Sculpting Tutorials For All

Getting started with something you’ve never done or never really tried before can be very hard. I’ve answered this question or questions like this a couple of times but I’ll make a compilation of those answers here. 

I hope those of you who want to start with this hobby but don’t know how get that little push they need and those who are just curious about it learn something new.  I’m not a proffesional, there is no one way to do things. This is just how I do it and what I know.

What you’ll find behind the read more:

Where to start

Armature tutorial

Links

Materials I use

Tips

Research. This is what I always start with. Gather pictures/images/photos of the character you want to make. Look for something called a “Character sheet”. A character sheet usually consists of a full body image of the front, side, back and ¾ view of a character. They aren’t always easy to find so that is why I often put together one with images I can find on the internet. Use a photo editing program to make the images the same scale.  They need to be the same scale because you need to measure the actual images to get the proportions of your sculpture right. Don’t choose a very complicated pose for your first sculpture. Get comfy first, those things will come later. A challenge is good but don’t make it too hard on yourself.  TIP: Finishing a project really boosts your confidence! So pick something you know you’ll be able to complete :) 

Materials. My clay of choice is Super Sculpey Firm, but other clay types like Paper clay/ Airdry clay works too. There are other clay types as well but these are the ones I’ve used. It is really a matter of what you’re comfortable with. • Clay. Super sculpey, paper clay, whatever you feel comfortable with. • Wire. I use wire in 2 gauges, a thick sturdy wire that can support the sculpture (mine is about 2mm) and a thin wire to attach pieces of armature to each other with. • Apoxie. I use this to fill gaps with (after the sculpture is baked) but also to make small details or even parts of the sculpture. • Aluminium foil. I use this to bulk up my armatures. • Sanding paper. To make the surface smooth after the sculpture is baked. Use different grits, go from a low number to high. Low number = rough, high number = fine. I go from 180 to 800 something. Don’t use 100 or lower, it is too rough. Make circle motions while sanding, it works better/looks nicer. • Paint. Acrylics (water-based paints). • Spray paint. Optional. I like to use this to prime my sculptures with but it is not necessary. • Sculpting tools. Important but don’t overdo it. Just a couple of tools are enough! Though I admit that I do have a few but oh well. These are the ones I use most:

From top to bottom: Caliper, ballpoint tools, wooden sculpting tools. You can get the wooden sculpting tools in a lot of different shapes and sizes but I prefer these smaller spoon-like ones.

The Armature.This is where your research will come in handy. Take your character sheet and draw lines on them like in the gif below. First I draw the pink lines. I mark crucial points (collarbone, waist/elbows, hips, knees, heels) like in picture #2 and I use those to draw my armature like in picture #3. 

I take a long piece of wire, a fairly thick and sturdy kind, and lay it on top of my image. I bend it at the hips just like my drawing of the armature. 

You need to do this step 2 times, one for the left leg and one for the other. It is important to leave a little extra wire at the feet. This way you can adjust your sculpture onto a wooden base when it is finished.  I have a block of scrap wood with holes drilled into it so I can stick my sculpture into it when I’m sculpting. Then I take another piece of wire. Start at the left hand, bend it at the shoulder (like in the drawing), bend it again at the other shoulder and then I cut it at the right hand. Leave a bit of extra wire here. This is so you have room for some adjustments.

Take the long wires (for the legs etc) and the wire for the arms and put them together with smaller wire where the pieces meet at the back. Like this:

Make sure that they sit tightly together. Sometimes I like to take some apoxie and put it around the wire to secure it all. You can see that in this picture here. See how I make an armature like this here.

After that you can start posing it! This is the part where a side view of your character can be very helpful. I didn’t have one when making Rapunzel and thus my sculpture ended up looking flat when viewed from the side. When you do have a side view you can shape your armature with the image as a guide. After this I usually take some smaller wire and neatly wirl it tightly around each arm and leg. This will give the aluminium foil in the next step something to hold on to.  Bulk up the armature with aluminium foil. By doing this you’ll save clay and it is also easier to stick clay onto aluminium foil.* *Instead of wire I also like to cover the limbs in Apoxie. Sometimes I sculpt the whole arms and legs with it depending on the size of the sculpture. TIP: Tuck the ends of the wire to the inside so you won’t have them sticking out of your clay later or stab your finger with it. 

4. Now you’re ready to start sculpting! This isn’t really something I can explain but you can learn a lot by looking at pictures. I’ve photographed the whole process of my Dipper Pines sculpture here which may be more helpful. You can also check out my WIP tag here. 5. Painting. I always prime my sculptures to give surface a smooth and even color before I start painting. But it isn’t completely necessary. TIP: Paint in thin layers and let each layer dry properly. Paint can turn tacky otherwise. It is also easier to avoid brushstrokes this way.

Sculpting Resources

sculptingtutorials.blogspot.com - This link leads to a blog with lots of links, videos and info. This blog has some very helpful stuff so definitely check this one out.

instructables.com/id/Sculpting-with-Polymer-Clay/ - This link has some great tips and pictures of recommended sculpting tools and such.

Proportion references for human bodies - I posted these references earlier but I wanted to add them anyway.

Tutorial for making hands 1 & 2 - A two part tutorial that shows how you can make hands

How to make a male face - video tutorial

Pinterest - You need to make an account to view all content but it is worth it in my opinion. Search for keywords like Sculpting tutorials, clay etc etc.

