculpture. Cut away the unnecessary parts.
2. Build a form for the concrete with 2x4s. If you are going to pour the concrete onto the ground, put a barrier of sand in place first. You may need to dig up some dirt to get the concrete at the correct level. If you plan to make the sculpture portable, put a bottom on the form.
3. Mix the concrete mix according to directions. Be sure to wear gloves and a long-sleeved shirt. Wash any concrete off your skin as soon as possible.
4. Pour the concrete mix into the mold. Let it set until almost hardened. Don’t let it dry too fast. Keep it damp with a wet rag or covering of plastic if necessary.
5. Place the pattern on the concrete. Draw the outline from the stencil pattern on the concrete.
6. Use sharp objects to whittle away the same part of the concrete that you cut out of the stencil. You don’t need to go very deep to get the bas-relief effect. Pull out the large sections first, and then use smaller objects to do the detailing.

Tips & Warnings

• Make a small sculpture to start. Once you know how long it takes for the concrete to set enough to sculpt, you can get an idea of how long you have to create the bas-relief.

Who Can Help:

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