Clay finishes
3yr
@brandonstudio
Hi community! Anyone here know about using waterbased clay that can help me? This bust I've used waterbased clay and I've never used it before. I want to fire this, but I have noticed due to shrinkage there are little gaps in the ear and a few uneven surfaces. This is not completely dry, however is very powdery and no longer cold to the touch, so probably close to be ready to fire. Can this be sanded or slightly tooled? or could I potentially ruin it by doing this? It may be hard to match the surface finish if I sand it as i did lightly sponge the surface while it was wet to give a nice finish. What are your thoughts. Thanks
2yr
It can be sanded but you have to be careful because the silica dust is out good to breath in. It is difficult once the sculpture is completely dry to make modifications like adding clay to the surface.
@brandonstudio
2yr
Thank you
2yr
You could try using a small paint brush, and a bit of white vinegar, along with a bit of slip also mixed with vinegar. You may have let it dry too fast, thus resulting in the gaps. (Are they almost cracks? Then certainly it dried too fast and unevenly.) If using the vinegar slip, be sure to soften the area on the ears with a bit of vinegar before you apply the slip. You don't want to get it too wet. After the repair, keep the bust wrapped in plastic, letting the repair dry slowly. The vinegar sort of "melts" (for lack of a better word) the dried clay. Sometimes one needs to make the gaps or cracks a bit bigger to repair them. If I were you, I'd experiment on a separate piece of clay as dry as the bust is now. She is beautiful!
2yr
Sorry, Brandon. I forgot to look at the date of your post, so my advice obviously didn't help!
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2yr
Well she worked out kinda OK. Here I was worried about the ear but it was the shoulder that blew! So I glued it and added some gold paint.
2yr
This is a gorgeous sculpt! As a potter I do know you need to hollow out your piece keeping the same thickness throughout. I suggest an inch then use a needle tool or a fork to punch holes on the inside so air can escape from the back instead the front of the piece.
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2yr
I don't have any advice on this, but I wanted to just chime in and say I like the piece. It reminds me of some of the tutorial work by Amelia Rowcroft. I haven't taken any of her courses, but they seem to be very good.
3yr
PLEASE take this with a grain of salt! Im a noob at all of this, but is just a suggestion. Someone with experience should give the correct answer: Maybe 'wet sanding' with a very small grit, around 3000?
