One of my pieces

[Scout]

This is not the relief that I am trying now. This is something I did between watercolors. I show you the unfired one as her cheek blew off in my kiln. Pisser! Anyway, I trudge on. Just thought I'd give you a look at me.

I let my interest in too many things get in the way of being good at any one. How do you deal with that? Scout

[fritchie]

Thanks for the images, Scout. Sorry about the accident, but that is common with clay. As far as "too many things", that's just a matteer of making choices. If you want one thing to succeed, give it the majority of your time (or at least devote any spare time to that choice).

[zagor]

.

I let my interest in too many things get in the way of being good at any one. How do you deal with that? Scout[/QUOTE]


Ciao Scout
same problem as yours. Fighting with this situation forever...with no good
result really.
I'm afraid it's not as simple as Fritchie might think it.This crave I have to use
my manuality, together with my deep feelings toward aestetic drives me from
drawing to sculpture via mosaic experimenting with "modellato" and the most
improbable media.
So it isn't by chance that the person who knows me better then anybody else
(the love of my life Elizabeth) :rolleyes: calls me JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF NONE..!
We are therefore part of the same club. Not very numerous in members, but
rather exclusive by type.

Ciao Zagor

[MountainSong]

Leonardo Di Vince never limited himself to one thing.

[Blake]

Nice piece Scout it is a pity that she was lost in firing.
I lost some work many years ago in a kiln and went to casting copies instead, perhaps you could make a rubber mold before you fire and then you don’t have to worry about losing the work. It is an added expense but you could do multiples. Unfortunately, you can’t make a plaster waste mold as the plaster will give you problems when firing the original. In any case keep up the good work and don't be discouraged.

Blake

[Merlion]

Sigh! More than once I had my ceramic sculpture broken up when fired. I got so fed up that for the being, I am not going to do more. This also means I am not pursuing my earlier interest to look around to buy a kiln for myself.

[Scout]

I am not knowledgeable about the rubber procedure. I did a small piece a few years ago but have not tried it since. The kind I used was painted on multiple times and then a clay body was formed around that so when you poured into the mold it would hold it's shape. Is that still how it's done?

If I was to make a large piece, say life size, and I was going to have it cast, would the piece stay solid inside (no hollowing out)? How would you transport a large green piece to the place to be cast?

One more small question. Describe briefly the steps in getting a large piece from brain to display. I'm sure dealing with large pieces is a whole nother ball of wax. I have no idea what casting a large piece entails.

I didn't loose her, she was glued and patinad and she sits proudly in the bushes in my yard. Along with many other pieces. Lots of pottery there too. I have 4 kilns so I hate to stop firing but if it means I don't have to hollow the figure, I'm all for it. Scout

[Blake]

Scout
I am pleased that you did not loose your piece.
Here is a step by step process on the rubber mold procedure by Stevem
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/23808/621/

He explains how he made the sculpture with lots of photos.
Take a look, it is well set out
Regards
Blake

[Landseer]

Sigh! More than once I had my ceramic sculpture broken up when fired. I got so fed up that for the being, I am not going to do more. This also means I am not pursuing my earlier interest to look around to buy a kiln for myself.
Ack!! Merlion that sucks :(

I did ceramic firing when I worked in a commercial ceramics place, they had 3 or 4 large kilns. The key is get the sculpture totally dry before firing, make sure when it's made you don't trap air pockets in the clay, heat the kiln
S L O W L Y, I know the electric or gas costs some bucks every hour it's on, but the slower you go the better and less shock.
The old architectural pieces were fired over 3 WEEKS, a week to heat up a week at firing temperature to saturate every piece completely to the right temperature, and a week of cooling down before opening the kiln. These were wood fired kilns so obviously they must have varied a lot during the firing process and someone had to be there monitoring 24/7

They did some HUGE thick walled amazing things and the key was they were fired slowly. Today's rush to get the cycle on and off may be the biggest cause of problems, I know pieces cracked if you opened the lid too early and started cooling the load too fast, but when the boss tells you the pot has to be packed and shipped out at 3 pm and the kiln isnt going to shut off till 2 PM, well sometimes you have to push it.

