How to sculpt with clay for beginners. Polymer clay for beginners. How to work with polymer clay. it requires compliance with certain rules

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Pure, without any impurities, clays are rocks consisting of very small particles (0.01 mm) of a lamellar shape. These are complex chemical compounds, which include silicon, aluminum and water, and clay particles can not only include water, but also keep it around them in the form of thin layers.

Clay is formed from feldspar as a result of weathering. Together with silica, it can remain in the place where it appeared. Such clay is called primary, or kaolin, because it contains kaolinite, a clay-forming mineral that is white in color and refractory.

Primary clay is rare in nature. Most often, in places of formation, it is washed away by water, which transfers this rock to another place, where it lingers for a time sufficient to form secondary layers. It happens that after the secondary deposition, the clay is again washed out by water after some geological cataclysm and moves to a new place. At this time, various impurities can be mixed with it.

Fawn spars are of different origin, respectively, kaolins are also very diverse in the nature of the clay substance, in the amount and composition of impurities.

Kaolins always contain quartz, mica and undecomposed spar;

iron compounds, gypsum, organic residues.

Potter is one of ancient professions. Previously, many of these artisans were considered almost like sorcerers, since when working, the masters directly come into contact with the material, transfer their character and nature to the product.

The diversity in the composition of clays is very important from a technical point of view, as it affects the basic properties of the material, making it suitable for various technical purposes.

The most important properties of clay are:

the ability to combine with water, forming thin suspensions and viscous

dough;

ability to swell in water;

the ability in its raw form to take and retain its shape after drying, i.e. the plasticity of the material;

stickiness;

binding ability;

the ability to keep moisture out after saturation with a certain amount of water.

So, dry clay can absorb a fairly large amount of water and then keep it between its particles. When it gets wet to a certain extent, it ceases to pass water and becomes waterproof. At the same time, it turns into a mass that can be kneaded and mixed. From it you can fashion something that will retain its shape after drying.

Clay can be mixed with other materials, such as sand, while it will retain its plasticity to a lesser or greater extent (it all depends on the content of plastic substances in it). So, when mixed with sand, the plasticity of clay decreases. This ability is called binding. It should be noted that the clays themselves have varying degrees of plasticity and cohesion. Plastic can hold more water than less plastic, but they require much moretime to saturate with water.

All clays according to the degree of plasticity can be divided into several groups - from non-plastic to highly plastic.

Low-plastic and non-plastic clays are called lean, and clays with high plasticity are called oily, since they feel oily to the touch when soaked.

Another important property of this material is its relation to firing and high temperature. When possible, forced drying without cracking, clays are divided into the following categories: highly sensitive, sensitive and insensitive. According to the sinterability of the pores in the fired and molded sample, clays are classified into three groups - from non-caking to highly caking.

If water is added to this rock and then removed without heating, then these actions will not affect in any way Chemical properties material. If the wetted and molded clay is subjected to high-temperature heating, then it will chemical composition there will be profound changes. At an average temperature, the material will not lose its porosity and ability to absorb moisture, but at the same time it will not be able to change its shape when in contact with water, i.e. it hardens. This condition is called a crock. The hardness of the shard increases with increasing temperature. At very high temperatures, the clay melts and takes on a glassy appearance, while it loses its porosity, becoming so hard that it sparks when it hits a metal object.

The temperature at which the rock becomes solid is different for different varieties and depends on the impurities that it contains. As mentioned above, clay is composed of alumina and silica. The latter component melts at lower temperatures than alumina, and a mixture of these components melts even more easily than silica. Thus, if clay is mixed with silica, then its refractoriness will decrease, but only to a certain level, after this limit, on the contrary, this indicator will increase, and the addition of alumina

always raises fire resistance. Sometimes, to reduce the refractoriness, various impurities are specially introduced into the material, for example, lime, oxide and iron oxide, magnesia, alkalis, and others, and even in the smallest amounts they can change the properties of clay.

Clay is varied in color - white, bluish, gray, greenish, red, all kinds of shades of yellow, brown, dark blue, black.

In Ukraine, walls and stoves were whitewashed with white clay. If people wanted to give the walls color, they used red, yellow, blue clay. Thus, clay has a coloring and covering power.

natural color rock may vary during firing depending on the impurities. If the clay contains iron compounds (in any quantity), then after firing it will acquire a brick-red color, which becomes darker at high temperatures, and at very high temperatures it acquires a green or even black tint.

If, together with iron oxide, there is chalk (coal-calcium salt) in clay, then with weak firing it becomes red, when sintered it becomes bright red with shades from dark yellow to whitish.

If it contains at least 3-3.5% chalk for each percent of iron oxide, then the clay turns yellow, and the lower the temperature, the lighter the shade. In addition, the shade becomes lighter if the chalk content exceeds the specified ratio, and at high temperature it darkens. With a low content of chalk, a pure yellow color does not work - it will be intermediate and ugly.

So, all clays can be attributed to one of four types:

to refractory (non-plastic and white plastic);

to fusible (full and pottery); to calcareous (brick and marl);

to ocher (ochre, bolus).

Fuller clay is not suitable for ceramic production,

since it breaks down in water into a fine powder, a plastic mass is not obtained, but it absorbs fats well, so it is used when felting cloth. Actually, hence its name. In addition, it is mixed with potter's clay, if it is too plastic.

Ocher and marl are also not used in ceramics. Ordinary brick clay is a mixture of clay with quartz sand and ocher, sometimes lime. It is brown or yellow, practically non-plastic and non-refractory.

