See a demo on how to carve a sweet potato and how to sculpt with Sculpey to create surrealistic face brooches.
- 46 min. video (polymer clay/sweet potato)
- 3D art supplies playlist
- Compleat Sculptor playlist
Explained are the advantages of using polymer clay, showing three different colors of Original Sculpey.
Learning to sculpt with carving tools can be very challenging. A sweet potato which is easy to carve, but rigid enough to hold it’s form, is an excellent entry point to figuring out how to approach a reductive way of creating sculpture.
Demo by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Deepti Menon.
Video Walkthrough
- Polymer clay is a terrific option for home studios, it’s neat, non-toxic, and can be baked in an oven.
- Sculpey can be baked at 275 F for every 1/4″ of clay.
- Deepti has a small toaster oven that she uses exclusively for polymer clay.
- You can do a lot with Original Sculpey after it’s baked; you can rebake it, paint it, glaze it, drill it, and more.
- A lot of plastilene clay has a stickiness to it, and sometimes an odor which can be unpleasant.
- Original Sculpey is very smooth, there is no stickiness or odor.
- Carving in 3D is really exciting, but materials like wood and soap stone are very tough for beginners.
- You can use any tool for carving a sweet potato, but woodcut tools work particularly well.
- Practicing on a sweet potato is an easy entry point to carving.
- “Play time” as an artist is a great way to have a different experience, where you don’t have any expectations for the product.
- Switching up your art media is a great way to try something different if you’re stuck in a rut.
Art Supplies
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