Clay modeling at home: master class and photo

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

Today needlework in a wide variety of techniques and manifestations is back in fashion. Everyone can afford such a hobby, and it’s so nice to create beautiful things with your own hands, and literally “out of nothing”. One of the original hobbies for children and adults is clay modeling. What materials will be needed for such creativity and where to start? Especially for you - a detailed master class in our article.

Let's go in search of clay

Pottery is one of the oldest crafts in the world. Dishes and decorative items made of clay were known to mankind at the dawn of the birth of civilizations. How to get started with this ancient technique? You will need the main material - clay, the easiest way is to buy it in a craft supply store. Some home craftsmen also try to sculpt from a cosmetic powder bought at a pharmacy. Another option is clay mined with your own hands. For this, it is not necessary to go toquarry, in many regions of Russia you can find places where the material we need lies directly under the soil layer. Attention: clay is oily, medium and skinny - depending on the amount and nature of impurities. Checking whether the selected piece is suitable for modeling is simple: just try to crush it in your hands and roll up the sausage. If the material does not stick to your hands and does not crack, you can start making crafts.

Basic rules for working with material

Today, clay modeling courses are opening all over the country, and this is no accident. Working with this material is indeed somewhat more difficult than with plasticine or s alt dough. First of all, the clay must be diluted to a plastic consistency. If you have powder, just add water and mix. The situation is a little more complicated with lumpy clay. In this case, the material should be filled with liquid for a while. Then drain the water and knead the lump. If you can't use up all the prepared piece at once, just put it in a plastic bag or wrap it with a wet cloth. It is believed that clay can become moldy during long-term storage - so try to knead it at least once a day if you plan to use the mass for modeling in a couple of days.

Easy crafts: where to start?

Clay modeling for beginners involves making simple figurines. Separate a piece of a suitable size from the entire cooked mass. Remember it in your hands - your fingersshould get used to the texture and density of the material. Next, you have to turn a piece of mass into some kind of figure. What exactly to blind? Experienced clay sculptors advise beginners to depict any images and forms that first come to mind. And most importantly - do not be afraid: one of the advantages of the material is that you can always redo everything before finishing the product. Try to make some simple animal or even a human figure.

Interesting techniques

Clay modeling is an interesting kind of craft that allows you to create a variety of things. So, the easiest way is to draw complex shapes from one piece of material. But sculpting something from individual pieces of clay is a little more difficult. To fasten the parts you will need a special glue. Making it is very simple: prepare a liquid solution of clay with water. Before gluing one element to another, lubricate the intended junction with the resulting liquid. The same solution can smooth out cracks that sometimes appear when the material dries. Clay modeling is a very creative process. Try to decorate your crafts with "carving" using special tools or any improvised devices - for example, thin sticks or empty pen rods. An interesting technique is to give texture to clay with stamps, also try to roll out the layer on a piece of embossed fabric. From the selected material, you can make another type of crafts using special forms. Clay, diluted to a liquid state, is poured into them and left for a couple of days. Thenthe figurine is taken out, if necessary, smooth out all the irregularities and leave to air dry further.

Interesting ideas

Using clay, you can make casts of ready-made toys and souvenirs made of hard materials. It is very easy to make such crafts. Wrap the figure with which we will make a cast with cling film. Roll out the clay with a rolling pin and gently wrap around the prepared mold. Wait until the clay dries a little (no more than a day), then carefully remove it from the base. Leave the figurine to dry and process further in the usual way. Clay modeling (for children, you can pick up a few simpler crafts) is not only the creation of voluminous products. You can get by with prints. Roll out the material not too thin. Then invite the young sculptor to leave fingerprints on the surface or squeeze out the whole picture. Prints can also be made with stamps or just beautiful molds, jars.

How to process the product?

Real pottery masters fire their products in special kilns. Of course, few people have such equipment at home. But you can always burn the clay at the stake. Just make sure that the fire is not too strong, otherwise your crafts may crack. Clay modeling is a fascinating activity, but it requires patience. It is not enough to sculpt a figurine, the products must still go through several stages of processing. After the crafts have completely dried, they must be carefully sanded, smoothing out all the flaws. Then the products are fired or covered with several layers of colorless varnish. Clay sculptures can be painted with paints. Remember that unfired products are quite fragile. After firing, the figurines become more durable, but it is still not recommended to drop them and subject them to aggressive mechanical stress.

For the first attempts in pottery, you can always purchase a ready-made kit for modeling factory-made clay. It contains not only all the necessary materials and tools, but also detailed instructions for making crafts and a step-by-step guide for each step.