I want to get into sculpting. I have some ability to sketch and stuff, but I don't know if I even have the materials I need to start sculpting. For example, I don't know how much table space I should aim to have (for small figures in the 1' range at most, at least to start) or where to look for beginner resources. Any advice? I could take a class, I suppose, but I kind of need to work on my own schedule because of all the uni projects I have this semester.
Use your hand
Dont take classes just pick up some clay and start messing with it, get experienced with depth and looking at something in three dimensions. I recommend starting with super sculpy. It's firm, flexible, you can bake it in the oven or boil it in water if you sculpted onto plastic (like if you were making a mixed media project or a custom toy).
As far as readings go you should check out this book "POP SCULPTURE" by Tim Bruckner and Zach Oat. Its focuses mainly on how action toys and those high end comic book character statues are made but its really informative and the writing has allot of humor to it.
>>1842803
OP here. Not quite coincidentally, I think, I ended up buying a couple pounds of super sculpy on my own. I'm having a really hard time making it not look lumpy. Should I just try and get it right with sanding?
>>1842475
Instead of over-thinking it (Honest)
Just reflect on yourself. Now.. you can ask how many questions you want, but the answer will still be the same. It starts with and ends with you.
>>1842475
The cheapest and easier way is getting a tablet and a pirate version of zbrush.
"Helmet Design with Joseph Drust" on zbrushcentral.com covers all the techniques you'll ever need, and there are tons of tutorials everywhere.
>>1842868
>zbrush
Ew. I'm actually decent with real 3D modeling software. ZBrush is for finishing touches. And I have a tablet, but it's for drawing - I want to make something you can hold.
>>1842866
You guys aren't any help. The answer to >>1842860 was rubbing alcohol and that shit didn't start with, end with, or even pass through me.
>>1843250
>ZBrush is for finishing touches
nope. is the very best for sculpting. not rendering, not animation, not rigging, but sculpting.
>>1843354
You sculpt finishing touches. Anyways, if I wanted software I'd be on /3/.
>>1843250
Huh, youre saying #1 used by every character and creature artist out there is not a real modelling tool?
>>1844131
>>>/3/
Anyone actually into sculpting here, I've got some little figurine things made and I'm about to try baking them later. For Sculpey bake times, if a piece is not uniform thickness, should I leave it in as long as the thickest part takes? Not sure if that would cause the thinner parts to crack. Only asking because the difference is fairly extreme on one of them (one piece is about an inch thick, the other is more like a leaf and is only 1mm or so thick.)
>>1844143
i heard you can boil them to evenly cure them, i would google that method. you gotta use a dedicated pot for it, i recall.
>>1842475
I think chavant NSP + a creme brulee torch is the better than sculpey, you also need a toaster oven, it's more of an investment than sculpey but its nicer to work with, and you can get sharp details.
For tools you can make a loop with a guitar string + a stick.
>>1844160
NSP doesn't cure when baked, you use the toaster just to heat it up so it's workable, you use the torch from a distance to reheat the surface or smooth details.
It's got a smell, you kind of need a dedicated area for it.
simon lee attached,
>>1842475
Here is a you tube video that shows some of the basics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0RrzLblwFM
I am working on a piece to get ready for Halloween. It is an elephant mask made out of rubber latex. I need to sculpt the Elephant form, then create a plaster mold. I pour rubber into the mold. I got a video of that process as well.
>>1842475
Here is a sculpture I did of Casey Anthony...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv2o-GbAD60
Then after I created the plaster mold I poured rubber latex into it. Here I am removing the latex mask from the mold. It looks just like the finished sculpture ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq6un2Q5fF48
>>1844165
Oh, okay! That does look cool. If I can do it in my room I can just open the window. I don't mind smell but I have a roommate and try not to be evil.
I don't have a pot so I guess I'll just try baking this thing in the oven for 15 minutes and see what happens, I guess.
I'm not the OP but I've been lookin for a good sculpting thread for a couple weeks. I just ordered some tools for my clay figures, it's the Sculpey 5 in 1 tools. I hope they work out. Anyone have any good videos for working on small figures? I've been working on stuff over the course of several months and have found a few good tutorial videos and tut images but I'm looking for something more in depth. I stopped working on humans because I can't make faces look right. That's really on me, because I should just practice but I don't know how to work on such a small face.
>>1843250
i hate the program personally, but here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z_yg7ImbuY
yea... it grew out of "just finishing detail" a long ass time ago.
and if you want to create a real thing, invest in a 3d printer. cheap fmd can print out close to final quality, though some sanding and painting is needed to get it smooth, so you will need retouch work, a dlp printer can print out far smoother, but the material to print costs more, the form 1 is i believe the sls printer currently, and the newer form 1+ is able to print out enough detail to create a magnifying glass, though i don't know if this printer is out yet.
granted all these options cost more than getting a few lbs of clay, but for learning, it would probably be faster digitally, cheaper digitally (as the cost only really hits you when you want to print it) and probably more forgiving once you learn the program.
i have some sculpty, the gre firm and the pink less firm stuff, and i cant use it because even the easier to work with stuff will kill my hands before the material is workable.
>>1844169
Wow, watching that actually helped me understand drawing the head better
>>1848539
>and i cant use it because even the easier to work with stuff will kill my hands before the material is workable.
Damn man that sucks. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't use my hands create.
>>1848583
i was never good at using clay, i got it one year because i thought it would be fun to dick around with while i play an mmo and am waiting on camps, 2 months after i got it though, my hands went to shit for almost everything.
i already have plans on what to do if my hands ever get to the point it takes everything i enjoy doing away, fucking sucks that i have to even make plans like that, but whatever, i just have to always have about 200$ in cash on me.
>>1848837
I'm assuming you're young, in your 20-30's? Is it like early onset arthritis or something, Parkinson's'? What might your plans be if you don't mind me asking.
You may enjoy this OP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pirv3EzznR8
I would take a class. I'm not a 3d artist so i don't know a whole lot but I've been in a culpture class for one month now and its nothing of what i expeced, but has bedn suprisingly fun. This month we welded and metal worked, next is wood and after that is molds.