For ceramics, pottery or pottery clay is most suitable, which is very plastic and forms a viscous mass when mixed with water.. Its color is different, usually very intense, when fired, it retains its color, almost always contains iron and lime.

Ordinary pottery clay is found literally everywhere, in addition, several varieties of it can be found in the same area. In dry form, it is a hard, dense and rough mass, which, when mixed with water, becomes sticky, plastic, with a characteristic odor.

This type of clay always contains quartz sand, the mass fraction of which can be from 5 to 15%. Best Option for modeling - this is the clay that contains 5% quartz sand. The presence of a small amount of iron oxide and lime carbonate can be useful, as they allow the products to be fired at lower temperatures. However, a significant admixture of lime should be avoided, especially in the form of small pieces.

If the clay contains more than 15% sand, then products made from it will be fragile. , their edges will quickly begin to crumble, so fat clay must be added to this material.

In the production of flower pots, vegetable materials, such as sawdust, peat powder, chaff, finely chopped straw, charcoal powder, are often added to lean clay for strength, since mixing lean clay with oily clay is economically unprofitable.

When working with clay, it is very important to know how suitable it is for modeling. The best way to find out is to do mechanical and chemical analyzes, which is impossible at home, as this requires a special laboratory. Nevertheless, it is possible to determine the degree of plasticity and refractoriness of a material using simpler and available methods.

To do this, you can make a bar from clay dough mixed with water and leave it to dry in natural conditions. Then the dried piece of clay should be put into water and see how quickly it is saturated with water and how much it deforms. Skinny clays will crumble into powder very quickly, while oily clays take a long time to saturate with moisture, and there is practically no deformation.

When working with clay, one must remember that plastic clays are oily, and non-plastic clays are skinny. The fat content of the material is determined even by touch.

Plastic clays usually have a high degree of refractoriness. By trial firing a small piece of clay, the degree of refractoriness can be determined. Low-melting clay has a vitreous fracture; clay that is stronger in terms of refractoriness will be earthy in the fracture. Refractory clay after firing is ground into powder.

The level of porosity can be determined by using a burnt shard, which is weighed and boiled in water until no air bubbles come out of it. After that, it is taken out of the water, cooled, wiped and weighed. The difference in weight will show how much water the shard has absorbed. The greater its amount, the higher the porosity of the clay.

The properties of clay change depending on which one is required for the manufacture of a particular product. For example, adding oily clay increases the plasticity of the mass, an admixture with a strongly pronounced porosity, respectively, increases the porosity of the material.

It is impossible to increase the plasticity of clay with other impurities, except for the clay itself, but it is not difficult to lower it. This is absolutely necessary if the mass is too greasy, sticks to the tools and the form and is difficult to lag behind them, in addition, when drying, the product made of such clay becomes much smaller, which makes drying very difficult, since cracks appear on the craft, it is strongly deformed. To reduce the fat content in clay, you can add sand, stone, ground into powder, fired and ground clay. It must be remembered that these materials will also affect the porosity of the material.

Most often, sand is added to clay as the most affordable and cheapest material. Preference is given to sand with sharp grains, which is mined in a quarry, round-grained river or sea sand is less suitable for impurities, and silty sand is not suitable for this at all. Instead of sand, silicon and ground quartz are used, which are especially good if it is necessary to reduce the shrinkage of products during drying. Organic substances are added to clay to increase porosity, since during firing they burn out and voids remain in their place.

There are a huge number of varieties of clays, but the following types are used in industry:

kaolin clay white color, consisting of the mineral kaolinite. It is used as a raw material for the manufacture of paper and porcelain industry;

refractory clays of white or gray-white colors, sometimes with a yellowish tinge, consist of kaolinite and hydromica. There are different degrees of plasticity. They are used for the manufacture of refractory and porcelain-faience dishes;

Acid-resistant clays are a type of refractory clays and contain small amounts of iron, calcium, magnesium and sulfur. Used for the manufacture of chemical porcelain-faience products;

molding clays are also a type of refractory clays. They have increased plasticity and binding ability. Most often used as a binder for

making molds for metallurgical casting;

cement clays have a different mineral composition and come in a variety of colors. They are used in the manufacture of Portland cement;

• brick clays are fusible, they contain quite a lot of quartz sand, they come in different colors. They are used to make bricks;

bentonite clays contain montmorillonite, vary in color, and swell strongly in water. They are used for cleaning lubricating and vegetable oils, petroleum products, while drilling wells.

Clays are widely distributed in nature and occur more often at shallow depths, so they are considered cheap mineral raw materials. However, it is not economically viable to transport them, so they are usually used on site (for example, all tile and brick factories are built on site). However, there are also rare types of clays - bentonite and all white clays.

Other materials used for modeling

Nowadays, art stores offer many different materials for modeling, so it makes sense to understand how they differ from clay, which is the oldest of them and is always popular with children, despite the fact that it gets their hands dirty and not so easy to work with. like plasticine.

Plasticine

The most famous and common material for modeling is plasticine, which is perfect for making figurines.

It is quite sticky, all the details of the figurine are perfectly connected and held, so that the child can play with his craft after class and nothing will fall off.

The color palette of plasticine is also quite rich, but modeling from

it requires compliance with certain rules.

So, before you start sculpting something, you need to knead it well in your hands so that it becomes soft, which is beyond the power of a child of 2-2.5 years old.

