New to sculpting

Hi

I'm looking to get into sculpting and casting my own stuff. But I have not idea where to begin. So oh great and venerable veterans please lend me your wisdom, please can you recommend books, youtube videos, podcasts anything that will help me get going.

I've already bought "Beginner's guide to sculpting characters in clay" from 3dtotal (it has a cool dwarf on the cover ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) and "Modeller's Guide to mould making and resin casting" by Alex Hornor. I've also been watching Tested's videos on casting and model making but I'm sure there's more and better resources out there.

To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, my only real contact with this kind of stuff is miniatures gaming, warhammer and that kind of thing. I like the idea of designing my own game, something akin to necromunda for those in the know, though perhaps at a larger scale.

Anyway thanks

Yours
Lyra

Watch all the Smooth-On videos...

Thanks ^_^ bookmarked and I'll start watching through them over supper.

I love the Smooth-on videos, they are very helpful. Just keep in mind that they are trying to sell their products so be a little cautious. They often recommend extra stuff that may not be necessary. They make great products, but when you're starting out you may not want to spend a fortune on a learning experience. I don't have limitless resources so I make my mother molds out of plaster and plaster bandages. They recommend some expensive trowel-able product they make. I'm sure it's great, but it was more than I was willing to invest.

Good luck, and post lots of pictures!!!

i would echo some of the sentiments, youtube is a great resource. punished props, brick in the yard, tested, and smooth on all have great videos. I dont think the smooth on video are really pushing product, but they do show how to use them. They definitely dont say plasti paste is the only way to make a mother mold, but it is really cool stuff.

Two other things that have helped me.
1) dont expect perfection. learn from mistakes but air bubbles and flash happen, so get good at cleanup and you can salvage a lot with with some sand paper, superglue, bondo, etc.
2) definitely set small achievable goals to work up to your dream project and buy what you need as you go. that said the right tool for the right job will get you better results so if you NEED it dont fight it.

Hi!
Get your hands on some good, illustrated books, they are indispensable and great to have it in your library. You can learn a lot of different things/techniques on Youtube, and the most helpful videos for me personally were from the Stan Winston video catalogue on that website, and the people doing the videos are the best in the business.
Sculpting is one of those arts that you are either good at or not, but you can get better no matter where you stand. Keep your expectations realistic! And of course, the old cliche 'practice makes perfect' applies. I have been sculpting for years, but sometimes I have lulls where I don't sculpt for periods of time and I notice that my skills deteriorate somewhat, it really is something you need discipline and consistency.
For me, any art (painting, drawing, sculpting) has a phase where everything looks like hell and you want to quit or start over - don't! Push through that, and always step back from your work to see it from across the room. Hope all that makes sense. And this community is always supportive, so you can always show your work here for constructive criticism without the nasty element that is always found on the internet. Use this resource.
Good luck and enjoy.

Dont get discouraged. You will make mistakes. Ruined molds, molds that tear, molds that stick because you used a urethane without a release agent, mold materials on your hands or drips you didnt see and now its on everything else you touched. Ive been making molds for 20 years and i still screw up. Watching videos and asking here is a great step, but nothing beats diving in and trying for yourself. What works for one may not be good for the other. Im sure a hundred guys here will agree. Just have fun, watch videos, read, ask seasoned mold makers and you will be just fine. Make sure you show us your work

You might also try getting a couple packages of inexpensive modeling clay to start. (NOT the air drying kind)
Just practice making different shapes and get a feel for it and try to do something every day.

Honestly, the best place to start is to just start sculpting and in return you'll learn that way. All the books and reference materials are a fantastic help, but you wont learn much till you start.
So i'd find something you really wanna sculpt, something simple and easy, gather your reference material. Go get your material, super sculpey is a good starting clay, and just jump right in.

Kaptainkirk said:

Honestly, the best place to start is to just start sculpting and in return you'll learn that way. All the books and reference materials are a fantastic help, but you wont learn much till you start.
So i'd find something you really wanna sculpt, something simple and easy, gather your reference material. Go get your material, super sculpey is a good starting clay, and just jump right in.

Click to expand...

Absolutely right. If you’re into monsters try a zombie or some fairytail thing. Its pretty hard to mess up a zombie.

Any idea where you want to start? Miniatures, life-size, etc. What material do you want to work in/with/are comfortable with? What do you want the final product to be? I ask because it would help to point out where to start, what to work with, what you'll need to get in terms of equipment, ad infinitum.