Parkablogs - A really good site to find art books. They have reviews and videos where you get a quick look through the books.

Here are some previous asks I answered about sculpting:

Armature

Some tips

How to start sculpting

Some more tips and reminders:

One thing that I’ve learned is that you really need to warm up the clay (either by kneading it by hand or with a pasta machine) before you work with it.That really helped me a lot. The clay is much easier to smooth out that way and easier to work with.  I was used to working with paperclay which doesn’t need to be kneaded so when I started using Sculpey I didn’t really take enough time to warm up the clay.

Use strong wire for the armature. A sturdy and strong armature is much easier to work with than a bendy armature.

It is a good idea to use aluminium foil to bulk up your armature. You’ll save A LOT of clay this way.

Put the clay in a plastic bag or ziplock bag when you’re not using it. Your clay will stay better that way. Sculpey is an oil based clay and will dry out over time, putting it in a bag will slow down this process.

I get a lot of questions about what I use to make sculptures so when I cleaned up my work space (aka the kitchen table), I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the stuff I use. Under the read more you’ll find :

Pictures

Materials and tools I use

My painting set up

Tips

Information

Today we’re going to go over my technique for creating striking water features in your miniature basing and terrain work, like this. 

This piece is the basework for a Cygnar Storm Strider, back when I thought that I was interested in Cygnar as a faction. Boy was I wrong! 

First off, a list of essential supplies for the project. 

A Base Corkboard Wine Cork Super Glue (gel/thin) PVA Glue 2 Part Acrylic Resin Baking Soda Acrylic Paints (I use a mix of P3 & Citadel) Primer Plasticard Milliput (or any modeling putty) Sand/Shale

Scissors Hobby Knife Dremel Tool A Pen

You start off by cutting a circle of your corkboard and gluing it in place on the base of your choice. This provides the start of your soil layer and provides a nice elevation for the edges of any water features you might place. Do not glue down any part of the corkboard that will later be cut away to form a pool, as it will be a bitch to remove if you do.

After you’ve glued the cork in place, use a pen to mark out the edges of your water feature. Try and avoid perfectly round pools, unless you’re going for a cartoony vibe. After making your mark, cut the shape out with your hobby knife.

It’s at this point that you glue/pin any of your major terrain features/props in place onto the base. In the case of the base at the start of the article that meant wine cork, cut at sharp angles, to simulate boulders.

After your props are in place, it’s time to Dremel out the plastic of the base where the bottom of the water feature will be. This will leave you with something that looks like this.

Now you’ll want to cut out some plasticard in a large enough shape to completely cover the bottom of the pool. When you’ve got that sorted, it’s as simple as gluing it in place.

Next up, you form the walls of the pond with a bit of milliput, making certain that it is sealed against both the upper lip of the corkboard and the plasticard bottom.The end result should be both organic looking and watertight. After the milliput sets, use some PVA glue and sand/shale to cover the cork and plasticard, just like you’d use them to base anything else.

I use several different grits and shale pieces to add depth to the soil profile. You rarely see uniformity in nature after all. I also picked shale as it’s sharp edges really math the rock profile of the wine cork boulders. I’ll be picking out individual pieces with gray paint to tie the terrain together.

After that all dries and sets, it’s time for some black primer.

The first thing you paint is the bottom of the pool, so you can pour your resin and let it sit overnight (not a project for the impatient). You do this by wet blending a gradient of blue tones across the bottom. The deepest part of the pool being Citadel’s Teclis Blue and working up the highlights with a mix of Teclis and working P3 Morrow White. A 1/1 mix for the first transition and a ½ mix for the lightest highlight. I like to pick any large rocks with the highlight color brighter than it’s surroundings as it really makes the detail POP, when the underwater effect is applied.

When that paint has dried, it’s as simple as carefully mixing and pouring the 2 part resin and waiting for it to set. A word to the wise, most of the acrylic resins give off toxic/carcinogenic fumes, so it is a good idea to do the pouring and setting in a well ventilated area. Always make sure to follow the instructions on the tin when working with potentially hazardous substances. 

12-24 hours later, you’re ready to paint your piece. I recommend a triad drybrushing technique for ease of application and awesomeness of appearance. For the browns in the soil I start with a ample basecoating of Citadel’s Dryad Bark followed by a drybrush of Citadel’s Gothor Brown and a fine drybrushing of Steel Legion Drab. I use the same technique for the boulders and shale pieces, only in grayscale using Citadel’s Eshin Gray, Dawnstone and Administratum Gray, Respectively.

Now it’s time for some PVA glue and flock, got to mix in those grass elements!

Finally, and most dramatically… Snow. Snow is not a science, it is an art. I can give you the ingredient list, but not the ratios. Snow is not a static thing. There is wet snow, dry snow, powdery snow, yellow snow, compact show… you get the picture.

For wet snow, use a paintbrush to paint an area with realistic water effect then sprinkle a little baking soda on it. Use just a dash, and you’ve got a sheet of ice, a little more, wet/melting snow. Experimentation is key.

For dry snow, mix the baking soda with PVA glue, it will become doughy and hold its form, giving you ample time to shape it into a billowing snowbank or the dense snow swept aside by a passing tank. You’re limited by your imagination. As a word to the wise, if your snow seems too wet, sprinkle more baking soda on top, if it seems too dry, wet the edges with your acrylic resin or some gloss medium.

In the end, you should have something akin to this.

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpSZbzgct8Q)

Paper Wing Tutorial