When working with plasticine, especially with domestic ones, the hands and the surface of the table get very dirty, and it is rather difficult to remove its remnants and can only be done with hot water, so it is advisable to have a special board for sculpting from this material. In addition, it sticks to molds, rolling pin, stacks. During modeling, the child should be taught to wipe his hands with a special napkin.

Recently, they began to produce wax plasticine, which is more plastic and softer than usual. It is good to make various panels from it.

There is another variety - soft plasticine, which is made from starch, wheat and rice flour and dyed with vegetable dyes. This material does not need to be kneaded, it does not stain hands, does not stick to molds and the work surface. However, the parts molded from it are attached to each other rather poorly; for this, the joints must be processed with a stack.

Polymer clay or modeling paste

Modeling paste was created relatively recently. By its properties, it is similar to natural clay, i.e., it is just as plastic, pleasant to the touch, and easily kneaded.

There are two types of pasta. The first does not require firing and after a while hardens in air, the second is fired in an ordinary oven at a certain temperature, which is indicated on the package.

Modeling paste was invented by Fifi Mosaic in the 1930s. 20th century in Germany. This material was intended for the manufacture of doll heads, but it became widespread only in the second half of the 1960s.

Modeling paste is white and terracotta.

The color of polymer clay is very diverse. In addition, after drying, the product can be painted acrylic paints.

This product is already completely ready for modeling, it does not need to be kneaded like clay.

Mass for modeling

Modeling mass is a kind of improved clay for creativity. It is very popular due to its extraordinary properties - plasticity, lightness, elasticity, softness and velvety. It doesn't stick to hands. In terms of plasticity, it is even compared with chewing gum, in addition, it stretches well.

The mass for modeling is produced in various colors, which can be mixed to obtain a variety of shades. And if you roll a ball out of it and throw it at a hard surface, then it will bounce like a ball.

Crafts from this material dry out within 6 hours. If you need to fix something, you can wrap it in a wet cloth or spray it with a spray bottle.

The mass for modeling is stored in a tightly closed jar or bag. If elasticity is lost, it can be moistened with water and kept in a hermetically sealed container. After some time, all the properties of the material will be restored.

papier-mâché paste

Papier-mâché paste is intended for the manufacture of three-dimensional or flat figures using any objects as the basis. It is light, plastic and does not get your hands dirty, it dries for a rather long time, and therefore the craft can be fixed by wetting it a little. Dried crafts can be painted.

The material is already completely ready for use, homogeneous in its mass. The rest of the pasta can be put in a bag, tightly close it and put in the refrigerator.

Dough

Salt dough for modeling is a very popular material for children, which you can also prepare yourself by taking flour and salt in a 1: 1 ratio and adding a little water. Now you can even buy ready-made dough for modeling in the store.

The dough is softer than plasticine and clay, and therefore it is suitable for small children. It can be rolled out and cut out of it with the help of molds, various shapes, and it is best to work using molds with this material.

Modeling dough hardens as it dries, but for the most part, crafts are dried in the oven. A product made of white dough is painted and varnished. You can also sculpt from already painted material, however, when mixed, its remains will become gray-brown. You can color the dough with food coloring during the kneading stage. The dough can be stored in a bag in the refrigerator.

Ball plasticine

Ball plasticine is a very unusual material consisting of small balls interconnected with an adhesive solution. It does not stick to your hands, and gluing the molded elements together is very simple - all you need to do is attach them to each other. In addition, it hides various irregularities on crafts well, and for making small details, such as eyes or nose, you just need to take a ball and attach it to the right place.

Ball clay can be drying and non-drying, fine-grained and ordinary, and even with sparkles and neon. Drying plasticine hardens within 24 hours.

However, products made from this material are always very fragile even after they dry, so it is not suitable for games and crafts. But from it you can make stained-glass windows, frames for photos.

floating plasticine

Floating clay works well, does not stick to hands, does not dry out and mixes well. In addition, it can be used more than once.

Figures made of this material do not sink in water, so you can play with them while taking a bath.

plasticine tree

Plasticine-wood is a brown modeling paste with an imitation of wood texture. The material is easily kneaded, small details can be molded from it.

Crafts are light and can float on water. They dry in a day, after which they can be painted with acrylic paints and gouache, and so that they do not get wet in water over time, they must be varnished.

Gypsum

Gypsum is a white powder obtained from heat treatment gypsum stone with its subsequent grinding. For creative works gypsum should be white, freshly baked, free of sand and caked pieces.

When mixed with water, gypsum quickly sets and hardens after 30 minutes, and at elevated temperatures this process accelerates, so working with this material is quite difficult.

There is an opinion that clay has its own biofield, which

has a beneficial effect on the human biofield. Perhaps that is why when working with this material there is a special state of concentration and relaxation at the same time.

It is impossible to fix the craft after the material has set or reuse the plaster. It retains its plasticity only in the first 10 minutes after adding water, so it is possible to make something out of it only at this moment.

Preparation of clay for modeling. The main stages of working with clay

Clay for modeling can be bought in art stores, where it is sold ready-made in briquettes of various sizes (from 0.5 to 3 kg). Keep it sealed to retain moisture. However, store-bought clay is an expensive pleasure, it will only be enough for small crafts. In hardware stores you can buy dry blue clay, which is packaged in bags of 3 and 5 kg.

Clay from different suppliers is of different quality. If it contains impurities in the form of pebbles or coarse sand, then it must be sieved. In addition, the clay dough from it must be kneaded 1-2 weeks before the start of work so that it matures.

