Tips For Figure Sculpting With Polymer Clay

Today we're going to be sculpting the female figure in polymer clay and while I'm doing that I wanted to give you guys 15 tips for sculpting the figure when using polymer clay. A common question I get asked from students is how do you make your sculpture permanent when you're working in a non-dry modeling clay like the clay that I get from Dollar Tree or Chavant NSP clay. These don't harden and so the only way to make it permanent is to make a mold and cast it. That can be a complex and expensive process so an alternative, a great alternative is using polymer clay which can be baked in a normal oven and you can have a finished sculpture that's ready to be painted and displayed. Tip number one is choosing the right clay. Not all polymer clays are the same. Some are softer, some are firmer. Usually you want a firmer clay when you're doing smaller sculptures where there's going to be a lot more detail and you need it to hold those details and softer clays for larger sculptures. For this sculpture I'm going to use a very soft clay. This is a granite gray Sculpey clay that I got from Hobby Lobby and it was on sale so it was a good deal but you can experiment with different brands like Fimo, Sculpey, and Primo and find what clay and hardness works best for you. Number two is keep your workspace clean. Polymer clay can pick up dust and lint easily so having a clean workspace can be really helpful. Tip number three is condition your clay. Before you start sculpting you want to condition your clay by kneading it until it's soft and pliable. This helps to prevent cracking and makes it easier to work with. For this I'm just kneading it by hand but you could also use a cup or a roller to knead the clay. Tip number four is using reference images. Having reference images is crucial for creating realistic sculptures. Use photos from different angles or even a 3D model to guide your sculpture. Now the photos I'm using are from PoseSpace. If you're interested in getting this pose that I'm using, the censored pose, along with nine other poses provided by PoseSpace.com and you can actually download these for free by following the link that goes to the figure sculpting fundamentals course in the description below. And if you want the full uncensored versions of these poses you can check those out at PoseSpace.com. Tip number five is start with an armature. A strong armature provides a support and prevents your sculpture from collapsing. Here I used a thick eight gauge aluminum wire to create a basic skeleton and then I can build my sculpture on top of this. I attached this armature to the base which is a stained piece of plywood by placing a screw and then tightly wrapping some additional wire to secure the leg of the armature in place. Focus on getting the proportions right before you move on to the next step. If you want more on building wire armatures there's a video on this channel as well as on the Proko 3D channel that go over a couple of different methods for building wire armatures that are proportionate so that you have all of those tricky measurements in place when you start sculpting. Tip number six is use aluminum foil to save clay. For large areas use aluminum foil as a filler. Shape the foil into the basic form and then cover it with a layer of clay. Tip number seven is understanding the primary forms. As you're blocking out the thick areas of the figure with aluminum foil keep in mind the primary forms. These are simplified shapes that help us better understand the figure like a mannequin devoid of details. The rib cage is like an egg, the pelvis like a box, the limbs are cylinders and the head can be simplified into a wedge shape that tapers towards the front profile of the face. Be careful not to make these areas too thick because we need plenty of room to add the clay on top. Don't forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel if you'd like more sculpture related tutorial content. Also if enough people comment PVC camera rig then I'll show you guys how I got these handheld type shots while I was sculpting. Now some of the following tips I'm not using in this specific sculpture but I wanted to mention them just so that you're aware that they're an option. Tip number eight is smooth the surface with softeners or solvents. So to achieve a smooth finish you can use a softener like baby oil or a solvent like rubbing alcohol and apply it with a brush to blend the seams and smooth out the surface. Tip number nine is use a pasta machine for even sheets. This is great if you're adding drapery or you just want an even sheet to cover the wire armature. I don't have one so if I need a piece I just flatten it out by hand. Tip number ten is pay attention to anatomy. Understanding anatomy is key to realistic figures. For this there's really no cheat code. Anatomy is complex and it's difficult to master. Study the muscles, the bones, and how they interact. Even small details can make a big difference. But it really helps when you have a solid foundation or solid framework of those primary forms to add the anatomy on top of. Tip number eleven is work in layers. Start with a rough shape, try to keep it thin. You can bake this to harden the surface which gives it strength and stability. Then you can use an exacto knife or sandpaper to remove any hardened clay as well as gradually adding more clay to refine the details. This makes it easier to manage and correct mistakes. Tip number twelve goes right along with tip number eleven and it's bake your sculpture in stages. This helps to set the areas that you're happy with and reduces the risk of damaging them while you're working in other areas. This has happened to me more than once where part of the sculpture was hard and I was working on another part of the sculpture and then my finger touched the face or something else that wasn't hardened and messed it all up. So if you get something, especially if it's a difficult area like the face, you don't want to mess it up, then I would bake it to make sure that you're not going to mess up those details. Keep in mind that if the surface is too smooth then it can be difficult to get the next layer of soft clay to stick to the hardened clay. So you can use something like a liquid polymer clay to help it stick, but what I prefer is just to keep the texture rough like the texture of my fingerprints if I know that I'm going to be adding more clay to the surface. Tip thirteen is add texture. Textures can bring your sculpture to life. Use tools or household items like toothbrushes and sponges to create different textures. For my sculptures I often prefer a more simple and roughly tooled texture, but you might prefer a smoother texture. Tip fourteen is use a heat gun. Now my heat gun broke so I didn't use it for this sculpture, but if you are building up the sculpture in stages and you want to harden specific areas, if you're careful then you can use a heat gun to heat the surface and harden the sculpture. Now you have to be careful when doing this because you can burn the surface and it starts to like blacken and bubble in a not very nice way, but if it's just some detail work like the hand or the face and you just want it to be a little bit firmer, you can pass a heat gun over it carefully, slowly to heat it up so that that area hardens and that way you don't have to go through the trouble of moving it over to the oven and baking it which takes a lot more time. Tip fifteen is color your sculpture using acrylic based paints. I find that matte paints or chalky paints have a less plastic look and make the sculpture look a little bit more professional, or you can do what I've done and just leave it in the original clay. And there you have fifteen tips to help you sculpt a figure with polymer clay. I hope you found them useful and I hope they inspire you to create your own amazing sculptures. And actually if you're interested in this sculpture, this is something I haven't tried before but I'll put it up on eBay. I'll put a link in the description and have it up on eBay. I'll start the bidding at $50 just to pay for shipping and materials so I can get some more clay. It'll be up for two weeks. I'll do a two week auction and so if you're watching this video just right after it's come out and you like this sculpture and you'd like to bid on it then you can find that link in the description as well. We'll see. Maybe somebody will want it. If you're interested in learning more about traditional clay sculpting techniques then I hope you'll check out my sculpting courses. A great place to start is the Figure Sculpting Fundamentals course which you can find at proko.com slash sculpture or you might be more interested in the portrait in which case I would recommend you check out the Portrait Sculpting course at proko.com slash portrait sculpt or perhaps you struggle with the hands so you might be interested in the Hand Sculpting course at proko.com slash hand sculpt. Thanks for watching, stay creative, stay productive, and happy sculpting.