[Scout]

Thanks Blake for that site. Very informative. Can that be used on a life size piece? Scout

[Blake]

Scout
This process works well for larger pieces. You will want to make the mother mold (the mold that holds the rubber in place) from resin rather than plaster to keep the weight down.
My only comment here would be in my experience life-size work is difficult to place (sell), expensive to make, mold, and cast, and difficult to store.
Having said that, go for it!
keep us posted

Blake

[Scout]

Blake, thank you for that information. I understand exactly what you mean. My goal is not to build something to sell. I want to make at least one life size piece before I die. I have neglected sculpture in favor of watercolors because of the ease of doing it. I built a business and have sold it so now I can pursue this. I am retired and can devote as much time as I like. Very big luxury for the moment.

I'm going to ask a couple of questions that I'm sure have been answered many times and that is very basic to you.....

Would you suggest I build it solid? Hollow it out? (I love hollowing things, but hard on my hands)
Stoneware OK to use?
If I hollow it, can I wrap the pieces in plastic and keep them separate until I'm ready to reattach them? That's how I do small pieces.
Since I only have a 23" kiln, I will have to fire it in several sections. I intend to high fire. Does anyone high fire large pieces anymore themselves?

One more really stupid question....what are the options when you take a large piece to be cast....what all can they cast it in? Cement or some kind of liquid stone or if you can afford it bronze? Steve used a resin, is that the best way?

Once something is cast, can you refine it at all? Modify imperfections?

I appreciate your time, I know everyone is busy. Scout

[HappySculpting]

Would you suggest I build it solid? Hollow it out? (I love hollowing things, but hard on my hands)
If you're doing a head bust you can fill it with a paper bag stuffed tight with shredded paper and this will burn out in the kiln. You can wrap the bag with a layer of clay and let this stiffen over night and get leather hard and then add more pieces of clay as you form the head.

As for life size... I've not done one but I know that you'll need an internal armature. Either make one with metal or wood. So this armature will have to be removed in order to fire the piece. At that time any further hollowing out could be done.

Stoneware OK to use?
If you're referring to doing a life size piece, then my thought is that using a high fire clay body, like stoneware, would give more room for warpage, shrinkage, and cracking. You could always use the stoneware and not fire it that hot. I'm not sure if the strength would be as good as using an earthenware clay and firing it to the same low fire temp. I've heard that when you use high fire clay and low fire it, then it's not as strong as the low fire clay fired to that same temp.

If I hollow it, can I wrap the pieces in plastic and keep them separate until I'm ready to reattach them? That's how I do small pieces.

As the clay shrinks it will move some and when you go and put the pieces back together they may not completely line up if you allow them to shrink/dry separately.

can afford it bronze?

If it's life sized then think about spending 8 to 12 thousand for the mold and then possibly 12 to 18 thousand for the cast in bronze. Very expensive.

Once something is cast, can you refine it at all? Modify imperfections?

If it's done in resin then you can always add plasteline clay over it like a skin and resculpt the whole thing if you want and then mold it again. I don't know about carving into the resin if, say you wanted a deeper undercut, I tend to think that wouldn't work very well.

Hope any of the knowledge that I have has been of help to you,

Take care,

Tamara

[Landseer]

One more really stupid question....what are the options when you take a large piece to be cast....what all can they cast it in? Cement or some kind of liquid stone or if you can afford it bronze? Steve used a resin, is that the best way?

Keep in mind that this "mold making tutorial" link is just ONE person's method and his own opinon on how to do it, and for his particular project. There must be 101 different ways and methods to make molds, none of them are 100% perfect and none of them will suit 100% of the projects.

