all 2 comments

[–]Maraudentium 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've only an introductory knowledge of clay sculptures so I can only tell you so much.

It is pretty straightforward, but you will need a strong grasp of proportions.

You start out with a wire figure to build your clay on and you build the basic form of it (like you would in figure drawing) and then move on to the more complex shapes and then the details.

The Big Book of Cermics is a good and cheap book for working with clay.

Reddit's Ceramics subreddit may help you go into more depth.

[–]cdubose 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I only dabbled in sculpting with alabaster, but I literally started by going to the local art store (Dick Blick) and picking up some alabaster, tools, and a mallet and started chipping away at the stone block. I would break down the things I wanted to sculpt into simple shapes and then refine them as I progressed.

You could do the same thing: get ahold of some clay and tools and just start going at it. This isn't to say that books won't help (they will), but I feel like art is something you learn primarily by doing--particularly via trial and error, so embrace your mistakes as part of the learning process. Instead of buying all new shit like I did, I'd suggest trying to get used/cheap/free items to save money. I also found it extremely helpful to sketch out whatever I wanted to sculpt from several angles before starting, but obviously you can go about it however you choose.

PS - That is a kickass gargoyle bust.