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Monday, October 02, 2006 Plaster Sculpting By Molly @ 11:57 AM :: 1945 Views :: 3 Comments :: :: Arts & Crafts   Hello and Merry Meeting My Friends! I do much sculpting in many mediums and have a very easy way for beginners and advanced artists to learn new ways of having fun and making expressive art. Plaster Sculpture by Wolf Items Needed... 1.) A cheap plastic bucket that does not cost much money yet clean. I would suggest perhaps a trash bucket such as one might find under a kitchen sink or beside a computer desk that might hold 10 gallons of water...or more. (U.S. measurements.) [In the past I have used 50 gallon plastic containers!] 2.) Bag of Plaster of Paris - 50 LB bag (U.S. measurements) 2 or 3 bags would be best to make sure you have enough and this will depend on the amount of water and size of plastic container being used. I will talk more of this later. 3.) A sharp utility knife. 4.) Readily available clean water. (2 smaller wash and rinse buckets for clean up purposes) 5.) Various sculpture tools of the artists choice. I have several different sized chisels, hammers, wood rasps, scrapers, dental tools...etc. Anything that can chop, cut, did, scrape, sand (like sandpaper)...just be imaginative. 6.) Face mask to keep out plaster dust from entering nose and mouth. (This is extremely important.) 7.) Eye protective wear to keep plaster chips from entering eyes. (Thius is again very important.) 8.) A sturdy table to work on and one that will hold the weight of the plaster sculpture yet also one that you can navigate around to reach and all possible avenues of the sculpture mold. 9.) Emergency Eye wash and emergency medical kit. (Again...all very important to be safe rather than sorry. 10.) Some kind of mesh screening stapled to a frame that will cover the plastic container yet also hold plaster. This is needed to "sift" the plaster into the water filled plastic container to remove any chunks and clumping. 11.) A long scraping and mixing stick/rod that is used to mix the plaster and water so this stick must be longer than the container being used. 12.) Clothing that you don't care too much about getting dirty. Proceedure 1.) Take clean plastic bucket and fill no more than 3/4 full of clean cold water from either your faucet or garden hose or even clean river water...I would suggest perhaps even a little less than 3/4 full. The reason for this is that you will be adding Plaster or Paris which, when added to the water will raise the level in the container. 2.) Place your reinforced (metal is best) mesh over the plastic container holding the water. When I say reinforced I simply mean some type of metal meshing that has sides. One could take steel meshing with square openings of roughly a 1/4 inch diameter (U.S. measurements) and staple gun this meshing to the underside of a prepared wooden frame. 3.) Place an opened bag of Plaster of Paris next to your water container and open it but please make sure at this point you start using your breathing mask and one that fits well to your face. It might be necessary to open two or more bags depending on amount of water and size of container. Position these bages so that you can get to them, and open them semi-quickly when necessary...again...if needed! 4.) Scoop amounts of plaster onto the metal meshing (several doubled handed handfulls) that is covering the plastic conainer holding the water. In a circular motion sift this into the water making sure to break and larger chunks. Normally bags of plaster do not have large chunks but sifting this way also allows for an even/smooth distribution into the plaster container holding the water. This sifting process needs to be done at a reasonable/steady pace however you do not want to bang the sides of the water container or agitate the water to much at this point. The plaster might activate with the water and the hardening process will begin to soon...so take your time but also hurry up! Keep sifting plaster into the water until you see the plaster rise above the surface of the water...much like an island on the ocean. I would make sure the "island" of plaster is a few inches high. (3 or 4 inches U.S. measurements.) The best way to know when enough is enough is when the island does not fall back into the water and the plaster pile stays exposed above the surface by a few inches. 5.) When you have made your island then take your stirring tool and start mixing the plaster and water together aggressively but not sloppily. Stir and mix for just a few minutes and then reach in with both arms and start mixing with hands and fingers scraping the bottom and sides. This will allow you to feel all through the plaster/water mixture for clumping that might have been missed. Hand and arm mix for several more minutes. Fell for clomps, break them and sift the together with your hands...complete this process through the whole mixture. Bring the bottom mixture to the top and side to side etc...always feeling for clumping that needs to be broken up. You will eventually start to feel the mixture heating up...getting warmer. This is the chemical reaction betweem water/plaster telling you that it is hardening and that you need to prapare to stop the mixing process. 