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Sculpting Tutorial
Published: 2010-09-03 16:58:58 +0000 UTC; Views: 73429; Favourites: 2560; Downloads: 1689
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Description
In this tutorial Ill be going over some basics of sculpting.Its huge, so its best if you download it.
Comments appreciated, painting tutorial on its way.
Pour vouz who asked for the head tutorial, please go here:
[link]
Click here [link] for the finished product!
Id LOVE to see what you created using this tutorial, so if youd like please take the time to post your creation in the comments below.
EDIT: I woke up this morning and noticed I had 300 new messages since 8 hours ago ("wtf did I not take my pills last night...?"), and first thing I see on my reply sack is "Congratz on the DD..."
I swear guys, Christmas isnt for another 4 months!
Im not quite sure how to begin to thank you all...
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Comments: 397
Thanks!
I am plannng on sculpting my first art
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the words are fuzzy what type of clay did you use
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as I do for super sculpey not to be so hard and with this color?
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Is the temp in Celsius or Fahrenheit? Because I can't get my oven to go that low and my little guy is ready to bake.
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The temperatures shown here are all Celsius. You really don't need a lot of heat to bake super sculpey.
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I have not yet made a coloring tutorial since the method I use is not available for all fellow artists.
I do my paint work with a Badger Patriot airbrush, it is by far the best way to do your coloring.
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I got an important question, i just got over my sculpture with turpentine (the clay is still soft) and i left it on air for about 1 day. Now i question is, if the sculpture still smells like turpentine is it dangerous to put in in the oven? If not, once i bake the sculpture will it still smell like turpentine? And is there a chance thatΒ onceΒ the sculpture is baked, will the oven smell like turpentine?
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It's common for the sculpture to smell of turpentine even days after you've processed it. This might not be too appealing, but it is completely normal.
If the turpentine is non-flammable, you can bake the sculpture normally. Since this is your first time using turpentine, I would strongly recommend you keep a close eye on the sculpture while it's in the oven.
I have never had turpentine go wrong for me, but I would watch out for any signs of burning, bubbling or cracking.
The sculpture should not smell of turpentine once it comes out of the oven. It will however, have a distinctive smell to it once it's completely baked (not due to the turpentine, but the clay itself), but this will dissipate quite quickly.
No harm will come to the oven, nor will it smell like turpentine after you are done baking.
Sorry for the late reply.
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Thanks! Actually i have flammable one and i've put it in the oven and nothing happened
Once again, thanks for the answer 
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That's good to hear! Turpentine should be safe no matter what, but it doesn't hurt to be safe.
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Hi!
I liked your tutorial very much and I'd like to translate your tutorial into Russian, so that people from Russian-speaking countries can also make such beautiful things. May I translate it?
I'll write that it's your tutorial and give a link on this page of course!
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Hi, that's a wonderful idea, and you have my full support!
I had a look through my raw folder to see if I could find the *.psd file for you, but so far it seems that it was lost when I swapped over to my SSD.
I'll keep looking for it, but in the mean time, don't hesitate to ask if you need anything.
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Oh) If you give me permission, I can cut this pictures from the tutorial and add them to the translated text. Also I'll give a link on your tutorial and your page here, so people will see the original)))))
P.S. I hope you understand, what I mean)))))) Sorry, English isn't my native language))))
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That's absolutely fine, English isn't my native language either, but yours is great, I can understand you fine.
I give you full permission to do this. I wanted to give you the raw psd file, as that would have made your job a little bit easier (you would have had to just modify the text layers since they are not rasterized), but I still can't seem to find it. Just tell me if you need help with anything and I'll gladly get back to you
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thanks a lot!))))))))
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These are all amazing. XD I don't sculpt, but I used to love doing it. :9
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You should get back on it. Doctors orders.
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Hi there! Thanks for the great tutorial, it's really inspiring. However, I have an question. How do you guarantee the sculpture can stand on it's own without support? Thanks if you could answer!
