The task - 2 statues for a beginner. The setting - a wedding...

[Colossal]

Hi guys,

Im here to beseech the awesome totality of sculpting, painting badass talent we have in the forum.

Ive never sculpted before, always aimed to, but now Ive set a challenge for myself - to sculpt two independent, but interlocking, characters (Colossus and Shadowcat) in 1/4 scale. Colossus for example, would aim to emulate this style (sans beaten thug bodies on the base!):

http://www.comicvine.com/adi-granov/...2/105-1096583/

I was given a 16 piece sculpting tool set for Xmas, and a giant box of white powder for sculpting (no idea what it actually is Im afraid!).

What the purpose of this thread is really, is to ask for advice on the easiest way for a novice to put a sculpture together (not of course forgetting that its got to take true talent to make something that looks halfway good, Im just looking for the techniques).

Whats the easiest material to use, how to go about working out the measurements for the piece, the wire skeleton (its not called that is it? :-)), and what to do with the sculpt once its finished, to prepare it for painting.

I know its a pretty vague request, but I have zero experience in sculpting and really hoping to put together something truly worthy of being placed front and center near the cake on our wedding day. Its June next year, so plenty of time, but I have no idea how fast Ill be, or how happy Ill be with the final piece and therefore how many attempts to get it right.

Any help would be absolutely terrific for direction.

[pdenham]

I too want to get started sculpting my own pieces and am also looking for advice and tips on getting started.

This is what I've found so far...


The wire skeleton is an armature. The seem very easy to construct.

You may want to investigate sculpy, which is a polymer clay which will stay soft and workable until it's baked.
It's available in just about any art store, and probably a lot of craft stores. At the very least, it's good to practice on. I would also pick up one of the little books on using sculpy that they usually stock nearby in the book section of the art or craft store.
The one I initially picked up is super basic, but that's what I needed coming into it with no prior experience.

This site offers a lot of good basic info on polymer clay sculpting including links to armature making.
That should keep you busy for a while.

Here is a blog that has some useful posts. I just picked up the book "Pop Sculpture" last week and there is a ton of advance info in there on the whole process- probably more than you or I want to tackle anytime soon, but it will give you a familiarity with many of the terms and concepts. Very well illustrated and worth the money.

[Voshizle@gmail.]

Honestly I would just go through all of the stickies here in the pit stop to get advice and techniques. Or just use the search function. A lot of the questions you are going to want to ask have been asked many times before and are easily answered with the resources I listed. If you have any really specific questions though I will do my best to help.

[Spazzy]

most of the info is found by searching, a good book to start is popscultpure can get it at amazon and it sets you up from start to finish, of course you don't always need to use everything from the book but you get a good idea what is involved (ALOT more than I originally thought!) also other sculpting websites that have tutorials, basically alot of searching and investigating is required, but I am having a blast doing it and learning ALOT!

[getinked024]

you can research all you want but theres nothing quite like just getting your hands dirty and playing around with some clay

[Voshizle@gmail.]

[Colossal]

Awesome guys, thanks for all your comments, time to get my hands dirty :-)