You can look for clay in the places of its occurrence. Usually it is located in quarries, low-lying places or on steep hillsides, along the banks of small reservoirs, on the sides of the roads. Its composition and color may vary. The composition of the clay is checked with water and acid. The water test was discussed above, as for acid, it should not boil when it comes into contact with clay.

Clay can be checked for plasticity by rolling a flagellum out of it and folding it into a ring. If no large cracks appear on it, then the material has good ductility. Other qualities can only be checked after firing.

Making clay dough

Before work, natural clay must be carefully prepared. To begin with, break into very small pieces, dry and pour hot water. When it swells, it should be laid out on a table covered with a cloth, and periodically knead and turn over. When excess water is gone, the material will be ready to work.

If the clay contains impurities, then it must be cleaned before mixing with water. To do this, it is pressed through a fine mesh when it is in a plastic state, or it is cleaned dry by hand, pinching off small pieces and grinding them. In addition, you can put the clay in a metal container, pour it with water, mix well until the consistency of liquid sour cream and let it stand for 2 hours. During this time, heavy impurities will settle to the bottom of the dish. Then the clay should be carefully drained, without shaking, and dried so that the excess water evaporates, and the sediment remaining at the bottom of the container is discarded.

The material can be stored for a long time in a bucket, barrel or any other container, filling it by two thirds, filling it with water from above, covering it with a wet rag, and then with a lid.

It is quite difficult to prepare clay dough on your own, so you should definitely know about the properties of clay, which are described in the first part of this chapter.

The dough before sculpting should be well washed on the table, after placing a wooden board, or on a tiled floor, covering it with a strong cloth or oilcloth. At this stage, you may need a violin or guitar string, the length of which should be slightly more than the width of the shoulders. To its ends it is necessary to attach handles made of wooden blocks. This tool is used to cut clay.

String

Clay must be kneaded with your hands, then it should be well washed, even if it was purchased in a store ready-made. Immediately before sculpting, the clay is beaten off to remove all air bubbles from it.

Traces of air bubbles in clay

The finished clay is kneaded in small pieces, which are then rolled into a ball, flattened into a cake, carefully kneading with your fingers and removing, if any, all the lumps. After that, the layer of clay is rolled up. All these actions are repeated 5 times.

The quality of the clay improves with aging. Clay dough may develop an unpleasant odor over time, but this does not mean that the material has deteriorated. On the contrary, the worse the smell, the higher its quality.

Next, the clay must be beaten off by tapping it with the palms of your hands and transferring it from one hand to the other. This must be done within 510 minutes.

Blue dry clay is poured with water so that it completely covers the material. You can start kneading only after the clay has absorbed all the moisture. Clay dough must be kneaded to the state of dumplings - this is the most time-consuming process. The dough should be cool, plastic and not sticky to your hands.

After kneading, the dough must be beaten off. Regarding how to do this with a small amount of dough, it was described above, for processing a large piece of clay, they proceed differently. First, a piece of dough is compacted with a mallet or rolling pin, then the clay is cut into thin layers with a string, in which air bubbles are visible.

The layers of dough are hit with the palm of the hand, knocking out the air. You can also cut pieces of dough at an angle to the table and throw one on top of the other with force so that the top lump of dough crashes into the bottom one. Throws are repeated at least 25 times, each time turn the bottom layer 90 °.

The first way to beat the test

If the dough turned out to be too liquid, you need to let it dry, which will take some time, or add a little dry clay.

You can also use another method. To do this, a piece of dough is compacted with a mallet, thin plates are cut with a string, put them in a pile and compacted again with a mallet, after which they repeat
The second way to beat the test

The next method is a bit similar to the first. In this case, the dough must be rolled into a ball and hit with all force on the table so that it flattens, after which the piece of dough must be cut into two parts with a string.

When drying a small product, it can be pierced in inconspicuous places with a needle so that air bubbles come out, otherwise tears may occur during firing.

Turn the top piece upside down and throw it on the table with all your might. Then throw the bottom one on it without turning it over.

The third way to beat the test

So, you can use any of the above methods. If firing is not expected, then the application of the dough can be simplified.

The finished dough is stored wrapped in a damp cloth and packed in a plastic bag in a cool place. Clay ready for modeling should be plastic, soft, clean, beaten off.

Product drying

After sculpting, the craft must be dried and burned to give the product strength. During drying, most of the water evaporates, so this process must proceed evenly and gradually, otherwise the craft will deform or crack.

The craft must be placed on a wooden stand, you can also lay a newspaper under it to absorb moisture. Do not leave the product in a draft and under direct sunlight, as cracks may appear on it with sudden changes in temperature.

Drying time depends on the size of the product. At room temperature, the craft dries for 1-2 weeks. In the first 2-3 days, it is dried in a plastic bag, opening it from time to time. When the clay becomes denser and acquires a lighter shade, the producttaken out of the package.

At the last stage, the drying process can be accelerated by placing the product in a warmer place, for example, in an oven or stove, but so that warm air does not get on the craft. Next, the temperature is gradually lowered, without removing the craft until it has cooled completely.

The dried product becomes lighter, lighter and harder. However, with such drying, the craft will not be as hard as when fired.

At different temperatures, clay loses moisture, which is in different states. For example, at a temperature of 11 ° C, only hygroscopic moisture leaves it. If the temperature is raised to 25 ° C, then the constitutional moisture that is between the clay particles will evaporate. Above this temperature, the clay loses crystallization moisture, and its particles can no longer attach water to themselves.