I'm not sure why weight of the supporting shell is any real concern, the cast if you do something like this in lifesized solid anything but plastic or foam is going to weigh hundreds of pounds- which is a lot more than a reinforced plaster shell.
I weigh maybe 115# with clothes on, I have no problems with even the largest molds I have and all of them have heavy walled plaster of Paris shells, a 5 gallon pail filled to the top with hydrocal is heavier than most of them.

All the old masters made plaster shells for the molds- including those lifesized equestrian monuments!- these plastics and resins didn't exist in the 1890s, they simply put on plaster mixed with stranded hemp, horsehair or other fibers or fabrics like burlap. Nice thing about plaster is is hardens up without fail always- you dump it in water no weighing, no chemicals, no carcinogenic solvents, fumes etc and it always hardens up.
These plastics, urethanes and resins can and do get screwed up and then it stays a sticky glop that never hardens.

The article says:

" by melting 8 ounces of vaseline in a metal container and then mixing it with a quart of mineral spirits."

but this fails to caution that mineral spirits are extremely flammable and one might be melting vaseline and mixing this stuff on the stove top and that's a dangerous combination!

Also, this vaseline "release" may not be suitable for every mold rubber- just the kind he used which so far I don't see exactly WHAT it was. Any mold rubber you get follow the rubber MAKER'S
instructions and directions on what sealers/release agents to use because if you use the wrong kind your mold is garbage can bait. What works for one type or brand of rubber can destroy another, so regardless of what a web site says go by what the manufacturer says or the risk is entirely yours.


I would also not add this cabosil powder to any mold rubber unless the directions state it CAN be added to the particular rubber, again- adding foreign materials to mold rubbers is asking for problems if you are not positive the particular brand and formula of rubber is compatable with the additives.

If you start off with a thixotropic silicone rubber like the QM140 with the thixotrophic cat ll blue- you don't NEED this cabosil thickener, nor worry about this fellow's warning that the rubber is so thin it drips off the model. Thixotropic rubber can be applied to CEILINGS or vertical surfaces and it stays put- I'm surprised he was using the rubber he was- it's murder trying to keep such liquid rubber from drizzling off the model like corn syrup for up to an hour while it sets!

I had a friend who used Smooth-on RTV that was like this, she was always frustrated that she had to spend an hour brushing the rubber back up on the model because it kept sagging and flowing down till it set up. Thixotropic rubber has been around a while, it was invented for exactly this use- vertical and other surfaces so the stuff stays put.

A good place to go for mold making ideas and pictures are these two rubber MANUFACTURER sites- go to the source for your detailed information on their specific products, they all have mold making tips, hints and more;

http://www.polytek.com
http://www.smooth-on.com

While I no longer use Polytek, they DO have a 60 page mold making booklet, it WAS on their web site in pdf file form I don't see it now. Last time I looked it was $10 for the paper copy mailed to you and then they put it up free for downloading, it may be up there somewhere I just dint see it, it's described as;


Manuals
Our 60-page Manual & Catalog is considered the best-written moldmaking information available.



Smooth-on has more, both have downloadable newsletters that usually have tips and photos.

Your lady head sculptures looks very good, very Victorian to me, congrats on a good job.

[HappySculpting]

Hi Scout,

I was thinking of how you said that you only have a small kiln and wish to do a life size piece. I'm in the same boat except I have a medium size kiln but one that is still too small for life size. But then I came in contact with a local potter that has a huge gas kiln. So I'm pretty sure I can persuade him to allow me fire a big piece once the time comes that I do one. He's a really nice guy.

If you don't have a potter with a big kiln nearby, what about contacting a local community college? The arts dept. might be agreeable to allowing you to fire your piece in their kiln.

I have heard of large reliefs fired separately in kilns and rejoined with mortar much like a brick wall is put together. However, I've not heard of life size ceramic work fired separately. The finished work would have a tendency to break wherever the seam line is. Ceramic work is fragile enough as it is, I wouldn't want to give added chance for an arm to break off etc.

