Polymer/Clay thread.

[Octo]

....Octo's the clever one with all the jokes here...I'll wait for her to say something catchy.

I couldn't think of anything

Anyway, this is the general thread for all things clay related (I guess we can include air drying and regular clay too?)

(I'll add something more later but I have to go out)

 

[trash panda]

Polymer/Clay thread

I haven't ordered mine yet. It's sitting in my online shopping cart at DickBlick.

Guiiiiiiiiiiiiseeee. What should we sculpt furst???? ^___________^

 

[Flare]

Should we have like, community sculpting projects we can all participate in and stuff? That'd be fun!

First up: BAHAMUT!!!! no I'm joking, good God.... XD

We can start with somethin' simple. I have other stuff I'm sculpting at the moment for orders, so I need to finish those first.

 

[trash panda]

I really want to sculpt Nanaki but I think that's too advanced for me.
See, I have all these ideas in my head but I'm pretty sure that as soon as I touch the clay it's going to explode all over the walls/my face/my dogs/into my coffee....and it's all going to turn out looking like a melting snowman. XD

I'll probably just make a little moogle or something. Hmm...

 

[Flare]

...as soon as I touch the clay it's going to explode all over the walls/my face/my dogs/into my coffee....

I thought you said coffin at first, not coffee. I was like, 'that's some explosion thar.'

I thought of Nanaki too, but I have reservations for that since he might be really detailed and I don't know, would I want him to look realistic or cutesy?
A moogle would be cute though! Not sure about the pompom...

...Just tried to find some creature references to sculpt from in VII. But all of the enemies in this game are just weird.

 

[trash panda]

^ Ever since I saw that AWESOME Seto scupture on DA (I posted in the favorite FF fanart thrad) I just HAVE to have such a thing in my life.


Hm...Pupu?

Definitely a Moomba!

Umaru...maybe?

I'd love to do this, but it'd be way too complicated:

 

[Octo]

Right so my clay arrived this morning

Spoiler

They're only half blocks but they'll do for now. I haven't done anything yet, I'm just sat here stroking them lovingly. Might try and do but I dunno if it would be easier to do a relief or a full 3D model.

I ordered a set of cutting blades and some tools. The blades were a bit of a ripoff - Fimo make, but I couldn't find a cheaper alternative - some people use razor blades, but they aren't wide/flat enough if you wanted to get a clean cut through something thick like a cane.

I wanna do this

only in blue, might make a brooch* or something for my mum, she likes blue.


And if it all goes to hell I can start my own blog of fimo fails

*I have only just realised that this is how brooch is spelled, I thought it had an 'a'

 

[Flare]

Those canes look so disturbingly difficult (and need colored clay which I don't have right now) that I wonder if I'll ever get the courage to attempt one. They look soooo gorgeous though.....

Reliefs might be easier than a full 3D model to start with. Just dive right in and sculpt something and see how it turns out.

@Howl: how in the world do you think a moomba would be easier than Ultros? Just look at that spiky fur everywhere!

 

[Octo]

I'd like to have a go at Ultros myself.

Thinking I might have to get some surgical gloves to avoid fingerprints hmmmm...

edit:

Just had a squidge of the fimo soft, when it's just out of the packet it's pretty firm, but if you work it for a while it goes as soft as when plasticine is soft. It's great because it has zero smell, and it hasn't made my hands feel weird like plasticine does.

 

[trash panda]

OooooOOO I see Avec in here....is she going to join the polymer club????

Mine will be here next Friday (in time for a three day weekend! Woot!)

I read that it's softer when it's warm. Hopefully it can be stored at really high temperatures, otherwise I might have to stow mine away in the fridge. 0.0
EDIT: Actually, google just told me that it would be wise to store it in the fridge.

I bought two 13oz blocks, some 14 gauge wire, and a few tools. All white. I dont think I can wrap my head around colors just yet.

Been watching youtube tutorials.....I AM PUMPEDDDDDD!

 

[Octo]

I need to get some wire too, and maybe some mesh stuff.

I was looking up how to make beads- apparently it's better to use wooden beads and wrap the clay around them, that way you don't waste clay and it won't be as heavy. I looked into buying beads but then I found some ebay sites selling cheap wooden necklaces so I bought a few and I'm gonna cannibalise them.

I'm waiting for Freybs to doze off now, because she'll want to get involved and this shit ain't cheap. She'll have to stick with plasticine for now.

 

[AvecAloes]

I am so tempted to join in and give this a shot... I haven't done much 3D art, but it does seem like a lot of fun....

 

[Flare]

Come, join the clay club.... join the dar--er, light side.... You know you want to, Avec!

Wire mesh is something I haven't personally used yet, but I've seen ways it can be used, and it's great for thin membrane structures like wings. So far the wings I've made (which haven't been many) have been fairly small, but for larger sculpts, mesh would be essential to supporting the clay.

