Sculptural clay sculpture

The mass, which we now call plasticine, is more than five hundred years old. For the first time George Vasari remembered it in the 16th century when writing the biography of the most famous painters. In modern art, the sculptor uses clay sculpture for self-expression. When compared with clay, he loses a little. Its physical properties, such as hardness, color, density, are set once - in the manufacture. From the warmth of his hands, he softens for a while, allowing the sculptor to give the necessary forms. Now several types of plasticine are known, here are the main ones:

• Children's plasticine is unprofessional, so familiar to us from a small age;

• sculptural plasticine, it is used by sculptors and students of art schools; Crafts from sculptured plasticine resemble miniatures of famous creations;

• Klyuchnikov plasticine, better known as art plasticine. There are two types:

- "soft" - usually it is made of flat products (paintings, various applications);

- "solid", it is also a frame - from it do voluminous crafts: dolls, toys. It easily becomes hard in domestic conditions: for half an hour in hot water, in an oven or microwave, at the most, under a table lamp.

• children's clay jumping off - very malleable, easily softens in the hands, and most importantly, cooling down, bounces off any smooth surfaces like a ball. Ideal for kids who like to play with homemade crafts.

• ball clay - its base - small, soft foam balls, which are connected by the finest adhesive threads. Ball-shaped mass is easily molded, and crafts freeze during the day in the air.

• The hardening plasticine or plastic has a bright color scheme. An article made of this kind of plasticine, can become a real toy or decor element.

As you can see, there are a lot of species, most of them are used for entertainment, but sculptural clay is ideal for developing creative abilities . Due to its features, it is used to create a small easel sculpture. It is ideal for miniatures, genre compositions, medals, scale sketches of large sculptures, molding stuccoing of small details from plaster for the decoration of ceilings. Sometimes masters use this material to create large labor-intensive parts, the manufacture of clay, which is impossible. The clay dries out quickly enough, and the sculptural clay, on the contrary, retains the original plasticity and density. However, it must first be processed. Digesting, plasticizer and pigment of the necessary color are added to it. After these procedures, it will have an average softness, and can not differ from the clay from which the sculpture is made.

Typically, the composition of plasticine includes beeswax, a variety of fillers and plasticizers. Ozokerite is sometimes used, the so-called mountain wax. Also fillers are: powder of dry clay, sulfur, talc. In the past centuries, plasticine was made by combining wax and rosin in a proportion of 2: 1, heating them with olive oil. Of course, a variety of colored pigments were added. Over time, mastered and other recipes of production. Very popular were the compounds of wax and clay, wax and sulfur, ozocerite and kaolin. Produce clay sculpture in principle, as well as any other. Wax or ozocerite is melted, fine clay or sulfur clay is added, as well as a pigment, preferably in the form of a powder. The resulting mass is thoroughly mixed, poured a thin layer on the wet burlap, but you can also use a thick polyethylene film and cool.

If you are interested in this material, ask how to sculpt from sculptured plasticine.