Your girl bust is nicely modeled and has that old Victorian appeal as Landseer mentioned. Good job. ;)

~Tamara

[Landseer]

I was thinking of how you said that you only have a small kiln and wish to do a life size piece.
The arts dept. might be agreeable to allowing you to fire your piece in their kiln.

I have heard of large reliefs fired separately in kilns and rejoined with mortar much like a brick wall is put together. However, I've not heard of life size ceramic work fired separately. The finished work would have a tendency to break wherever the seam line is. Ceramic work is fragile enough as it is, I wouldn't want to give added chance for an arm to break off etc.
I don't own a kiln but plan to build one and fire it with gas, while you might be able to find a college or pottery shop to fire your piece for you, it's a longshot unless you live in a city that has them. A local guy here has a kiln but he only fires at 07 and then 7 and his kiln is not particularly large. That doesn't work for me.


If your clay is not in the firing range of the kiln owner's cones and firing schedule, you'd have to buy a box of cones and have them do a special firing just for you which can be a pain. Also, some people might be less inclined to fire your piece with their load, especially if you are new to clay because if your piece blows out in the kiln it can destroy or damage everything else in the kiln too.

Used to be the old brickyards were a source when they had huge beehive kilns, but now bricks are made in highly automated factories that load small trains up with racks full and it's timed to go through the kilns on a specific cycle.

Clay is basically clay, call it ceramic call it pottery or call it terra cotta it's basically the same stuff, common red bricks are or were fired completely solid- roughly 2" thick, 4" deep and 8" long, and face brick were high fire and very hard, they used a lot of grog and they fired slow, but anything bigger than that should be hollowed out.

The old architectural stuff when it reached a certain size were always made in sections, the models may have started out as one big piece but they were finished and then cut into pieces, sized to allow for shrinkage as well as the mortar and then simply mortared together. So when you reach a certain size with clay it needs to be dealt with differently than a 12" tall statue

[Scout]

Thanks Happysculpting and Landseer. Your suggestion about firing at the college here is funny as I fire for them. There is another college a couple of towns away. Not only am I going to ask about the kiln, I'm going to see about classes in sculpting. We live way out from a town.

I'd like to show you my first large piece. Happysculpting, I like Victorian ladies too. Thats what this large one is. Doesn't compare to yours but I'd like to show you anyway. I've been reading your thread on your technique and I am awed at your natural talent and your tenacity. Very impressive.

Landseer, You are a 60s child. Aren't you? I had a bunch of friends that you remind me of (fondly). Those were weird times but good times. If you were not a child then, you would have fit right in. We however were not as dedicated as you seem to have always been. And apparently still are. Thanks for the information, and the warning.

Zagor, I guess you can do a lot of different things? What are some of your other interests?
Scout

[Landseer]

Yeah Scout- 60's that's me

[Blake]

Scout
Sorry I was away yesterday but I see that you got the info from our artist friends. Keep us informed, we will want to see pictures of the piece.
Good luck
Blake

[Scout]

It took me a while to get here but I think I'm much improved. I want to show my progress with sculpting life size. I had a hard time photographing these. They look a little distorted in the photos.

She is 34" tall.

The hunks of clay under the neck are just props in case her neck seam lets go.

You can see in the last one that my seam did not hold at the neck. I am going to keep her wet until after we mold her. I cut her head open and mounted a dowel through her head and neck in case the head actually falls off. This is my first one and I learned a lot doing it. I'm almost finished with the second one.

I need help with building procedures. If I can get a good routine going as far as building, I can concentrate more on proportions and expression. I felt like I had to build so fast that I couldn't dwell anywhere for fear of the components not reattaching well. And apparently I wasn't fast enough. Anyone have any tips?

All advice is welcome. Scout

[grommet]

Scout,
I love your attention to the details of what makes a child--- wiggly toes, hair that won't stay in place, a pucker-belly, curiosity. That makes it for me.:)

[Scout]

Thank you grommet. I did have fun doing it. She is part of a set of two little girls showing one another their baskets. They will face each other.

