Way New Sculptor Looking for Feedback

[GrimmOmen]

Hello!

This is my first attempt a sculpting. I'm still just trying to get use to the medium and the tools, and if I'm lucky, by the end I'll have something to put on my shelf.

I'm working on a bust of the Rocketeer, and having blast although I'm running into some issues. Firstly, I'm getting some cracks here and there and I've had a few of my details break off. I've tried to patch the cracks, but those cracked as well! LOL. I think it might have had something to do with me using too much water trying to smooth out the clay, and since the clay contracts as it drys, it split when it dried out. In trying to re-attach the original, or new pieces, I've wet and roughed up the contact points prior to attaching the pieces, but they seem extra brittle and I'm not sure if I'm using the right technique.

My current approach is basically to sculpt out the piece for the most part while the clay is still wet, then letting it dry and smoothing out the rounded bits and squaring off the hard edges. Is that a good idea? It seems to be working for me, but there again, I wouldn't have to worry about these pieces breaking off if the clay was still wet.

So I'd appreciate you folks having a look at my progress pics and giving me some feedback on areas where you think I might be making life harder for myself. The piece isn't screen accurate by far, and parts of it aren't even quite symmetrical! But I figure if I can learn how to properly fix my mistakes, making them won't be such a big deal.

http://photobucket.com/RocketeerWIP

Thanks in advance for your time!

-Grimm

 

[Big_Water99]

what clay are you using you need to switch to something else like supersculpey or sculpey firm both great clays to start with I mix the 2 50 /50 mix and works out great then bake when you get tyeh result you want give it a shot and its looking good for being new keep it up:thumbsup

 

[GrimmOmen]

Thanks for the advice. I've got some super sculpey, but that stuff doesn't seem to sculpt as well for me as clay. But I could totally chalk that up my lack of experience with the medium. But it seemed really rubbery to work with. But I'll give it another go. Do you have to do anything special to add pieces to it? I guess there's ample vids up on YouTube for me to watch, but getting help from you guys is greatly appreciated!

Thanks again!
-Grimm