Sculpting Busts

[RuneAnimus]

Hello everyone,
I\'m going to be sculpting some busts, and was wondering what the best type of clay would be to do this? Any and all suggestions would be most appreciated.
Also, any tips for a first time bust sculptor?

Thanks again.
Blessed Be!
-Rune

 

[Jericho]

Can\'t wait to check this thread tomorrow morning. Should be some amusing replies to this particular thread title

 

[RuneAnimus]

Hehe...Indeed.

 

[cassar]

busts

depends on how big your busts arelol ....milliputt gets my vote, anything bigger than a D probably needs wire supports.:twisted:

 

[freakinacage]

depends on the size and whether you want to cast.

personally i tend to bulk out with wire and foil, then a thin layer of gs to allow fimo to adhere to it. use the fimo to bulk out then use your putty of choice to add more detail

 

[crazyboyae1]

carve it out with super sculpty, then you can do some details if you\'d liked with brown stuff or gray stuff. but i know supersculpty is what alot of the \"big time\" sculptors use.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by RuneAnimus
I\'m going to be sculpting some busts, and was wondering what the best type of clay would be to do this?

The one you get on with best.

There really is no other answer, since in the polymer-clay camp one sculptor will say Super Sculpey, another will say Fimo and a third will plump for Premo. Then three guys using epoxies might chime in and vote for Milliput, MagicSculp and ProCreate.

Then you\'ll get a pro who\'ll ask all the other guys why they aren\'t using Chavant lol

Originally posted by RuneAnimus
Any and all suggestions would be most appreciated.

Depends a bit on what material you go with. In any case I\'d suggest:
work from a basic armature (a simple ball shape on a rod/wire will do);
if you have any anatomy references use them constantly while you work, to check proportions, placement, sizes... at the very least find a few photos of heads online and put them up on screen;
having another bust or two on hand to refer to... even if they\'re not that anatomically accurate a three-dimensional reference is very handy when working in 3D.

Originally posted by RuneAnimus
Also, any tips for a first time bust sculptor?

Practice with the putty/putties you go with before jumping into a major project.

Einion

 

[freakinacage]

also, read this:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=59727

 

[demonherald]

Originally posted by freakinacage
depends on the size and whether you want to cast.

personally i tend to bulk out with wire and foil, then a thin layer of gs to allow fimo to adhere to it. use the fimo to bulk out then use your putty of choice to add more detail

how do you find the GS stnds to treatment in the oven Tim????

 

[freakinacage]

the first layer of gs? had no probs. any gs that is added for detail is added after baking

also bear in mind that you can boil fimo to cure it (thanks shawn!)

 

[RuneAnimus]

Well, in that case, I suppose I\'ll go purchase a few different types of clay and see what works best,.

Thanks for all your help, it is most appreciated.

Blessed Be!

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by RuneAnimus
Well, in that case, I suppose I\'ll go purchase a few different types of clay and see what works best,.

What\'s available locally?

If you\'re buying online Kneadatite is best bought in the large roll (CMON store\'s price is good) and MagicSculp is available in large packs that make it very cost effective (no worries about it going off, even if you buy 5lb). SuperSculpey and similar sort of dry out if you don\'t use them up so best not to buy too much.

Einion

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by Einion


If you\'re buying online Kneadatite is best bought in the large roll (CMON store\'s price is good)

really? it surprises me that you would recommend that. i would personally go for the 2 separate coloured sausages

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by freakinacage

Originally posted by Einion
If you\'re buying online Kneadatite is best bought in the large roll (CMON store\'s price is good)

really? it surprises me that you would recommend that. i would personally go for the 2 separate coloured sausages

Yeah, that\'s what I meant (should have said tube?); the other type is the ribbon.

I think the CMON store stocks just the one package type anyway

Einion

 

[dogfacedboy uk1]

Regarding the comment about super sculpey, many people say how it dries it quickly - no real surprise given that they just sell it in a plain cardboard box with no wrapper. But I had mine for over a year before I started cranking out my sculpts a few months ago and it was fine to use. Dried sculpey can be reconstituted by using the softner or suitable alternative (turpenoid or whatever) and putting it through a pasta roller several times to shred it up.

Good luck with the busts by the way, it\'s great fun.

dfb

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by dogfacedboy uk1
Regarding the comment about super sculpey, many people say how it dries it quickly - no real surprise given that they just sell it in a plain cardboard box with no wrapper.

Yeah, kinda silly isn\'t it? Good part of that is if you\'re buying in person it\'s usually easy to open the box up and check if it\'s still peachy and fresh.

Originally posted by dogfacedboy uk1
But I had mine for over a year before I started cranking out my sculpts a few months ago and it was fine to use.

A lot depends on how long it\'s sat on a shelf in the warehouse or wherever - I\'ve seen SS that hasn\'t left the shop yet that has dried out (thanks to tips in the clay forums, otherwise I wouldn\'t have known to check).

Einion