Home Forums Explore Media Sculpture Questions re making mould of clay sculptures

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  • #461576
    equinespirit
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        This may be a very dumb question but here goes….
        I’ve made some clay sculptures using grogged white earthenware clay which are currently drying.
        Do I need to fire them before I can make moulds from them?

        I was unsure as I know people make clay pieces with armatures in and then make moulds from them.

        Some of the pieces are flat, 2 D pieces and some are 3D horse head busts, what type of mould would you recommend to use please?
        I wasn’t sure whether the paint on type or something like Tinsil pour in silicon rubber would be best/work at all?

        Thanks in advance

        #689248
        equinespirit
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            For anybody reading also seeking answers I found this site which has some really useful videos and also sells the products in the UK
            https://www.benam.co.uk/products/urethane/brush-on-series/

            Unfortunately many of the links and tutorials on Wet Canvas aren’t loading for me, perhaps they have expired.
            the one tutorial that did was helpful but still didn’t give me all the answers I needed and also being US some of the products aren’t available in the UK/EU.
            But the site I link above explains the process well :)

            #689247

            You can make a mold of the unfired piece and preferrably before it has completely dried out. I like the look of my sculptures before they have lost all of their moisture. Once they shrink, they can have more grit showing etc. Either way is fine, though, dry, leatherhard clay, or even fired. Sometimes I would spray my piece with a clear sealer spray just to lock in some of the moisture and it also would strengthen some of the fine detail of my sculpture.

            http://tamarabonet.com/blog/2009/07/24/sculpture-mold-tutorial-of-wealth-sculpture/comment-page-1/

            Above is a link to my very first mold with silicone rubber.

            For a relief sculpture like you are mentioning, you can do a two part plaster mold if their are no deep undercuts. You might be able to do the same for your horse bust.

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            #689249
            equinespirit
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                Thats really helpful thanks Tamara :)

                #689250
                noodlecake
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                    On my Contemporary Crafts degree one of the early projects we had involved wandering around the campus with a hunk of wet clay and finding something to throw it at/push it into to get an impression, and then come back to the plaster room, cut it into a neat cube and then take a mould from it using plaster. It works great.

                    At the moment I am doing it in reverse. Taking a chunk of clay and scooping material from it and then pouring alpha (much harder than regular) plaster in to get a sculptural form that way. Haven’t had great results so far but it’s just experimentation at the moment. You can do all kinds of things. Experiment and break the rules. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Clay and plaster are relatively cheap materials.

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