6.) After you feel the mixture heating up and you believe you have all the plaster/water mixed well stop and was off your hands. I always scrape off excess plaster mixture directly into the container I have just made my mold in. IMPORTANT NOTE HERE! ABSOLUTELY DO NOT rinse hands off directly into your kitchen or bathroom sinks. Acclumulation could eventually travel through your piping and this would be very costly to have to replace. I always have two (2) water buckes filled with rinse water. I will wash most plaster off my arms and hands into the first bucket and then a cleaner wash into the second bucket. Always dump your plaster rinse water outside. It is biodegradable and does not hurt the environment. The best option is to use a garden hose to wash off clothing and body and in this way nothing is ever placed into household drainage pipes. 7.) Leave your plaster mold for 36 hours and DO NOT DISTURB it. Do not move it so that is will harden correctly and not crack internally. 8.) After 3 days find someone to help you life this onto your sculpting table. 9.) Take your utility knife and slice the sides of the container and peel/cut away plastic. If your plaster mold is too heavy for you to life and get the bottom plastic off...don't worry about it. Eventually, when the plaster is lighter from your sculpting much of it away...you will be able to remove bottom piece...however if it is possible to remove at the beginning it would be best. 10.) After the plastic is removed...you are ready to sculpt! At this point the plaster mold will be very managable since it is still fairly wet but as each day goes by the plaster dries more and more. You will be able to "hear" the difference in your sculpting process as time goes by because of the drying and removal processes involved. The dryer the plaster...the easier it will be to break of pieces you do not want to break off...this is where you will learn/refine your sculpting techniques. Good Luck...and ALWAYS wear the correct protective clothing and equipment. Wolf

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Comments By Wolf @ Wednesday, October 04, 2006 9:08 PM Hi I need to say sorry for all the spelling mistakes in the initial posting. I have not ever been good at the phonetics of the english language and spell-check also helps me a lot... Anyway... I wanted to clarify the sizes of the sculptures in order to give you an idea as to sizes and time frames. Please remember that the majority of time acclumulated is from the preparation of the molding and not actual sculpting time. "Lava", The first picture was made from a plaster mold using the process I have talked about. It is only 12 inches by 8 inches by 6 inches (U.S measurements) From start to finish...as described above...this piece took me roughly 120 hours. Please keep in mind that about 100 hours of that time frame was devoted to preparing the plaster, molding it, sifting, and allowing it to set for 72 hours. Basically, as far as actual sculpting time is concerned I have 20 to 30 hours invested in that piece. The initial mold was 20 inches by 20 inches. "911" This is spiritual, politicial, and sociological statement in reference to the terrorist attacks of 911. This is about 40 inches tall by 25 inches in circumference...or 25 inches rounded from top to bottom. Water...and then plaster was poured into a large, plastic, 50 gallon lawn garbage can. I have over 400 hours invested in this piece. This took 4 bags of Plaster of Paris. Sculpting time was 200 hours. "Inverted Sphere" A work in progress...about 100 hours so far. 16 inches in diameter but made from a plaster mold of about 20 inches square. "Vermiculite Skull" This is a piece that is mixed with vermiculite...basically that is what some people use for insulation...made from wood chips and saw-dust etc...then this piece is sealed with a polyeurathance coating to discolour it from white. Being a realistic piece..more time was involved. I have about 450 hours involved from start to finish. Sixe was initially a 30 inch by 30 inch block and the actual size now is about 20 inch diameter and 20 inches high. I wanted to show this so that you can see the differences in sizes and time frames. However, the process of making the plaster molds is the same for each piece. I used spoons, knives, schsels, happers, saws, nails, sand paper, rasps, dental tools...whatever I could ge my hands on that digs and smooths. Anyone can do this...it is very easy. ~W~ Peace-Wolf By Krista @ Saturday, October 14, 2006 2:35 PM Hello Wolf ~~~ I just wanted to tell you that I think your scupltures are right good! I would like to have a go at making one myself ~~~ can you able to make smaller ones like fillin up a plastic cup with the plaster instead of a ruddy big bin? Am not sure I got the space for a big en? Thanks very much ~~~ please post some more! Krista xx By Rammona @ Thursday, November 09, 2006 2:47 AM Wolf your sculptering is fantastic you do lovely work, I love the one you did for 911. Do you sell your work? I live in Canada in Ontario on a large Island that is famous for its artisans, I think your work would sell well here. Question.. when you have finished your sculptering how do you get the surface to be so shinny? Kushti Bok Click here to post a comment