CLay sculpting materials

francis 24

New Member
Hi! i'm trying to start sculpting but then I'm not sure of the materials to use. A lot of videos talk about WED clay and chavant but I'm not sure of the availability. I live in the Philippines and the only widely available material that I know of is Jovi, but then from experience it's a bit hard to mold and sculpt with. Any recommendations about where to order (online or shops) clay or any other sculpting materials would help a lot. Thanks!
 
Water clay is cheap and readily available. It is the grey, ceramic clay that everyone (including preschoolers) use. I recommend this to start with.

WED clay IS water clay, with mineral oil added to slow the drying process, which is only important when your sculpt is large. (W.E.D. stands to Walter Elias Disney)

Chavant Clay is oil base clay, and is used by expert sculptors because it holds fine detail without drying out. It is more difficult to use and not recommended for beginners.



I strongly advise using water clay as a starting point. It is cheap, it blocks out quickly, and changes consistency as it loses water content. Meaning it dries. Yes, it dries. So, as it loses water content, it becomes firmer and that is a good thing. You can't sculpt wet, soggy clay, but you can block it out. Meaning: get it onto the form and shape. Then as it firms up, you can sculpt, carve, and detail as desired.


The main complaint is that it dries out. Yes, water clay dries, but if you cover it with a trash bag to prevent air from reaching it, it will last for weeks. After the finished sculpt, you can spray it with crystal clear to seal it and it will not dry out. This is not permanent, but good for practice.



Next are tools, rakes, steel kidneys, saw-tooth steel kidneys for shaping the form. You fingers can not get a shape all by themselves. You need tools. Many can be hand made, rather than bought. Good luck. Post progress pictures. We love pictures.
 
I'm not a sculpture noob, but still pretty amateur and I decided to start with Chavant NSP Soft and I have to say I LOVE IT!! It's surprisingly easy to work with in my opinion and the ability to use heat to smooth things out is really nice. Same tools as you'd use with water based clay.

As for buying it online. You can get it from Amazon, but it's really expensive compared to what you'd pay at a local dealer. They do have a list of distributors on their website:
http://www.chavant.com/files/distributors.html


Good luck
 
This thread is more than 6 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top