(Help) Ahsoka Tano Sculpt - Styrofoam and Polymer Clay Issue

[srsmith332]

Greetings RPF! I'm inquiring you guys on a sculpting issue that I've been having pertaining to Styrofoam and Polymer Oil Clay.

Here's the issue: The clay, while malleable, cannot stick to the clay. I'm still an apprentice at this sort of thing, so bare with me

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What I've found out by R@D:

-Crumpled up aluminum foil gives a surface the clay can cling to. I have an issue though with the weight and it defying gravity. The bottom-front ends of the headpiece need the most clay as I had to carve enough foam out to make a negative space where my head can fit into.


That's about it

 

[Collektor]

i have some experience with oil based clays. If its not sticking to itself, this could be the nature of the oil based clay, I've had problems with oil based clay from the art store not wanting to stick to itself, especially when adding bits to an existing mass. I've switched over to the oil clay sold through Smooth-On and I've been pleased with it in terms of its ability to stick to itself and the varying hardness of the clay. It also seemed to me that water works with their clay to bond two pieces together more so than the art store oil clay.

Now, if it's not sticking to the styrofoam, that could indeed be that the styrofoam is too slick for the clay to grab onto, and that could present a problem even if you were working with traditional clay. A thin layer of foil over the head would theoretically give the clay some 'tooth' to grab on to. As for the lower parts of the headpiece, I'd recommend building in a wire armature for the shape, that way the clay has something solid to grab onto.

Lastly, when it comes to applying the clay to the armature, I'd fall back on what they taught me in art school: Block in the shape roughly using squares of clay to define the overall shape and mass, then once that's been defined, go in with your tools and refine the shape to fine detail and form. Otherwise you risk spending a lot of time fighting with the clay and worrying about messing up fine details while still trying to get the shape right. By blocking the shape in roughly, you have the advantage of not having to worry if you really have to squeeze or push the clay in there hard to get it to stick.

Better to have it on there securely then do the fine shaping, than have the clay slough off in the middle of the shaping because it wasn't gripping the armature well enough before you started shaping.

Hope it helps