I have a friend coming to show me how to mold her. Then I'm going to cast her in composite bronze. I have the second one about finished and have a boys' figure ready to begin on.

I figure it will take about a dozen children to make most of the beginner mistakes on before I go to adult size. And I'll start with a seated figure for the adult unless I feel I learned enough about building to go right to standing. :) Scout

[grommet]

Thank you grommet. I did have fun doing it. She is part of a set of two little girls showing one another their baskets. They will face each other.

I have a friend coming to show me how to mold her. Then I'm going to cast her in composite bronze. I have the second one about finished and have a boys' figure ready to begin on.

I figure it will take about a dozen children to make most of the beginner mistakes on before I go to adult size. And I'll start with a seated figure for the adult unless I feel I learned enough about building to go right to standing. :) Scout

So, after you finish all that, what are you going to do next week.;)

[GlennT]

Yep, ditto on the above grommet comments. All those elements combine to make her look alive and in motion rather than just holding a pose.

If you are taking a mold from her rather than firing the clay, then I don't understand why you formed her with clay walls, seams, etc. instead of more solidly packed clay over an armature and filler material.

[Scout]

grommet, you're a smart aleck! :) Do you know any artist that is not manic?

GlennT, thanks. I have never seen anyone build something big before so I didn't know how to proceed. This one (the head) was built over a paper wad over pipe attached with a flange. I basically did this solid. After I built the "clay frame" to an approximation of her figure, I cut off the extremities one at a time. I work them over and then reattach the arm or whatever and do another and reattach. I made the mistake doing the face last. I cut off the head and did it and I decided to hollow it because I hadn't decided if I was going to fire or mold. Since I had to hurry with the head, I didn't get to spend a lot of time on it. I used an outside armature for the body. 1/2" pipe.

The second one went better. The third one I am ready to start, I will do the head and face first and then build the body and attach it after I spend some time on it. Any advice on beginning a big piece would be welcome. I'm doing a boy so I don't have the big base like I enjoyed on the girls big skirt base.

I am going to use urethane to mold it and polyester resin and bronze powder to cast it. Plasti paste for the mother mold. Scout

[GlennT]

I don't know why you remove and reattach parts to work on them. Perhaps its a habit from working with fired clay.
I always model and work the entire figure at once, laying it fully out in clay over the armature and working it along as a whole at relatively the same degree of finish at each part.

One thing that helps me is to make a small , rough maquette of the piece first to figure out the pose and proportions, then from there to figure out the armature. So my armatures tend to be self-supporting, following the pose, anchored through the legs if there is not a central solid mass, rather than the traditional pipe from behind supporting the dangling armature in front of it.

[Scout]

Yes, you are right, I detached extremities when I did firing. I feel I have a better angle to work, if I can have it separate and, on a head or hands, be able to turn it around in my hands or on the paper wad pipe I do the head on.

You must mold yours while it is still wet. Otherwise wouldn't an internal armature break as it dried? When I was firing my pieces, I used a combination of pipes and elbows and a flange. I cut off the top of the head and hollowed it and removed the series of pipes as I hollowed. Do you remove your internal armature of keep your work wet?

Tell me a little about how you keep yours wet and how long you might be able to keep working on one piece. I feel I have to hurry.

I have drawn these two little girls a million times through the years and always knew I would sculpt them sometime. I didn't do any small marquette but maybe I should.

Do you have any favorite texturing tools to remove tool marks? Thanks, Scout

[GlennT]

Ah ha! I forgot that you are using water clay. I use " Le beau touche" by Chavant, and oil-based clay that I found among the options most closely feels and works like water clay.

It costs a bunch more than your clay, but no more wetting and covering...you can rework it after leaving it out in your studio for ten years, or strip it down and use it for the next peice without having to re-condition it.
No more clay dust, shrinking cracks, mold, and no more rushing about like a mad-hatter trying to work it before it hardens...it's great!
I have been using this so long that I tend to forget that about water-based clay, even thought I was aware of your firing some pieces.


My favorite tools for removing tool marks are my fingers!

