I used a different 3D model of a skull that looks a bit different. The oil clay I am using is more granular and too sticky than chavant NSP (a bit expensive) From the beginning I've wrapped the neck with too much paper, so made it too large.

You can dissolve it in some kind of alcohol and then spray it with your finger and a cut brush. Or dap with a sponge. Or make small holes with a needle (Slant and than ligt) and brush in some dissolved Chua ant with a brush.

I’m gearing up to oil paint down the road. Well, that in and of itself is super complex, as beginning attempts have shown. I am now getting down to basics, lots of drawing to be done, skills to learn, a gargantuan need to learn anatomy, and then mixing paint will come later, so that when I actually use canvas and paints, I can create something of value and not some monstrosity to be found in a thrift store or trash bin.  I’m wondering what is advice of practicing digitally versus real pen, and paper, pencil or charcoal in developing skills? Any thoughts?

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.

Oh where do I start!! Hair, that damn pesky thing. Sculpting different emotions. Eye depth in the face, I struggle with that one! subtle mouth expressions. Oh, just everything!

Sometimes heating a knife and tapping the sculpture with the flat of the blade so that it melts the surface and then pulling it away can create some interesting texture. You can also just use a rough rake to create some short strokes in multiple directions that go along with the direction of the stubble. The difference in texture from the smooth skin to a rough tooled texture might be enough to give the feeling of stubble.

I dont understand the question

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.

Bummer :(

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.

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?

Andrew, will you be covering or can you cover in the future reductive sculpting? I sure still have much to learn on sculpting using clay, but I would like to learn how to sculpt by removing matter as well. What are your thoughts?

This made me laugh out loud in public. It was so funny hearing Stan wanting to know what was actually practical about the book. Brilliant

My NSP Chavant medium clay is SO hard! Is this normal? How do you soften it? I’m trying a lamp but not much change. I read that you an add a small amount of hot water to pieces of clay and let it sit overnight. Please help!

Well, I had a go at the challenge, it was fun. I think i might take this one further and push the details as I love the pose!

Hello @Andrew Joseph Keith the statue of evea I worked. 1- I drew the eva according to the photo proportions. 45 cm. 2- luminaire suitable for proportions I did. 3- I checked the armature with the drawing. 4- I placed the luminaire on the pedestal. There was no linking part. The wire is soft. I tried a lot but I couldn't. 5- It is very difficult to make luminaires. My wrists and fingers hurt for days. 6- There was water-based clay. The weather is too hot, the clay dries quickly and cracks. 7- I am waiting for the armature making lesson. when my hands hurt :) I enjoyed it very much thank you.

Here is a face that I based, especially in the early stages, on Jesse. I began with the profile, and I tried to really get Jesse's basic profile. After I had that, I tried to work without the photo reference as much, exploring the shape of the face and the features in ways that I thought was interesting. I probably would have learned more by being more faithful to the references the whole time, but I enjoyed working in something of a hybrid way. Is this a bad way to use reference materials, in this sort of hybrid way? I didn't used an armature for this--it is solid clay. I used a cheap clay that comes in multi-colored bars, which I kneaded together. The clay was a little over $2 a pound, but I used less than half of that. (I gave some thoughts on the clay in another post in this thread for a torso I did, so I won't repeat that here.) For tools, I used a paperclip, which I mangled a little bit so that I had loops of slightly different sizes and shapes. I also used a tooth pick. I broke it in half by accident, half way through sculpting, but then realized that the broken off end has its uses as well.