Painting advice for clay sculpture

[moopis]

Hi, I'm new to making props/sculptures and recently had to make a creature out of clay. The sculpture is a medium sized one (25cms tall) and was wondering what are some of the different ways people go about painting it. I've primed the entire sculpture and ready to paint but a bit hesitant to start. I know most people airbrush or spray paint it however those are not options for this build. I find that painting with acrylic always leaves streak marks when I try to cover a large surface.

 

[Knighttoknight]

Is there any way to see what ou would be painting just to have a better idea?

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

Assuming you used an oil based clay, what I like to do is airbrush my maquettes with FW acrylic inks. I like to speckle and add fine details by hand though, I feel it gives me a lot better control.

I have a few maquettes I've painted up this way and I've never had any problems.

On the Stan Winston School website Jordu Schell actually has a maquette painting tutorial where he uses roughly the same techniques I use.


Seeing that airbrushing is not an option for you after I typed that of course, perhaps thinning your acrylics down or stippling it on will get rid of the streaks in the paint? If you have normal water based acrylics they can thin with water, FW inks I prefer to thin with alcohol.

 

[MASKENSTEIN]

sounds like youre attempting to paint the actual clay sculpt...is that right???...if so-stop right now!
...unles youre using an air dry clay like sculpty....
nick m

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

sounds like youre attempting to paint the actual clay sculpt...is that right???...if so-stop right now!
...unles youre using an air dry clay like sculpty....
nick m

Out of curiosity, care to explain why?

Painting oil based clay sculptures is very common, especially maquette sculptures.

I have a Chavant clay sculpture that's probably two years old that was painted (as stated above) and it's just fine.

Painting sculpey is a very different process. Usually involving pre mixing the sculpey to your desired base coat and I personally add flocking to break the color up. Then I stain the sculpey before I bake it, and baking it brings the color out.

Air dry clay like WED, I let harden and then fill in the cracks. Then I give it a clear coat to seal it and proceed to paint it how I would a resin bust.

 

[MASKENSTEIN]

somebody can correct me if i'm wrong, but i always thought most modeling clays were for sculpting....that they dont hold up well for handling. I guess if something was just going to sit on a shelf , it would b fine, but be carefull when handling it. They dont have the durablity of something made of resin.

i mainly use wed clayfor sculpting, and that for a fact is very brittle when dried out....but if it works for your project...hey-i guess its all good-lol!

would be good to hear from more people on this
nick m

Out of curiosity, care to explain why?

Painting oil based clay sculptures is very common, especially maquette sculptures.

I have a Chavant clay sculpture that's probably two years old that was painted (as stated above) and it's just fine.

Painting sculpey is a very different process. Usually involving pre mixing the sculpey to your desired base coat and I personally add flocking to break the color up. Then I stain the sculpey before I bake it, and baking it brings the color out.

Air dry clay like WED, I let harden and then fill in the cracks. Then I give it a clear coat to seal it and proceed to paint it how I would a resin bust.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

somebody can correct me if i'm wrong, but i always thought most modeling clays were for sculpting....that they dont hold up well for handling. I guess if something was just going to sit on a shelf , it would b fine, but be carefull when handling it. They dont have the durablity of something made of resin.

i mainly use wed clayfor sculpting, and that for a fact is very brittle when dried out....but if it works for your project...hey-i guess its all good-lol!

would be good to hear from more people on this
nick m

Nope, clay can take a paint job perfectly fine. You do have to be more careful with it than you would with a resin bust, but the paint actually gives the clay a sort of protective skin.



Here is world renowned sculptor Jordu Schell, you guessed it, painting an oil clay maquette.

https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials/creature-design-painting-techniques

 

[MASKENSTEIN]

guess ya learn something new everyday-lol
i wanted to see jordu's full video from that link - it looked interesting-!

Nope, clay can take a paint job perfectly fine. You do have to be more careful with it than you would with a resin bust, but the paint actually gives the clay a sort of protective skin.



Here is world renowned sculptor Jordu Schell, you guessed it, painting an oil clay maquette.

https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials/creature-design-painting-techniques