What is a good clay to start with?

[knowsnostatue]

What is a good clay to start with?
I have never sculpted anything but I want to start and I want to become good at it.

I was wondering what kind of clays do you guys use? What brand? What model?

For example, Sculpey has many kinds of clay with Super Sculpey, Premo, etc....

So many choices....

I want to sculpt 1/6 - 1/4 scale statues and bust from actors, superheroes, monsters, mech..
I'm probably getting ahead of myself, but I have to start somewhere so any advice regarding clays would be great.

What kind of clay was used on this picture?
http://blog.dreamwiz.com/usr/g/u/gud2js/1/gud2js_20100804031719_13048300_1.JPG



Thanks for any advice you guys can give.

[cyborgt800]

As far as the picture you posted, it's difficult to tell but my guess is Azbro wax. I suppose it could be a Super Sculpey color mix to make it less transparent.

As far as what clay to start with.... that's a tough one. The least expensive and most versatile is Chavant's Y2Klay, the most popular here seems to be Super Sculpey followed by styling wax or Apoxie like Apoxie sculpt. Then guys like Narin do wonders with paperclay.

[cyborgt800]

duplicate

[knowsnostatue]

Oh alright sir, thanks.

between Super Sculpey and Super Sculpey firm, which is more commonly used and what is the advantage of each one?

[cyborgt800]

It's more about personal preference. A lot of sculptors prefer firm because the firmer a body of clay is the sharper the detail can beand the less likely that you'll bump it and wipe detail off accidentally. Sculpey being curable in stages allows you to be less careful, or at least less worried about it.

Don't concentrate on what others use though too much...use what suits YOU....develop YOUR talent. I started with kids modeling clay, onto Sculpey, Super Sculpey, Apoxie Sculpt and Y2klay.

Apoxie is my favorite for items that need to be strong while sculpting but overall Y2Klay is my overall favorite clay. It is VERY hard but workable by hand, machinable when cold (room temp), sandable, carvable pourable, lightweight, reusable, and it's the least expensive material out there...it requires no armature or sealer, doesn't inhibit silicone, isn't messy and doesn't require any equipment to work with. It costs about 19 cents per cubic inch in bulk or 30cents if you buy just 1.75 pounds at a time.

I value materials by volume rather than weight because more weight doesn't means more sculpture, just heavier sculpture...I want to know how much sculpting I can do for the money. Hope this helped.