Using your hands-on medium (literally) to create art is a unique experience. It’s therapeutic and rewarding, making sculpting a popular art-making form. Whether you’re a beginner sculptor or an artist who wants to try turning clay into 3D masterpieces, you must gather the essential supplies and tools to get started and learn some basic techniques.

What Materials Are Used in Sculpture for Beginners?

When searching for essential modelling supplies in Australia, you’ll come across different types of sculpting clay, tools, silicone and accessories. Here’s everything you need to know for the sculpting materials crucial for making crafts, jewellery and handcrafted treasures in no time and with zero experience.

Sculpting Clay

Natural or man-made, sculpting clay comes in several types. Clay is a soft material that when shaped with various tools, such as knives and fingers, creates robust sculptures. These are the different kinds of clay used in sculpture.

Air-Dry

When looking for convenience, beginners and hobbyists frequently choose air-dry clay. It dries naturally in the presence of air and doesn't require baking or firing. However, its potential for intricate works of art is limited by its tendency to warp, shrink, and crack. Yet, it works better on simpler projects with simple forms (like human figures and portraits). Because of this, skilled figure sculptors frequently choose alternative clay varieties that offer more consistency and control.

Polymer

Polymer clays are another form of air-dry clay, which requires baking to solidify. A distinct set of properties makes these clays popular among artists who would rather bake instead of kiln-fire or make moulds to create a permanent sculpture. Polymer clays are typically used for small sculptures and can be rather costly.

Water-based

Pottery clay, another name for water-based modelling clay, is a versatile material you can use to create complex shapes and details and simple sculptures. Moisture regulates its working properties, enabling you to refine details as the clay gradually hardens and to create forms quickly when it is soft and pliable. It must be maintained at the proper moisture content to remain workable and avoid cracking while sculpting.

For water-based clay to become permanently durable, it must be fired in a ceramic kiln. You can also mould and cast it to make an edition in a different material (like bronze or plaster).

Many experienced sculptors prefer water-based clay, due to its mouldability and capacity to express details. Due to its inherent properties that respond to touch, it possesses the best "feeling" when working with it. It also provides a broad range of surface treatments because fired ceramic can be painted and pigmented with acrylics, left natural (like terracotta), or glazed in various colours.

Oil-based

Oil-based clays don’t dry out like the water-based options and are perfect for mould-making and maquettes. They’re made from oils, minerals and waxes and usually require heat to soften and mould, and a heat source to keep the clay warm while working on it, making them tricky for beginners. Oil-based clay remains workable for longer, making it a favourite among special effects artists. However, it doesn’t harden, meaning it’s inconvenient for finished craft projects.

Plaster of Paris

Most art stores have plaster of Paris. It's cheap and simple to combine. The best way to use it is to pour it into empty paper milk cartons. Once it solidifies, remove the paper to begin crafting a sculpture. Use a rasp and sandpaper to remove the plaster and reveal your sculpture.

Tools

Nonstick Surface

You won't have anywhere helpful to make your artwork without a nonstick surface. Working with clay on any old surface will cause the clay to take on impressions from that surface and, worse yet, it will also absorb any dirt or dust that may have been lying there. Additionally, some surfaces will stick to clay, making it more difficult to shape.

Wire Cutter

That is the simplest and frequently the best cutting tool for sculpting clay, especially when you need a precise, fine cut along straight lines. You can use your hands to roughly size and shape clay pieces, but a wire cutter will bring the process to another level of accuracy. You can also use it to make precise cuts and adjustments to the project. Wire cutters are sometimes more efficient than other bladed tools because they are narrower than even the sharpest knives.

Hook Tool

You should have at least one hook tool in your arsenal of clay sculpting tools. While it requires little explanation, a hook tool is essentially a length of pointed metal attached to a wooden or plastic handle with a hook at one end. Its shape and angle can vary—some options are even straight. The hook can be angled gracefully or sharply, or it can even be straight. In the last case, though, it becomes more of a pick than a hook, which is still a helpful tool.

In addition to shaping the clay sculpture, a hook tool can make miniature impressions or manipulations on the clay's surface, tasks for which your fingers and other tools are too dull. Additionally, you can draw or tease out small sections of clay with hook tools, which would be difficult or impossible to do with almost any other tool.

Loop Tool

A wire loop tool is a hardened wire loop fastened to a handle, usually made of plastic or wood. But that general description can’t capture how incredibly adaptable these instruments are. They’re so useful that you can't just use one. They are, in a sense, the most significant moulding clay instruments available; you can use them to create scales, fur, feathers, wavy patterns, divots, rounded holes, and many other surface alterations. Although not ranked first in this article, loop tools are among the most valuable modelling supplies in Australia and worldwide.

Scraper

A clay scraper, also known as a rib, is a thin, flexible metal piece that resembles a larger, handleless scoring tool. These can be used for scoring, making impressions, cutting, sectioning, and even smoothing surfaces. You can ensure even consistency and depth on your clay sheets, and help to smooth or even out the surface of your clay sculpture, by using the trailing edge of a rib. A rib becomes even more useful when used to create intricate texturing or to help tidy up after you're done working!

Storage Container

To ensure everything is in one place, you should also have a spot to hold all your clay tools. Most, if not all, of the tools listed here, are included in many clay kits, and many of them also include a small plastic tube or sleeve where you can arrange and store all of your tools.

You don't need to invest much money in a storage tube just for your clay tools if you prefer to buy your supplies individually rather than as part of a clay kit. You can reuse an old tin as a storage container or create your own.