When fingers are too large for some areas, I use the cone-shaped end of those double-ended neoprene tipped thingamabobs, or the delicate touch of the thin-wired triangle of the basic wooden-handled clay sculpting tool.

[Scout]

Tell me more about Chavant clay. It never shrinks? Does it slump? Can I use it for large pieces? I build up the water based as it firms up. Will it hold up to extended arms and body weight. How many pounds was your biggest piece? Sounds very interesting. You don't mind never having an original?

Do you do your own molding and casting? What rubber and resin do you use? Scout

[GlennT]

Careful, if we're playing 20 questions you may use yours up too fast!

You can find lotsa info on Chavant by using our search function. However...in as much as I have been doing all of my sculpture in chavant, and many other figurative sculptors here either use it or something similar, you can guess that it out-performs water-based clay in most of the areas you asked about.
Extended arms, etc. are supported by the strength of the armature. The clay stays where you put it. My largest piece using it so far was the 9 1/2 foot tall Saint Paul statue, and you can see the process here:

http://www.glennterryart.com/Sculpt/MakingStPaul.htm

The armature in this case instead of my usual wood, metal, construction debris, and stucco lathe approach was carved styrofoam, which reduced the weight but caused other difficulties including effecting my health. Over the carved styrofoam was laid the clay, averaging about 1/2 " thick. The remains of this are still in my studio, along with the 1/2 size version which is in much better shape because my usual armature type held the clay intact instead of having the plaster molds pull it apart upon demolding.

So, in that sense, I still have the originals, they just aren't in a permanent medium. I have works 10 years old in this clay, uncovered, non shrinking, that are waiting for me to apply a few finishing touches when I have the time, perhaps in another 10 years.

I consider my bronze cast to be "my original", and the clay is "that which brung me there".

As much as possible I use the old dinosaur approach of making direct plaster molds rather than rubber molds, as my work is mostly one of a kind commissioned originals rather than multiple runs. When neccessary I make rubber molds using either 2-1 ratio polytek or smooth-on products. At first I had been using an expensive blue silicone, 10-1 ratio product whose name escapes me. It was a pain in butt in comparison.
I do 95% of my own molds. The other 5% are if a client needs multiples and it is worth the extra cost to have a person who does molds all the time for a living create a better one.

Resin as in resin casts? I don't do them. I like the real thing...bronze.
Or plaster if it needs to be done on the cheap. Resin is toxic, and Glenn doesn't like toxic.

I should point out that chevant makes other oil-based clays that are firmer than " Le Beau Touche", such as their NSP clay. I use these if I am working real small, or in other instances where the circumstances warrant.

Try it...it's liberating!

[HappySculpting]

Hi Scout:)

What a cutie! Ditto the comments above about all those extra details making her so special.

With the boy, since you don't have the wide dress base for stability, you can just leave the lower portion of the legs a wide blob of clay and work out those legs last. Then the legs will be more into the leather hard clay and can be carved to form.

If you're thinking of firing, can cut her at the waist and fire her in halves. Make registration holes and protrusions in order to put her back together.

Look forward to all your new large works... !!!! And yes, we all are a bit manic I think!:D

~Tamara

P.S. Here's a link to show how Heidi uses a tomato cage with large black(black to prevent mold growth)bag for covering her earth clay sculpts to keep them hydrated:
http://portrait-sculpture.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=376

[Scout]

I hear you Glenn. I'll slow down with the assault.:) I'm sure I'll try the oil clay but I need to stick with this for a time. Also I am not much of an engineer. You spend a lot of time on the armature but I can't build that way. I may have to learn how though if I get much bigger than maybe adult size.

I like your thoughts on the original being the bronze and the clay just having served to get you there.

Hi Tamara, been a little while since we talked. I got off on Watercolor and only just started doing the bigger sculptures that I dreamed about. I do hope to be able to keep these wet enough to mold and then hollow them to be fired. I'll make register marks at the waist next time. If I get these far enough to hollow out, I am going to detach at the neck. Partly because one is already starting to crack there. I learned a lot about attaching too many things from one part of the body to another. Like the pig tail to the shoulder.

