How to sculpt figurines from plasticine with your own hands. How to make plasticine animal figurines

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Plasticine figures are remembered by many from childhood, when, under the strict guidance of parents or kindergarten teachers, they tried to create a bun, a bowl for an imaginary dog or a caterpillar with naughty fingers. Time is running very fast, the kids are growing up, the love of creativity in the majority is replaced by other passions. However, not all. Among the well-established and very serious people, there are those who, at their leisure, still like to create figures from plasticine with their own hands, helping children or just for fun. This activity perfectly calms the nerves and gives you the opportunity to express yourself from the creative side.

Types of plasticine

In Soviet times, neither children nor adults had much choice. And plasticine, and many other materials for creativity were bought as they were available. Now, with a huge selection of a wide variety of shades, shapes and types of this mass, your eyes just run wide, and sometimes it’s not at all clear what exactly is worth buying and what is not.

The answer to this question depends on the purpose of the acquisition. If plasticine is needed forchildren's art at home, in the garden or at school, it is better to take not too bright (it may contain toxic dyes) and not very hard so that it is easy to knead.

To make panels and mosaics (they are sometimes also created from this material), the softest option is suitable, from which thin flat elements can be made. For those who create models from plasticine or are engaged in sculpture, hardening is useful (this also happens). When working, it is soft and pliable, the color scheme is very rich. Finished figures freeze in the air for an hour.

What you need to stock up for modeling

During work, especially creative work, it is extremely important that everything you need is at hand. Therefore, in addition to the plasticine itself, you must definitely stock up on wet wipes to remove its remnants from your hands, a special lining board (something like a work surface). On it you can roll balls and other figures, cut off pieces. You will also need a special knife. It can be either metal or plastic. Those who plan to create small but complex plasticine figures (flowers, animals) may need toothpicks or wire to draw small elements.

Where is it better to start creativity

Those who decide to take up modeling should not immediately try to create masterpieces. Practice on something simple. And this applies not only to children, but also to adult sculptors. Before sculpting plasticine figures is more difficult, you need to understand how soft it is, how it is better with it.work. Therefore, for starters, you can mold something very simple, for example, a snake. What could be easier? A piece of green, marsh or brown plasticine is kneaded, and then a “sausage” is rolled out of it on the board so that one edge (head) is thicker and the other (tail) is thinner. After that, they form a muzzle (with the help of a knife they carefully make a mouth), eyes - with toothpicks or small black dots. A tongue is molded from red plasticine (you can do without it). Next, a pattern is applied to the entire body of the reptile with a needle or toothpick, turning it into a snake. If desired, you can curl the tail, then it will turn out to be sleeping.

Kolobok

Another simple character that even a small child can create. It would seem that it is difficult to roll up a ball and stick eyes on it? But if you show imagination, then this hero of a popular children's fairy tale can turn out to be very unusual. Rolling a ball out of plasticine is really not so difficult (although it will turn out perfect after quite a long manipulation with both palms). But he still needs eyes (from simple beads to complex designs with eyelashes and other details), a smile (made of red plasticine) and legs with handles. To create the latter, a strong base in the form of a wire is usually used. And plasticine is already attached to it, forming palms and feet with boots. The result is not a “ball with eyes” at all, but a completely independent spectacular fairy-tale character.

How to sculpt animal figurines fromplasticine

Having practiced on koloboks and snakes, you can proceed to more complex characters. For example, fabulous (and not so) animals are quite suitable. To begin with, you can make a hedgehog (after all, this is the same ball, but with an elongated muzzle). A piece of black plasticine is well kneaded and a bun is formed from it. A muzzle is made from another (smaller) fragment, and then they are carefully connected, carefully covering the junction with the fingertips so that it is not visible. It remains to make eyes, nose and needles. They can be made from toothpicks, wire, and even sunflower seeds. When plasticine figures are created, the main thing is diligence and the ability to fantasize. After all, the details of the composition are sometimes made literally from improvised means. And it turns out very effectively.

More complex sculptures

Having learned how to cope with easy tasks, you can start creating serious compositions. For example, to fashion a whole farm out of plasticine. There will be a sheep, and a cow, and a horse. And all these are figures made of plasticine. The schemes for their creation are approximately the same. Separately form the body, paws, head and connect them together. At this stage, it is extremely important to make the points of contact as minimally noticeable as possible. This is achieved by painstaking smudging with a small amount of material. And finally, small details are left: ears, horns (if any), tail.

To make the horse more cheerful, the mane is made of plasticine of a different color. Mixingseveral shades, you can achieve as close to natural as possible. They do the same with a cow, sticking a couple of spots on its sides or forming an “asterisk” on its forehead.

Wild Animals

As a rule, they turn out a little worse than homemade ones. Perhaps this is due to the fact that not every person clearly imagines what a deer, squirrel, fox, wolf or wild boar looks like. After all, they are not seen every day. Therefore, before molding figurines of a fox, wolf or bear from plasticine, it does not hurt to at least look at these animals in the picture.

As for the scheme of their creation, it is no different from the one described above. In the same way, the body, head, tail and paws are separately molded, connected and the silhouette is smoothed as much as possible. To keep animals firmly on their feet, they can be strengthened with matches, toothpicks or wire. Better yet, use hard plasticine. Then, after a couple of hours, they will be no different from clay sculptures. Unless they need to be decorated.

Panel of plasticine

In addition to sculptures of animals, people and various objects, other souvenirs can be made from this material. For example, photo frames (only from a hardening material) or various panels. In the latter case, the material should only be used very soft. A panel or mosaic can be created according to the same principle as plasticine figures, but they are made by forming them on a plane. As a basis, cardboard or a sheet of plastic (PVC) is used. So that the structure does not sag under the weight of plasticine, it is thinly rolled out, each element (leaf, petal, stem, stamen) is formed separately and attached to the background. The panel thus obtained is framed and covered with glass.