Okay so! I'm not going to call my first attempt a fail because I did learn about how the paper clay works (and smells), which will help me make the next try better. After making my first testing batch, I filled a large bowl with paper shreds and used hot water to soak it. After a few days, I started the clay making process. I think because I was working with a much larger amount of paper than before, I ended up using a lot more flour than I was supposed to. It gave the clay a more workable consistency, but I think that is what made the clay smell SO BAD as it dried, which didn't happen the first time. As I began building the piece, I quickly realized that the "clay" wasn't nearly as study as I expected it to be. I was using more of a slab building technique, but since the clay couldn't support itself, I tried using stacked pots and pans to support the walls. It seemed to work at first, but as it dried overnight it fell apart. So, improvements! First of all, next time instead of making a huge batch of clay I'm going to make several smaller batches of clay, both to save my forearms from all that kneading and to keep the ratio of paper to flour more even (around 3:1). I'm also going to scale the piece down, because I want to make it more dense (aka no more slab like pieces), so scaling it down will make shaping the pieces by hand easier. I think it'll also help the arches be more successful and make it easier for the piece to support itself. If the piece ends up falling apart a second time, I could experiment with having a metal mesh/wire armature supporting the piece (as opposed to pots and pans) which I just keep attached as a part of the piece, but I really wanted the piece to just be the clay so I'm going to try one more time. Since I'm in India now and don't have the materials I need to continue the sculpture right now, I'm going to switch gears and take a break from the sculpture and get started on my 2D piece. Brainstorm and thumbnail post coming soon! sculptingpost-drying
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Ria BakshiCheck out what I'm currently working on by clicking the PROCESS button! Archives
December 2020
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