Before firing, the product can be dried again in the oven and cleaned with fine-grained sandpaper, and the resulting clay dust can be removed with a brush or brush.

Product firing

During firing, the remaining part of the moisture evaporates, then the vitrification process starts, and the clay becomes hard, durable and unable to attach water. Currently, it is convenient to use electric muffle furnaces for firing, which come in various sizes and do not require the installation of a special vent.

Burn products for a long time. In an electric muffle furnace, drying of the product can be combined with firing, gradually increasing the temperature (up to 200 ° C in the first 2 hours), then every hour the temperature is raised by 100-150 ° C and brought to 1100 ° C.

At a temperature of 400 °C, all organic substances present in the material burn out. At 500 °C, the remaining liquid evaporates,

which remained in the clay after drying. Above 600 °C, the vitrification process occurs, and at a temperature of 900 °C, the product is hardened. After a while, the temperature is gradually reduced.

Do not remove the product from the oven until it has cooled down, otherwise it may crack. All crafts in the oven are arranged in such a way that they do not come into contact with each other and the heating elements, otherwise the products may collapse during the process.

You can burn products in a Russian oven, placing them on a baking sheet and preventing them from coming into contact with coals.

Working with clay has a certain psychotherapeutic effect on the state of the child, since in his crafts he expresses all his experiences, emotional problems, which are often unconscious and inexpressible.

At home, crafts at the last stage of drying can be put in the oven, and burned on a gas stove, placed in a cast-iron pan and tightly closed with a lid. The pan is heated by gradually raising and then lowering the temperature. The lid must not be removed until the product has completely cooled down. However, such firing, unfortunately, does not always give a good result.

In large cities, products can be taken to special organizations that fire clay products, such as creative studios or training centers.

Necessary materials for working with clay

Before proceeding with the manufacture of products, it is necessary to equip a place for working with clay. So, in order to protect the table from dirt, it is necessary to cover it with oilcloth. Rolling clay and sculpting it is best on wooden board, as it absorbs moisture well and the material does not stick to it. For these purposes, you can adapt an ordinary cutting board.

To work with clay, special tools are required - wooden stacks, which can have a variety of shapes and sizes and be sharp like knives, with wire loops, metal tips.

Stacks choose clay inside the mold, level the mold itself, remove excess material.

Stacks

Loop stacks are needed for modeling products. With their help, excess material is removed from parts, in addition, they are used to polish products on potter's wheel.

Loop stacks

At the very beginning, you can only buy stack # 1 and # 2 with a flat and round shape of the spatula, sharpened on both sides. As you grow

skill, you decide which stacks you still need. You can also buy a set of plastic stacks to start with, it's more economical but not as convenient.

During work, you should always have a bowl of water at hand in which you can dip your fingers, a rubber scraper or a sponge to smooth out the irregularities of the craft in its raw form and soft polish it in the dry (for these purposes, you can take a regular dishwashing napkin), a napkin to support hands and the stack is clean. In addition, wet wipes are wrapped around unfinished work to prevent the clay from drying out.

As mentioned above, to separate the clay, you need a string with handles, which can be replaced with wire.

To eliminate roughness and remove irregularities, you will need sandpaper or a rasp.

With a pointed cone-shaped metal blade of a graver, you can make holes of various sizes, and with metal scrapers (cycles) you can level the surfaces of handicrafts.

Carving is done with clubs and excess clay is removed from the dried product. With a comb, you can create an ornament on soft material.

Comb, gravers, cycles, clubs, string, scraper, rasp, comb, napkin

To roll out layers of clay, you need a wooden unvarnished rolling pin with a diameter of 5 cm. After applying from the tool, you must immediatelyscrape off the remaining clay and wipe it with a soft cloth.

Reiki templates will be needed for high-quality processing of clay using a rolling pin.

Rolling pin, board and slats

To decorate products, you will need soft and hard brushes, in addition to them, you can use a shaving brush, a toothbrush, in a word, everything that fantasy tells.

brushes

Glazing tongs are needed every time a product is glazed, as thanks to them, hand marks do not remain on the surface of the processed product.

Glazing tongs

For spraying lumps of clay and finished product during drying, in order for this process to proceed evenly, a spray gun is needed.

Many masters cut stacks on their own to work in the form that is convenient for them. In addition, while modeling with children, you can use any objects that your imagination tells you, such as a fork, caps from felt-tip pens, refills for ballpoint and helium pens, a garlic press, etc.

Pulverizer and mixer

Using a construction mixer, you can mix large pieces of clay. This can also be done with a drill with a special nozzle for mixing the solution.

To make pots, vases, cups and other utensils, you need a potter's wheel. Circles come in different sizes, with an electric or mechanical drive. It can be purchased later if the child is really interested in pottery.

Potter's wheel

The kiln was mentioned above. The question of its acquisition should be decided in each case, because the device is not cheap.

Basic Clay Working Techniques

A child who first started working with clay must be taught the basic techniques for working with plastic material.

Kneading - pressing fingers and hands on a piece of clay.

Pinching - separating small pieces of clay from a large piece with the help of the index and thumb. First, a piece is pinched, then torn off.

In England in the Middle Ages, the clay used to make household utensils was called "pyg". People often kept money in such pots and called them “pygg jar”, ​​gradually this word changed into “pig bank”. Most likely that is why piggy banks began to be made in the form of a pig.

Flattening - squeezing a piece of clay to make it flat forms.

A small piece of clay is flattened with fingers. A large piece is pressed against the surface of the table with the whole palm.

