I just recently felt the need to work more in the round (meaning I wanted to sculpt). I felt my newest ideas would be best conveyed by sculpting them, so that's what I did. Logged right on to our beloved yet hated Amazon and bought 8lbs of Sculpey. The idea was Monsters, short and sweet. The whole process was only supposed to take me a week so I could have the bulk of the work listed up in my Etsy shop for Valentine's Day. However I'm lazy and just finished painting.
I've only worked with Sculpey once before. I made a "Collection of Richards" for my Junior Year Art Show in college. I realized the potential for this product within my art making, put a pin in it, and hoped I'd remember for later use. Happy to report that I remembered! I got right down to business when my package arrived. So, without any further ranting here's the scoop.
Heart from top (now painted ) If you don't have access to a ceramics studio and don't want to pay an arm and a leg on supplies for working at home, get the Sculpey. I had no idea where my ceramics tools were hiding and I didn't want to buy more so I used popsicle sticks, a random craft wood circle cutout, and a metal tool that was actually for applying rhinestones onto things. The Sculpey was sectioned off into 1lb bricks which made all of the difference. (I didn't have to locate a wire to section and separate myself). Though this could easily have been remedied. Craft wire or even dental floss would work, but the product is soft enough to just pull apart. Now as a person who enjoys the full process of hands-on work, I like working with Sculpey slightly more than with traditional clay. As much as I love being fully involved in the process of things, I can't stand having wet/damp cold hands when worI am also a klutz and a rough handler so when working with traditional clay I usually find myself fixing a more than fair amount of indents and cuts I've made. As for the Sculpey, my hands are dry and not freezing. As for fixing the damage I've inflicted on the product, it seems to be a lot less. Sculpey is soft, but not as soft as traditional clay. The consistency is on point and I love that all I had to do was bake it according to the instructions given. Each piece took about 15-20 minutes to fully bake (I bake one piece at a time to prevent burning). I'll be a forever user of this stuff and not only because of how convenient it is.
Exact product I purchased. "Collection of Richards". Current unfinished monster eye.
I am not sponsored by Sculpey in any way shape or form, I just really enjoy this product. I'm not one to keep materials, products, or processes to myself especially if someone could use the information for something they want to work on. So for anyone looking to do a fun sculpting project I'd recommend giving this stuff a whirl.
Other products I have used for this particular project are: Mod Podge Spray Acrylic Sealer, Posca and Sharpie markers, Pentrista acrylic paint, Speedball Calligraphy Ink, and later on when it's time to stick these guys up on their backings I'll be using J-B Clearweld 5 minute Clear Epoxy (2 pack). Again, I'm not sponsored by any of these companies. These are products that I've found and liked so much that I continue to use them.
Heart from top