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Recently I've been experimenting with sculpture in polymer clay. Took my first few sculptures to Boskone this year, and won two ribbons, a "Judge's Choice" award for the Bridge Troll, and one for "Best 3D."
My biggest problem has been the fragility of the polymer (Super Sculpey). It's been cracking, a lot. One statue, the Morrigan, got totally trashed on the trip back from Boston, despite being carefully packaged, swaddled in bubble wrap.
Web research has confirmed that most sculptors in this medium seem to recommend baking it longer, at lower temperatures, than the manufacturer suggests on the package. Unfortunately, none of them seem to agree on exactly how much lower, and how much longer. While the Super Sculpey package warns "Do not overbake," the one sculpture I left too long (or what I thought was "too long") darkened a lot, and turned rock hard. Since I'm painting them, I don't really care about the color change. So I'm thinking maybe the longer the better.
Before I bake any more actual sculpts, I'll be running some experiments and tests to see what works best. If anyone who has worked with this medium wants to offer their suggestions or formulas, I'm definitely up for hearing them. Thanks.
My biggest problem has been the fragility of the polymer (Super Sculpey). It's been cracking, a lot. One statue, the Morrigan, got totally trashed on the trip back from Boston, despite being carefully packaged, swaddled in bubble wrap.
Web research has confirmed that most sculptors in this medium seem to recommend baking it longer, at lower temperatures, than the manufacturer suggests on the package. Unfortunately, none of them seem to agree on exactly how much lower, and how much longer. While the Super Sculpey package warns "Do not overbake," the one sculpture I left too long (or what I thought was "too long") darkened a lot, and turned rock hard. Since I'm painting them, I don't really care about the color change. So I'm thinking maybe the longer the better.
Before I bake any more actual sculpts, I'll be running some experiments and tests to see what works best. If anyone who has worked with this medium wants to offer their suggestions or formulas, I'm definitely up for hearing them. Thanks.
Devious Journal Entry
This is why I don't have a blog. I turn around, and the next thing I know, months have passed without an update. Yeah, it's been a busy few months. Got a bit overwhelmed with mask commissions, but managed to get a few other things done as well. With my friend Rev DiCerto (of Rev & Ron) finished the first draft on a collaborative steampunk novel about air pirates. Finished the third draft on an urban fantasy novel of my own, wrote a couple of short stories, and created covers for several books, which will show up here eventually.
I'm realizing there are lots of my paintings up here, but very few samples of my masks and comics work. I'll
Arisia Bound.
Deviant Art reawakened my love of drawing and painting..
Not like it ever went away, but, yeah, it's been napping the last few years. I've continued to make masks, which right now are my bread and butter, and do the occasional graphics job - a logo here, an illustration there - but my main creative outlet the last few years has been writing fiction. I've done four novels and a handful of short stories. I've been learning about the craft of writing, the business of publishing, and the arcane art and science of convincing publishers they want to pay you for your work.
As it happens, dA wasn't the only factor in jumpstarting my art process
Contemplating a New Year.
I joined Deviant Art in November, and it made December an interesting month. For a couple of weeks, I spent every spare moment photographing, scanning, and uploading like a madman, in order to get a basic cross section of my existing work up. I've done this sort of thing before (on Zazzle, in building my various websites, assembling portfolios), so I knew what to expect -- basically, I had no life outside of paying work during the day and working on the dA pages at night (figuratively speaking - with my schedule, it's more like afternoon and evening on jobs, wee hours of the morning on dA).
And then there was browsing and finding all sorts
© 2012 - 2024 Duncan-Eagleson
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