Rolling - the formation of balls of different sizes between the palms or the palm and the surface of the table in a circular motion.

Rolling - the formation of bundles between the palms or the palm and the table with back and forth movements.

Indentation - making parts on clay by pressing with your fingers.

Cutting is the division of a piece of clay using a stack.

Connection of parts - applying parts to each other with a slight pressure.

Sharpening - pulling one end of the tourniquet with your fingers and rolling it out so that it becomes sharp.

When working with clay, there are some peculiarities that you need to know about in order for the product to turn out beautiful.

Firstly, when creating a clay craft, you need to work with both hands in order to immediately draw up both the right and left sides of the craft and more organically connect everything into a single whole.

Secondly, special tools must be used for sculpting (for example, stacks can be used to remove excess clay, make small parts, attach small parts to large ones, smooth out individual parts of the craft).

Thirdly, the product during the modeling process must be examined from all sides so that the proportions and ratios of the parts of the product are correct. Fourthly, connecting the parts, first they make notches in the form of a mesh with a knife, a stack or a toothpick. Then they are lubricated with slip (this is clay diluted to a state of liquid sour cream) and attached to each other, smearing them on both sides with a wet finger or stack. To connect parts in the manufacture of dishes, bundles are rolled out, which, when applied, are smoothed in both directions at the junction, so that it will be strong and the seam will be invisible. At the end, the seam can be smoothed with a damp sponge.

Fifthly, if it was not possible to finish the work in one go, then the craft must be wrapped in a damp cloth and put in a plastic bag. Clay with this method of storage will not dry out, and work can be continued later.

Sixthly, at the end of modeling, the entire product must be lightly wiped with a damp sponge or brush, then dried and burned. You can decorate it both in the process of molding by embossing and adding decorative elements, and after firing, by painting the finished product with glaze or paints.

Modeling methods

So, there are several ways to sculpt:

the constructive method involves the manufacture of an object from several parts, starting with the largest part. For example, when performing a person, the torso should be sculpted first, then the legs, arms, head, etc.

All details are compared in size and proportionality, paired ones are best sculpted from pre-prepared identical pieces of clay. All parts are attached to the product gradually. The smallest parts are made last. So, for example, Dymkovo toys are molded;

with the plastic modeling method, all the details are pulled out of one piece of clay, so it is only suitable for making figures that are simple in silhouette, for example, ducks, cockerels, small birds and other animals of the Filimonovo and Kargopol toys. For the same reason, figurines sculpted in a plastic way convey images conditionally;

The combined method combines the first two. For example, the Dymkovo turkey is made from a single piece of clay, but the head and tail are molded separately and attached to the body of the bird last. Usually this method is used to create composite works;

embossed modeling is drawing a pattern on a rolled clay layer, the thickness of which is at least 0.8 cm, and the surface is smooth and even.

Raw clay before work needs to be dried a little. Drawings are applied in several ways. The first method can be done with a stack, a toothpick, the tip of a knife.

Relief molding (first method)

The second method of relief modeling consists of applying balls, flagella, stripes, etc. to the clay layer.

Relief molding (second method)

The third method of relief modeling is the selection of clay. To do this, take a layer of clay with a thickness of at least 3 cm and apply a pattern in a stack. Then, the same layer of clay is removed from the surface of the formation from all sides of the pattern. Thus, the figure is convex.

The dishes are made using other modeling methods. So, this is the pinching technique, circular molding, spiral technique and tape method.

Pinching is done in a variety of ways. So, when sculpting from a ball, the thumb is pressed into the middle of the workpiece to deepen and

expand the walls of the cup, the thickness of which should be the same. The walls are shaped with index fingers, moving them towards each other from the inside and outside.

Large vessels can be made by circular molding, having prepared the base of the product, on which notches should be made to indicate the place of attachment of the first strip. All strips should be the same size and moistened. They are laid out sequentially, smoothing the internal seams with a wooden stack, using slip and gradually turning the shape.

Each piece of clay is applied to the base, pressed with the index and thumb, and the walls are pulled up. After performing several circles, the product must be dried a little, and then continue building up the walls.

This method can also be used when sculpting using a mold, the bottom of which must be lined with cotton cloth on the inside. Then you can lift the walls in a spiral, aligning them from the inside.

Spiral technique is the manufacture of products from individual bundles. You need to start work by creating a sketch, then the clay is divided into identical balls and bundles of the same length and thickness are made from them. The base of the vessel can be made from a layer of clay or a tourniquet, twisting it in a spiral and smoothing it with a stack from the inside. The edge of the base must be moistened with water.

The tip of the bundle is cut diagonally so that the second layer lays flat, without a kink. In addition, harness connections must not be stacked on top of each other. Each bundle must be smeared with slip and placed on the outer edge of the previous bundle, after which the stack is carefully, without damaging the shape of the product, the junction of the bundle and the base is slightly squeezed. The shape of the product is given by changing the diameter of the next circle of bundles.

The production of the item takes place in several stages. Every few bundles, the product must be dried so that the following layers do not press down on the previous ones. The finished product is dried

upside down. Thus, it is possible to make a vessel of any shape.

If the bundles cross randomly, then the walls of the vessel must be made on a flat surface and then connected to the cylinder, having previously covered it with paper.

Vessel made in the spiral technique

Barrels, caskets, pots, etc. are made using the tape method. To do this, the clay dough is divided into equal pieces, which are rolled into bundles. Then, on a table covered with cotton cloth, wooden slats are laid to mark the boundaries of the clay layer. Bundles are laid between them, rolled into a layer, and then cut into strips no more than 3 cm wide, and the length of each must correspond to the circumference of the base of this product.