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Sorry for the late reply.
Here's something that I've learned during the years: You can never have a too sturdy skeleton for your sculpture,- if in doubt, add more support.
Getting a sculpture to stand on its on however, is a different thing. If you browse through my gallery, you will see that 99 % of my sculptures come with a base. This is partly because getting them to stand on their own is extremely difficult, but also risky. If you accidentally nudge the sculpture, it can come crashing down and get heavily damaged.
So my answer is no: Unless I know that the character will definitely be fine on its own (say if it was a figure sitting down or laying down), I would always include a base.
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Too broke to go buy super sculpey , will sculpey III work?
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Sculpey III will be fine, and I would actually encourage you to experiment and find the right clay for you and your project.
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Also is there anything I can use in place of turpentine?
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Rubbing alcohol works too, just make sure to let it dry and evaporate completely before firing.
You should get either one of these from your local art shop,- they will be filed under brush cleaning tools.
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Sorry if I ask too many questions.. but um I'm having a problem with the clay breaking behind and in front most of the joints, so it ends upΒ completely breaking.Β Can I fix this?
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There is a number of causes for your clay breaking, and a number of different fixes.
Do you use enough foil? If you don't buff suspended parts (like arms) with foil first, you make them needlessly heavy, and this puts a lot of pressure on the joints, resulting in cracks and breaking.
Did you bake the clay long enough? The surface can feel hard and fine, it may even be burned, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's thoroughly cooked. I bake my sculptures for several hours in low temperatures to make sure they are as durable as can be. If you have some left over clay, you can always bake a chunk that is as thick as the thickest part of your sculpture, and see how easy it is to break.
(hint: the thickest part of your sculpture should never be more than half an inch to an inch. Make sure to flesh up that skeleton before applying clay!)
What clay are you using? Some products (the lower end particularly) deteriorate over time. This is caused by the clay shrinking and collapsing on itself. If you are using sculpey, this is fine. Sculpey is an oil based clay, so there is no evaporation (loss of volume) after baking.
Did you remember to properly wrap your skeleton with supporting wire and foil?
If you sculpt directly on wire, you almost always create small air pockets, that can burst and break the clay. The surface of a thick wire is very smooth, so unless you have wrapped foil or smaller wire around it you create pockets of air as the wire moves around in the clay (softened by the warmth of your hands). When you've baked the sculpture and moved it around, the wire inside the air pocket flexes and wobbles, but the unyielding clay doesn't.
If you think it's neither of these, you can always send me a picture for me to look at.
If it's too late to go back and re-sculpt, you can always apply liquid and/or soft epoxy onto the sculpture. It hardens without the use of oven, and is extremely durable.
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I actually didn't bake it yet but it was sitting on my desk for a while so it was hard. I used foil and wire but some of the wire was removed because it was sticking out and I got annoyed and removed it. The clay I was using was a mixture of scrap clays from I think Premo, Sculpey III, and a little Craftsmart. Also one of the legs cracked completely through and broke off. ;_;
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This, and a few other tutorials have made me picked up sculpting during my vacation. I'm actually right about to go back to Hobby Lobby for some more clay... my first attempts were.... ah ha ha...is that a cat? Oh god... whoo... I made the mistake of using some clay that I guess only expert doll makers could handle (messy messy messy!). I'll take your advice and start with sculpty and super sculpt... and see if turpentine is available to me.
Are there certain brush tips or sizes I really should look for? Any your recommend/have favorites?
I really hope to be good enough that people would like me to sculpt their characters one day. It would be a lot of fun~
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As far as brush sizes go, 2 would suit you fine. Look for the round tip / filbert brushes, they tend to work the best.
I wish you the best of luck,- feel free to come back for advice any time.
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"Cut your fingernails" I thought- Yeah right, pro tip just for pros...
Nope.
Seriously guys. Do it.