Good way to build up the figure, with roughed out legs. Do you sculpt everything right on the figure or do you cut parts off to work on them?

I read Heidi's thread. Very good advice. Thanks. Scout

[HappySculpting]

Do you sculpt everything right on the figure or do you cut parts off to work on them?
Scout

Yes, it's been awhile. So nice to connect back up. :-)

I first sculpt all the parts of the body as complete figure- this makes sure the parts are in proportion. I cut off hands, feet, and head to work them out from all angles by having them detached. I've had hands nearly dry and was able easily to reattach to the sculpture. You likely do this but here's the routine: Rough up both areas to attach with hatchmarks and moisten thoroughly. Make up a bit of slip and slop that on both pieces and join firmly.

Hard part is when the piece attaches to 2 different areas of the sculpt such as your pig tail. (I probably would have sculpted the pig tail on the sculpt itself- not detached.) Important to solidly join each attach point so that when it shrinks it won't make a stress crack at the joint. The goal is to have the entire sculpt shrink together at the same pace and as one unit.

:)

~Tamara

[Scout]

Thanks Tamara. The first one (with the pig tails) I was lost on the building part and couldn't juggle what I needed to do at the right time. Some of her extremities are not well attached. So in drying, they are letting go and may fall off. So I am trying to keep her wet until Steve gets here to mold her.

The second one (with the hat), is constructed much more securely. Should I let her dry? She is solid from the waist up but hollow with a maze of clay supports woven through in her skirt.

Talk to me about how to dry one. Should it ever be completely uncovered for long? I have a damp flannel sheet and plastic over it. There are a lot of small details that will dry very quickly. Like the basket handle. How do I protect them? Scout

[HappySculpting]

Hi Scout,

If you want Steve to mold the second sculpture, then it's best to keep it plump and full of water. Earth clay sculpts look best, in my opinion, when full of water. If you allow to dry, then everything will be smaller and more brittle. Also, graininess occurs (grog exposed from shrinkage) which the mold can pick up.

If you want to fire the second one- is it too thick? If it has a lot of grog, maybe you could go as thick as 3"??? That would be pushing the limits and it might blow. The clay supports on the inside will be fine provided you don't have airpockets that can also expode in firiing.

It's best to allow the sculpt to dry as slowly as possible. So.. drape the bag over her loosely during the day. Then at night close up the bag completely. During the night, all the moisture will equalize. Even if you removed the bag completely for a few hours in the day, the thin areas would dry out the quickest, but at night, when sealed up, the moisture will flow right back in those dried out areas- equalization will have occured.

Look for stress cracks as she's drying- these will get bigger as it's drying. Sometimes I carve these cracks completely out and fill with leather hard clay and pack it in and join good (do have to use moisture to join) to stop the crack. I often use a patch a tatch type product that is formulated for repairs on greenware.

I haven't seen the second sculpt... Hope to see it soon,

~Tamara

[Merlion]

All these are very good advice Tamara. I can't say it better.

I agree clay models do not have to be dry for molding. So keep it wrapped up and keep it wet. The big problem with drying is unequal shrinkage which causes cracking.

[Scout]

Thanks Tamara and EQ. I was thinking they didn't look as good dry as they did plump and wet.

I was having trouble with mold and smell while keeping them wet. Steve told me to add a little bleach to my spray bottle. It helps. I hope there are no ill effects from it.

I'm starting the little boy with two cats next. I'm concerned with the free standing balance of this one. Should I just rely on a pipe support into the ground for displaying or should he stand on his own? I'm thinkin' he will not stand alone. I don't think I will be able to take the exterior armature out of him like I did with the girls. He will be weak at the ankles. Any advice? Scout

[Scout]

Landseer, I sure could use some advice on the mold making. SteveM is coming to teach me how to mold and cast it. Scout