The first strip is laid on the base with a notch so that its upper side looks at the outer side of the product. The second strip is attached to the ends of the first end-to-end. In the places of their connection, notches are made from the inside, after which a tourniquet is laid on them and the seam is covered, leveling the surface.

All the following strips are laid out in the same way, smoothing the joints so that they are not visible.

The junctions of the harnesses must not match. The designs of their bands can be varied.

The most practical flower pots are those made of red and dark yellow clay, as they are more durable and retain heat better when the temperature drops.

Making panels using hand-printed molds. In this

In this case, the gypsum mold is filled with clay by pinching off and pressing pieces, after which the top layer is leveled.

After drying, the product is removed from the mold and dried as usual.

Possible difficulties when sculpting clay

When sculpting from clay and in children, the following difficulties often arise:

dislike for clay as an ugly material and in the form of fear of dirty hands. To overcome this, show the finished product to the baby, make beads with it, etc .;

incorrect hand position. For example, when rolling a ball, the palms must be kept slightly rounded, not straight, the hand must bend, otherwise the ball will be flattened. When performing a tourniquet, all fingers should participate in the work, and not one palm. Show the baby all the movements and do the same details with him;

It is often difficult for a child to divide a piece of clay into equal parts, so it is necessary to practice by pinching off identical pieces from the total mass of clay dough; often children cannot firmly connect the parts. To do this, you need to work out the correct notch and smearing with slip. Show your child how to do it this stage work, each time reminding of its importance;

many children do not like to smooth over an already finished product - they simply do not have the patience for this. Therefore, help the child remove the cracks and roughness that have appeared;

very often the baby immediately wants to see his product, without waiting until it dries, so you need to patiently explain that without proper drying, his craft will not work.

In addition, the task for kids should be interesting and not too difficult, and it’s better for them to sculpt, looking at a sample or layout, they are also fascinated by sculpting by pinching. Older children can be offered modeling with a tourniquet method. Schoolchildren are happy to sculpt whistles.

Today we will discuss such a topic as clay modeling. Clay for modeling - self-hardening polymer clay. Refers to the so-called cold plastics, which do not require firing and any heat treatment.

Properties of polymer clay for modeling

It dries in air at room temperature on average per day. Drying time depends on the thickness of the layer. Approximate drying rate 1 cm deep in 24 hours. This plastic may also be referred to as ceramic or ceramic clay mass.

The clay is soft and contains a lot of moisture. You can sculpt for a long time without using water. While working, you can put the mass for modeling in a plastic bag and, if necessary, pinch off a piece.

Any clay plastic sticks to hands a little. Always have a cloth or paper towel handy for cleaning. Clay self-hardening plastics often crack when waterlogged or dry.

The easiest thing you can do with polymer clay for the first time is a bracelet.

The probability of cracking increases on a thick layer - more than 0.5 cm. But they are not a problem either, since they are well smeared with fresh slurry (slip) from the same mass that is rubbed into cracks. If the crack diverges after such a restoration, it must be widened and sealed again.

After that, smooth it with your fingers or a tool, let it dry and sand it. Cracks can appear on crafts from a mass that has been lying in an opened package for a long time.

Types of clay for modeling

Polymer clay can be divided into two main classes: bakeable and self-curing. The first category is the most common. Its main drawback is the need to bake finished products in an oven to harden the material. However, it is more than offset by the ability to redo elements or details that the master did not like an unlimited number of times.

Self-hardening clay for modeling in this respect gives less space, and at first it is better not to use it.

In addition to this classification, clay can also be divided by manufacturers. The most popular types of clay in the world are produced under the Fimo brand:

• Fimo classic is a rather hard type of thermoplastic, difficult to work with, but perseverance and work will allow you to create a rich range of combined patterns.
• Fimo soft, on the contrary, is a very soft material, suitable for creativity with children and for beginners.

Clay modeling for beginners: striped beads

To work, you will need clay for modeling several colors (four colors for stripes and black as a base).

Roll out some plastic with a rolling pin, fold the resulting plates and cut them in half. Roll out the resulting "turrets" again with a rolling pin and cut into pieces.

Next, you need to fold all the parts in a column, laying them in black. Gently squeeze just to let out excess air and connect the edges. Ready poles should be cut into thin slices. Pull each plate along the pattern and twist a little.

With the resulting petals, it is necessary to wrap a black bead in a spiral - the base. Roll in your hands. Make holes for the thread with a toothpick.

At first, when making crafts using a material such as polymer clay, keep a photo of the finished product taken as a sample in front of you.

Video materials on the topic of the article

Beginners can try making polymer clay rolls:

What tools are needed for sculpting:

Clay roses:

Clay techniques- traditional, basic knowledge of how to create clay products of different shapes and sizes.

New students, coming to our workshop for the first time, tend to immediately start lessons on the potter's wheel. Many of them have no idea that in addition to primitive hand-sculpting and a potter's wheel, you can still somehow work with clay ...

Despite the variety of shapes and sizes of ceramics, there are only a few basic clay sculpting techniques. All these techniques have been known to potters for many centuries and have not changed much.

We list a few of the main traditional clay sculpting:

1.Hand molded from a single piece of clay

2. Tape-harness technology

3.Plastic or textile machinery

4. Finishing in the finished form.

5. Casting in a plaster mold

6. Drawing products on a potter's wheel.

Also, when creating clay products, you can combine two or more modeling techniques.

