Welcome back to this nine-part series exploring how I sculpt my relief work in the hopes that you might find something helpful in my madness. In Part I we dove into some backstory and tricks that should make your sculpting experience more clear. In this Part II then we’re just going to jump into the materials and tools I use. So let’s get started!…
The Clay and Tools
I use Chavant NSP Hard in green for all my relief work. But the truth is you can use any kind of oil clay given it’s sulphur-free (the sulphur will prevent you from making a silicone mold so definitely avoid any clay with sulphur in it). You can even use Sculpey or an epoxy clay though I recommend covering your tile in peel-able contact paper so you can get it off your tile after you’re done because these clays will stick right to a bald tile.
As for that tile, I sculpt all my relief work on a ceramic tile I bought from the hardware store. They have all sorts of sizes and shapes, but just make sure your chosen tile is big enough so there’ll be at least 2-3” clearance around your finished relief on it. Also make sure the surface is slick and flat and not textured.
I use plain ol’ printer paper and a mechanical pencil or color pencil to trace my design on the clay. Nothing fancy.
I use a medium-sized rake tool to level out the initial blob of clay on my tile to level it out to an even thickness. You can use the toothed-side first to really rip down the unevenness then the smooth side to finish. I tend to use the curved side more than the straight side, but it's up to you.
Then I use drywall knives in the 1” size (also in 3” for a large piece) to initially cut the piece out. Then fine blade tools — no X-actos please! — to do actual cutting out. These blade tools don’t have to be sharp, just sharp enough to cut through soft clay with a goodly level of precision.
Small loop tools are terrific for establishing The Deepening aspects of your piece in the first stages so I highly recommend those. In fact, I have a whole collection of them from small to micro size and I find them all useful in their own way. Personally though, I prefer the wire loop tools over the ribbon loop tools because I think you get more control, precision, and ease of use with the wire ones. Here are my favorites.
Anyway, then after that, to do a lot of the sculpting, use whatever sculpting tools you love most. Now if you’re so new at this you don’t have a favorite yet, I recommend nothing more than a glorified stick, this is my personal go-to.
Even so, sharpened pencils in varying degrees of sharpness can make good tools as can the ends of paintbrushes. Experiment and find what works best for you. Now as for the rubber-tipped tools, those are useful as well, but are best left for burnishing in the final finessing because that hard clay is going to resist them too well in the hardcore sculpting stages. But tools are such a personal thing so experiment with different kinds to see what works for you.
I use solvents to smooth the clay after I’m done sculpting. For the rough-smoothing stage (which I’ll explain later) I use GooGone. For the final-smoothing stage (which I’ll also explain later) I use a 30/70 mixture of Turpenoid and 91% rubbing alcohol, respectively (mixed fresh each time). I use a small glass bowl to contain these solvents in, wiping it clean between them with a shop towel so they don’t mix. And you don’t need a lot of solvent so you don’t have to fill the bowl…just a tablespoon or two for a 4-6” piece will do. (And don't mix the GooGone and Turpenoid/alcohol mix together.)
With the solvents, I use brushes to do the smoothing work. For the rough-smoothing (which I’ll explain later), I use stiffer, more abrasive acrylic brushes in sizes 2-4 (and a 6 for a big piece). Like the Golden Talkon is the perfect stiffer texture and I cut the brushes down just a little bit so I can scrub better. Then for the final-smoothing stage (which I’ll also explain later), I use softer filberts in sizes 2-4 (and a 6 for a big piece).
Scott Shop Towels are a boon to dab out excess solvent from your brush or to wipe your brushes of excess goopy clay mess because this specific brand is lint free. You’ll also find a thousand other uses for them in your studio, too, for that reason.
And that’s it! That’s all I use. But as you gain experience and discover what works for you, you may find that your clays and tools and solvents will change, and that’s okay! Do whatever you need to do to make the experience better for you. All this is just what works for me and we’re different, so it’s only expected that what you use will be tailored to you. So experiment and explore because you never know what might work better in your hands!
Conclusion to Part II
Sculpting relief work is a true pleasure albeit quite the challenge. There’s a lot to consider in the making of a good one, but that comes with time and experience. When you first start out then, none of what you do has to be perfect or even good. It just has to be. Just start. And the great thing about using oil clays is that you can get up and walk away to come back to it later, giving your subroutines time to work out any problems that might have popped up. But I will say this — knowing how to trouble shoot your relief is probably the most valuable skill you’ll learn early on, so we’ll talk about that later with some common problems folks run into. Anyway, in Part III we’re going to jump right into making our relief! See you then!
“Sculpture is the art of the hole and the lump.”
- Auguste Rodin