This is so awesome, should we have a monthly sculpting project we all work on separately? I think I mentioned something before, but it would be cool if we all picked something to sculpt starting next month, and that way we'd have a whole month to finish it in case things came up.

 

[Octo]

It'd be cool to have a theme, like FF/Square inspired stuff maybe? Just as long as we all know it's not a competittion because I haven't sculpted anything in years and suck balls

 

[Flare]

Yeah, I don'[t want it to be a competition where everyone's judging everyone else's stuff. But just as a fun little project to do. And if we do fanworks, it'd give me an excuse to make myself some fanart stuff. XD

Of course it doesn't have to be fanart, we could make other themes too, like... I dunno, nature themes or something?

And one day in 10 years from now when we're all rich or something we can have a studio where we all get together and sculpt all day for this stuff. Well, I can dream...

 

[trash panda]

Octo, you villain...withholding all the good stuff from the Freybs.

Avec, I've never touched this stuff before in my life. I think this is going to be mostly therapeutic....at least until I decide that it's all a big clusterfuck leading me chuck all my artstuffs out the window.

I'm going to need LOTS of advice from Flare since I think she has the most experience here.




AAAAnd I feel totally ripped off right now...I just spent .87 cents per ounce on Fimo Soft at my online art store and I found Original Sculpey at Walmart just now for around .42 cents per ounce...
I bought the sculpey at Walmart just now because I had to stick my fingers in it. This stuff is VERY firm. I don't know why I thought it would feel like play-dough, but it definitely does not. 0.0

 

[trash panda]

Well, if anyone's looking for a good way to turn their hands into pincushions, look no further

 

[Octo]

Octo, you villain...withholding all the good stuff from the Freybs.

Her tiny brain cannot possibly enjoy it on as many levels as I do. Besides, I spent the best part of an hour picking plasticine blobs off of the floor and from in between the grips on my shoes. The child cannot be trusted!

I'm going to need LOTS of advice from Flare since I think she has the most experience here.

Agreed.

Flare, you are our new god!

 

[trash panda]

Okay Flare, my hat's off to you. This is NOT easy. <__<

I have no idea how long I've been sitting here doing this but when I started I had just eaten and now I'm on the verge of passing out from starvation so I must've been doing this for a while.

Oh, AND my clay moogle is full of dog hair and carpet fuzz, I have clay in my ear, and I poked two holes in my finger with steel wire.

I'm going to go dangle the little fucktwit out in the garage to bake (it's 120 in there right now). Then I'll paint him, coat him in fixative and maybe apply some resin. I'm contemplating chucking him off my balcony afterwards because he's got me in a foul mood. <__<

 

[Octo]

Dont kill him Howl, he's awesome!

I've gone a bit wrong, just spent £70 on this stuff. I hope i get some use.out of it. unlike the box of barely used markers.

/if Octo was a dragon shed hoard art materials

 

[trash panda]

^ O____________________O
I thought you'd bought a little box with different colors???? Why is it so expensive? 0.0

 

[Octo]

I did, but then i saw a set for £40 with 25 fullsize blocks. And then i figured i should get some moar black, white and translucent. And some of the liquid stuff and a few more tools.

But it's okay because now I've run out of money

 

[Flare]

Awwww thanks guys! Now I'm blushing.

Howl, that moogle looks adorable though! Just pick the hair off of him before you bake him; don't worry about dust/dirt too much.... that's what paints for. <-bad example of sculpting.
I poked a hole in my thumb making the little Octorok's armature a couple days ago.

So the only thing I'd mention right now Howl, the wire armature you made looks pretty great, but it'd be better if you added some aluminum foil to the places that's going to be bigger, such as the body and the head/neck area, that way it 'bulks out' the armature. This is for two reasons,
1. You use less clay when you bulk it out with foil, so you're saving on materials and money, and
2. Bulking it out ensures that the clay isn't so thick so that it won't take a long time to bake, and will ensure it bakes all the way through so that it cures properly. It's usually hard for clay to burn, but the longer you have it in the oven, the more likely it can happen.
I've burned one thing so far before, but it was just in a few small spots, and it happened because it was pretty big and I wasn't sure how long to bake it still (it was the second thing I baked). I had it in the oven for like 3 hours.

I can write up some more info on baking, or whatever else you guys want to know about. At least, I'll do the best I can! I haven't even been sculpting for a whole year.

 

[trash panda]

There are worse things to spend your money on.


And...I just read the instructions on this hur clay...it says to bake at 275F...I don't think he's going to bake right out in my garage.


EDIT: Woops Flare we posted at the same time. ^.^
I know, I had just come home from the store when I realized I didn't buy foil and I used way too much clay.
Speaking of baking....can I just leave him hanging in my garage, or do I really need to bake him in an oven?

 

[trash panda]

Oh....my....gosh....HAVE TO MAKE CLAY BEADS!