Help!

[afreeman]

I am new to sculpting and I'm not going about it correctly, I'm constantly working on details and then watching them get ruined as I go, is there a standard set of steps or stages? should I bake the sculpt at a certain stage and then add details? any help and suggestions is needed bad!! thanks in advance.
here is one of my current projects, I am trying to get her more "Feminine" looking, slimming the waist and features, any comments and critiques are welcome and needed, Thanks again!
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I"m not sure if I'll go with the ponytails or not, any suggestions? thanks again!

[jollyskeleton]

I don't really use sculpey, but I guess it would be most logical if you want to use the "bake as you go along" technique to bake the roughed out proportion of the figure before piling on more clay for detail. It is important that you keep the baked layer less than the predicted dimensions of your intended figure at any point (for obvious reasons, unless you are looking to do a lot of sanding). The baking part is simply to provide a solid base for you to work on without collapsing the whole form. You still have to be careful as you add stuff to ensure you don't mush it up

Then add surface anatomy only after you have got everything else worked out, like posture and muscle tone. An anatomy text and lots of pictorial references help

[afreeman]

thanks for the quick answer, That all makes since, I'll def dig up some anatomy references.

[jollyskeleton]

Good luck with that. And also, as a lot of the masters have kindly suggested and provided feedback, getting the proportions right is crucial before anything. So make sure you get your armature all measured up before you start anything to save yourself any heartache

[barneyjoseph]

With Super Sculpey you have the option to do a partial bake and build up over it. but only do it if you are sure that you have all the bulk built up to proportion because you *can't* subtract anymore (you will have to drill out/use an exacto knife to subtract and that always leads to more disasters than art)

You will also have to apply some petroleum jelly and wipe it off so that only a thin film remains on the piece and then you will be able to add more detail with good bonding.

Your pose has just straight legs and arms spread out. Therefore you do not need to have them as separate pieces. The head can be a separate piece.

Here's some blogger posts of mine on my blogger browse through them to get a rough idea: Armature -> Bulk -> Muscle definition -> Cloth -> Details -> Capes/robes/long hair in the wind(with supporting armature for them if needed)

http://barneyjoseph.blogspot.in/sear...&by-date=false

[afreeman]

Thank you guys so much for your input, I don't feel so lost now!! I'm checking out your blog site now!

[afreeman]

JollySkeleton, what kind of clay do you use and why? waht are its benefits?