Clay Sculpting Materials II

I did promise to upload another set of photos following my photos of clay sculpting materials for beginners. Now these are for finishing your sculptures after they have been baked. These are the more pricey items and you can never have too many things to embellish your sculptures with.

I'll be as thorough as I can with the specifics.

01. Acetone - A must. It helps wipe off paint if you mess up and it also helps restore clay back to it's color after you have scraped, sanded and buffed your clay.

02. Angelina film - Also known as fantasy film. Can be used to make beautiful, colorful and transparent faery wings and even mermaid fins. They come in various colors so try to collect them as you go. They kind of look like cellophane paper, but they're thicker and can withstand a little heat. You can look up tutorials on how to make faery wings with this film.

03. Clay softener - A must have. Some people like to use this to smooth out lumps on their clay before baking using a brush. I think that just makes the clay softer and more vulnerable but it's up to you. I like to use it while blushing my sculptures after it has been baked and cleaned up. It helps spread and blend the blushing paint for a more natural look.

04. Microbeads and Microglitter - I didn't include a picture of the microglitter but I'm sure you know what it is. These are fun to use to embellish wings, costume, etc. I would try to collect all colors and sizes of the microbeads and try to collect all of the microglitter colors in accordance to your liking. These are not of importance, but just fun to add to your sculptures.

05. Tibetan lamb wool - This is to wig your dolls. I prefer these over synthetic doll hair because it looks more natural and you can dye, straighten, curl and style them just like your own hair.

06. Genesis heat set oil paint - I have never painted before because I'm more of a pencil type of gal. So this is actually a learning process for me too. Genesis is an oil paint that will not dry out until you bake it. So it's perfect for your polymer clay. These are very expensive from $10-15 per 1 ounce jar. They last very long though because you're not using much of it. With your artistic skills of color blending and mixing you should be able to get by just by using more of the basic, primary colors. The must have 5 colors would be red, blue, white, yellow and brown. With just these 5 colors you can make dozens of color combinations.

07. Genesis mediums - Genesis provides a few mediums you can use with your oil paints like glazes, varnishes, thinners and thickeners. They are handy to have around especially the thinner and glaze.

08. Wires - I've been using mostly brass wires because they don't expand when heated like aluminum does. I've heard good things about steel too. Try to get a few gauge sizes from 18g -28g. Here I just have 20g and 24g. You can also paint them with acrylic paint.

09. Hair mousse - Use mousse to style your Tibetan wool to your liking.

10. Gem Tac glue - I have a huge collection of adhesives that I use in general-- I tend to hoard them. Gem Tac glue is great for gluing things to your metal wires like Angelina film to brass wire or any gems and studs with shiny or metal backs.

11. 3-D Crystal Lacquer - This is great for gluing and as a varnish like a top coat for your Angelina film faery wings. They take a few hours to dry but you can add as many layers to your liking. It also dries transparent.

12. Fabric Tac glue - This is great for fabric and porous stuff. I use this to glue the Tibetan lamb wool wig inside of my doll's head. Also great for costumes and you can wash it in the washer without undoing the glue.

13. 527 Cement glue - This holds a stronger bond than the other adhesives I have mentioned. I like to use this to glue some hair around the dolls head to keep the strands in place. You may use it for many other things.

14. X-acto or craft knife - I like to use this to scrape the crap out of my dolls lumps after the first and second baking. It does a good job taking down those nasty lumps.

15. Waterproof sandpaper - This is great for after scraping with the knife. I keep sheets of 400 - 2500 and I cut them down to workable strips. I sand my sculptures in a bowl of water or light stream running water in the sink. After you are done sanding down your clay you will notice your clay will be white and not the original baked clay color-- this is when you take the acetone and brush it all over to renew the original color again.

16. Paint brushes - Brushes are essential for many reasons I'm sure you can figure out.

Well, there you have it. I hope you will find this to be helpful. Hit that download button to see the picture at a gigantasaurus size for a closer look. Remember experimenting is the key. Get creative, make mistakes, lessons learned and growth-- you'll be on your way to being a magnificent sculptor.

For the first clay sculpting materials for beginners click here: [link]

-- Meks