Hand molding.

Under the concept of "hand molding" many people imagine a child who molds primitive figures from clay. However, do not underestimate the capabilities of human hands. Handmade clay vessels not only appeared before molding on the potter's wheel, but also continued to develop in parallel with it. Nowadays, fortunately, there are still craftsmen who know how to make dishes in the old grandfather ways. What are the products handmade they are so perfectly shaped that you might think they were made on a potter's wheel.

But if on the potter's wheel the shapes of the vessels are obtained only with a round section, but in manual modeling the master is not limited by any conditions.

hand sculpting cookware is still widely used in India, Africa and South America. In Japan, for example, ceramics made in the traditional handmade raku technique are highly valued and not every Japanese can afford such a luxury.

There are quite a few hand sculpting methods vessels. All of them are characterized by simplicity and ingenuity of technical solutions. In order to get to know the features of hand modeling, we will study them in master classes using specific examples. So welcome to our workshop on art ceramics courses!

Once, during the excavations of the settlements of Mesopotamia, historians discovered interesting vessels with rope prints on the inner sides of the walls. Ancient potters quite often decorated their dishes with ornaments by pressing a rope into the still soft clay. Such ceramics scientists called corded . But why did the masters make patterns inside the vessels? As it turned out later, the technology for making dishes consisted in the fact that ancient potters wound a rope from a tight ball, and around it they molded a vessel wall from clay. When the product was ready, the rope was gradually pulled out by the end left outside, the ball was unwound and a cavity of the vessel was obtained.

Harness technology

Clay molding was known to people in the Stone Age. Thousands of years have passed, and craftsmen still successfully use it to create unique products. Harness technology can be used by craftsmen to create products of any shape and size, even sculptures. Especially, harness technology indispensable for creating huge vessels that cannot be pulled out on a potter's wheel. Ancient Greek potters created names in the harness technique pithoi - vessels for wine, reaching more than two meters in height.

Contemporary ceramists rope molding method create huge clay sculptures. Such masterpieces - the process of creating sculptures, their firing and decoration can be seen at the White Nights festival in the city of Perm, which takes place in June every year.

Harness technology is still used by artisans in Central Asia, Africa and the Caucasus.

The method of sculpting dishes in the harness technique, this is how the bottom is cut out from a pre-rolled clay layer with a stack for a future product of the required diameter. Then plaits are rolled out of clay or, as they explain to children, sausages of the same thickness. Starting from the bottom and gradually, rising row by row higher and higher, bundles are laid in a spiral - thus, the wall of the product is built up. The harnesses are fastened together slip - with liquid diluted clay and cover the junctions of the bundles with fingers or stacks.

Plast technology.

At its core, this sculpting method very reminiscent of patchwork. Therefore, reservoir technology can also be found under the name "textile ceramics" . For rolling out layers, as a rule, an ordinary kitchen rolling pin is used. To make it the same thickness, slats are placed under the rolling pin during rolling. From the finished layers, the details of the "pattern" are cut out in a stack. Further, the details, like a designer, are interconnected using slip.

AT reservoir engineering You can create both simple household items and complex sculptural compositions. Not surprisingly, among ceramists, textile ceramics are very popular.

Finishing in the finished form

To apply this modeling method need preforms. Forms can be made of any materials - gypsum, ceramics, wood, plastic.

The first ancient ceramists used oval stones as a form - they sprinkled them with ash so that the clay did not stick to the surface and covered them with clay. When the clay dried up a little, the stone was removed.

Forms-blanks are both monolithic and collapsible, consisting of several parts. You can use one mold for sculpting an infinite number of times, so many identical objects are obtained by the method of punching. The main condition is that the product should be easily removed from the mold without damage.

For example, ceramists make stunningly beautiful tiles for stoves and fireplaces, stucco molding, and ladies' jewelry using the method of otminating.

In the future, we will definitely study this interesting modeling technique in detail.

Casting in a plaster mold.

Among all other methods of working with clay, the casting method occupies a special place. It allows you to produce a large number of identical ceramic objects with a thin wall with great accuracy.

Clay or slip casting based on the property of gypsum to absorb water from clay. Pour into a plaster mold slip - clay, diluted to the state of liquid sour cream. Gypsum begins to intensively absorb water from clay. At the same time, the clay layer is evenly compacted over the entire inner surface of the mold, forming the walls of the future product. When the clay wall gains the required thickness, the excess slurry is poured out. After the clay shard dries a little, the product is removed from the plaster and dried.

Clay casting itself is preceded by a large preparatory stage - the development of a sketch of future gypsum products, the creation of a product model, and the casting of a gypsum matrix according to the model.

In the future, I will definitely show readers a master class on the technique of slip casting. So don't forget to subscribe to site updates if you want to know more secrets!

Drawing products on a potter's wheel.

Potter's wheel- the greatest invention of mankind. The hand potter's wheel was invented by people even earlier than the wheel. Once upon a time, it was indispensable in the manufacture of dishes and greatly accelerated the production process compared to hand molding.

In our age modern technologies Potter's wheel In addition to practical significance, he also acquired another important quality - he began to serve people in one way to express their artistic abilities. The potter's wheel is akin to a musical instrument on which you can play any kind of music, from folk tunes to newfangled compositions. Working on the potter's wheel teaches patience, makes you forget about pressing problems, teaches you how to find harmony in yourself and in the world around you.