Sculpting Medium?

Question

Ok, I've tried making a block of Plaster of Paris and then sculpting it, but that just didn't work. So, does anyone have any ideas on what I could use to make a block of something relatively stable, without being too hard to work with, to sculpt with? I'd like to try my hand on something easy to work with before I go for the harder mediums like marble or concrete, etc... I'd like to know what other people are using. Any ideas will be entertained, thank you.

Answer 1

sounds like you are interested in carving. And you probably don't want too much detail? You can try a styrofoam block. Try to get some which is fairly dense, it will be easier. If you need add onto it, the insulation material which comes out of a spraycan will work.
You also can use clay, but you cannot fire clay if a wall is thicker than 1-2 inches, so it comes with its own problems.
Another option is build your structure out of stiff cardboard or plywood.
You can either build your shapes hollow, or you can cut out various outlines and just stack and glue it together. Then you could use something like insulating foam, plaster or so to smooth and remodel any edges if so desired.
You can also work with a block of wood, but then you have to worry about the grain of wood.
for stone, lime stone is usually what beginners in stone carving use.
Though what was the problem with your plaster? A block of plaster is usually very easy to make and it carves very easy. You also can use those drywall files on it, they work great. You have to mix it properly though. You mix plaster in that you slowly add dry plaster powder to the water in a bucket (about half full or less). Add plaster until it starts not to sink into the water any more. Then mix thoroughly and pour in container of your choice. That usually works just fine. If you mix plaster and take too much water it doesn't really set hard.

Answer 2

Well, it depends on what your end product is for...

Try plasticine or clay if you are then going to make a mold of it, then you could cast it in plaster (or have a local foundry cast it in metal for you). This would be an "additive" method.

Subtactive: For a very inexpensive material, you can use a large plank of styrofoam. You won't be able to do "detail" work, but you could add a plaster layer for detail.

You can also try wood, if you have any tools available.

Outside of that, you have to look at stone as a subtractive method. There is soapstone which is softer and won't require heavy-duty chisels.

I HAVE seen a homeless artist that carves chaulk. Of course, there's the old victorian bar of Ivory soap too!

:)

Answer 3

My daughter is taking a sculpting class at college, and they used plaster of paris for their first project. It worked very well, but it was this abstract thing. You might try wax or wood. Clay is used as an additive method. I don't think you can cut it. Good luck.

Answer 4

Rather than plaster of paris use regular plaster. A friend of mine from art school used it and it worked well. His pieces were very geometric however and with little detail, so I am not sure all of its characteristics. Another material that is similar but much harder is 'hydro-cal' or sometimes called 'hydro-stone'. It runs around fifty dollars for a hundred pound bag. I believe you can find it at your local masonry yard.

Answer 5

A block of balsa wood? Soap stone? There are modelling clays out there that are realitively hard -especially if you are working in a cold studio. Check out www.sculpturehouse.com i'm sure you can email them also

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Sculptey?

You mold it, bake it and sculpt it...

:S
That is what I use.