Wonderful tutorial. Helped so much xD
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How do you spot a 3D artist?
Seemingly clueless about seasonal changes, unkempt hair, hasn't been out of the house for months. Flawless, short fingernails.
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This is a lovely tutorial! I have a quick question that I thought into which you might have insight. For my armature and "bulk", I want to use a combination of wire, crumpled paper and masking tape (or tinfoil, that is a good idea), and also some cardboard. My friend seems to think that they are going to burst into flame somehow in the oven, because they are flammable materials (even though they would be covered in Sculpey). What is your take on this?
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Hello there, sorry for the ridiculously late reply!
If it's still relevant, here's my two cents:
They wont catch on fire. For the sake of your sanity I suggest using tinfoil and wire (they will do the same job much better than masking tape and cardboard, and will be MUCH easier to work with).
You'll be baking your sculpey at a very low temperature (110 - 115 degrees), so there's no need to worry.
However, if you DO experiment with liquids like turpentine, I would be extremely careful since they are flammable substances.
Happy sculpting!
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excellent, thank you for the tips! I am looking forward to creating my idea!
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I wish you good luck!
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I have been wanting to start clay sculpting for years ever since I first did it in my high school art class. This is a great tutorial.
Only thing that disheartened/annoyed me a bit is that my own oven doesn't go below 250 degrees for some bloody reason, so I'll have to find some work-around.
Thank you so so much for giving me a great starting point.
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Your oven has an option to go under 250 though, right...? (also don't bake in 250)
I'm really glad you enjoyed my tutorial.
And on a side note; you have an amazing gallery. I absolutely love your use of color, its very inspiring. I love how much personality each of your characters have.
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Aww shucks you're too kind! *blush*
Actually wow I just tried it again and oven went down to 170. But still higher than you recommended.
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Yup, sorry about that mate, but you really should keep the temperature around 100. If you go over even a little bit it will burn badly (mild burns are okay, but if the clay burns badly enough it will start to reshape itself).
If you cant get an oven, you could always try your luck with a cheap heat gun. My next sculpture will never fit into my small oven, so I have this ahead of me.
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Great instructions on the base part - it's something I usually *cough* ignore...so I get what I deserve most times XD I'll be following your tutorial from now on!
Does the turpentine only work with uncured clay?
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Yes, and only uncured clay.
Remember, (and I learned this the hard way) the path to a good sculpture lies in the base and in the armature wire. Honest!
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Thanks - my first two based sculptures definitely turned out more vertical than most of the others!
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is galvenised wire ok? and does thinkness matter?
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I recommend using different thicknesses.
Start with the thickest you got (literally) for the limbs attaching to the base (legs). If possible, use that wire to create the basic shape for the rest of the skeleton. After bulking it up with foil, wrap the whole package with a thinner wire to give the clay something to grab hold of.
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WOW!
This is a great tutorial. : D Lately (as of last Monday) I have begun a fascination of dodo birds. Strange, maybe. But strange is good.
I love the form and anatomy of dodo birds, although I have to base everything of "Edward's Dodo" (a famous painting that I LOVE) and the sketches and journals of sailors who "saw" the birds...although most of these journals say how to eat them more than anything....
But anyhow, I've been lurking through the internets for a while now, looking for sculpting tutorials and when all hope was lost I found this! I would love to try sculpting, as I mainly do 2-D pieces. As mentioned, I love dodo birds, and their shape is simple but really interesting. Sinse my birthday is coming up and I mainly lurk at the local Rubenstien's, I'll be able to get some Sculpey and everything there. Figured I may as well start with a dodo. A simple one, anyway.
: D I'll be using this tutorial and I can't wait. I am astounded by how amazing this is, and the Spitter looks GREAT!!! Lol, I haven't played L4D in a while. XD
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Checked out your gallery (great one, btw!), no sculpture yet but I'll keep looking. I think a dodo is an ideal starting point! If you upload any progress pics I'd be pleased to take a look
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