Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Create Your Own Clay Sculpture

You’ve already learned how Degas created Little Dancer, Age Fourteen by molding wax onto a wire frame. You’ve also learned about Michelangelo chipping away at a block of stone until David appeared. Now you can make your own sculpture using the clay recipe below. This is a very simple recipe but make sure to ask a parent before you start.


Materials Needed:

2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Salt
1 Cup Water
1 ½ Tbsp Vegetable Oil

Optional Materials:

Paints
Paintbrushes
Craft Sealant

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly stir in the water and the oil until there are no more lumps. The mixture should be smooth. That’s all there is to it; you have homemade clay. I recommend setting up sheets of wax paper to sculpt on because the clay won’t stick to it. It will also protect your work space. If you use newspaper, the black ink will show up in your clay. You could also just sprinkle the table with flour to prevent sticking.

When you’ve finished your masterpiece, place it on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for about fifty minutes. Once the sculpture has cooled, you can paint it if you’d like. When the paint has dried, if you love your sculpture, paint it with a craft sealant. This will preserve the paint over time and give it a shiny appearance.


Keep any left-over dough in a plastic bag to keep it from drying out.


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5 comments:

Danielle said...

We are learning about Degas this week and wanted to make this...I found your blog in a google search. Anyway, I tried making this clay but it is really runny...any suggestions?

Danielle said...

I think I found my answer...I googled homemade clay and it is only 1 1/2 Tablespoons oil...yikes

Jessica said...

Oh my gosh! Thank you for point this out! I'm so sorry that you ruined a batch. I've fixed it now.

Louise said...

Hi Jessica, I am loving your site but noticed the recipe still says 1 1/2 cups

Sarah Ryan said...

Hi,
thanks for the great ideas. I jsut wanted to point out that the recipe for the dough clay in the fresco plan still reads 1/2 cup of oil.