hello all :)

[R. Ellis-Bowyer]

Welcome to the forums, Rachel. Make yourself at home, we're glad to have you here.

Thank you very much. It looks like a great forum, I'm sure I'll have fun

 

[R. Ellis-Bowyer]

Welcome! I always admire sculptors. I tried my hand in a bit of clay sculpture but was honestly terrible at it.

Wouldn't mind maybe trying it again some time. It does look fun once you get the hang of it. I always had a snail sculpture in mind that I wanted to bring to life...

Anyways, looking forward to seeing your work!

Thank you so much. I really happy that you admire sculptors, I feel we are an overlooked bunch in the creative world.

Was you using a water based clay when you made something? Maybe try a polymer or wax based clay, like monster clay and see if you prefer that. Hopefully you'll have a better experience with it

 

[TK H-H]

Thank you so much. I really happy that you admire sculptors, I feel we are an overlooked bunch in the creative world.

Was you using a water based clay when you made something? Maybe try a polymer or wax based clay, like monster clay and see if you prefer that. Hopefully you'll have a better experience with it

I think I just used the Sculpey oven-bake clays. I tried a super light soft clay once too, but I wasn't fond of that one. It was too hard to blend pieces together (they just didn't want to stick).

I don't know if it counts, but a really long time ago, I made some pots and a snake sculpture out of clay I pulled out of the ground myself. There was an abandoned swimming pool project near my grandparent's house and if you climbed down into the hole they left behind, you could dig a little more and find a thick clay layer. I dug a bunch of it up and used that. That was a lot of fun actually. I don't have the pots anymore, but I did find the snake sculpture not long ago. It's intact except for a small break near the tip of the tail. It's rock solid, yet I believe I simply dried it in the sun. I'd totally try that again, except I don't have the equipment to dig down deep enough to reach the clay layer. Nor do I have permission to just go digging massive holes.

 

[R. Ellis-Bowyer]

I think I just used the Sculpey oven-bake clays. I tried a super light soft clay once too, but I wasn't fond of that one. It was too hard to blend pieces together (they just didn't want to stick).

I don't know if it counts, but a really long time ago, I made some pots and a snake sculpture out of clay I pulled out of the ground myself. There was an abandoned swimming pool project near my grandparent's house and if you climbed down into the hole they left behind, you could dig a little more and find a thick clay layer. I dug a bunch of it up and used that. That was a lot of fun actually. I don't have the pots anymore, but I did find the snake sculpture not long ago. It's intact except for a small break near the tip of the tail. It's rock solid, yet I believe I simply dried it in the sun. I'd totally try that again, except I don't have the equipment to dig down deep enough to reach the clay layer. Nor do I have permission to just go digging massive holes.

Sculpey super light is awful to use. You need to use another sculpey product called bake and bond for it to stick to anything!

It totally counts that you dug up your own clay. If fact it counts even more so . I did the same thing when I was a kid, it's great fun... Did you soak the reclaimed clay in water first of all, by some chance?

 

[TK H-H]

Sculpey super light is awful to use. You need to use another sculpey product called bake and bond for it to stick to anything!

It totally counts that you dug up your own clay. If fact it counts even more so . I did the same thing when I was a kid, it's great fun... Did you soak the reclaimed clay in water first of all, by some chance?

I wonder if that's what it was. It kind of felt like working with marshmallow.

Nah, I just used it as it was and it seemed to work. It was pretty soft and workable, with a little kneading. I think I might have wet it a little bit to smooth it out as I worked, but I can't remember... I think that was 16 or 17 years ago now. Goodness time flies...

 

[R. Ellis-Bowyer]

I wonder if that's what it was. It kind of felt like working with marshmallow.

Nah, I just used it as it was and it seemed to work. It was pretty soft and workable, with a little kneading. I think I might have wet it a little bit to smooth it out as I worked, but I can't remember... I think that was 16 or 17 years ago now. Goodness time flies...

Yep that's the stuff. It's horrible! It's designed to be used primarily as an under sculpt material. But I couldn't get on with it either. I use Aves Apoxie Clay for under sculpting, much better material.

I'm glad you had fun with the reclaimed clay. Soaking clay you dig up gets rid of any impurities from it. But you don't have to... Funny thing is, it was was a long time ago for me too haha