The Media | Philipscottsculpture

The medium; fired earth, resin or bronze.

Sculpting the art

Philip sculpts in various media such as firing clay or modelling clay. There are several types of clay used for sculpture, all depending on the approach, handling and required finish. Oil-based modelling clay can appear unrefined and be tricky for detailed work, but it stays soft and workable, making it good for practising with. Polymer based modelling clay is equally soft and can be baked in a household oven to fix a composition. It can be prone to cracking though. Plasterlene is a good compromise and can be mixed between the hard and soft versions of the material.

The final artwork also can be in different materials.

Fired Earth – clay

This is a natural material that has been traditionally used for centuries. This provides a range of surfaces and textures, depending on the level of water content in the material. The two main colours are either terracotta or grey clay. These require careful drying before they are fired at temperatures in excess of 250°F.

If the final work is to be left in fired earth, it is then carefully hollowed, dried and then fired in a kiln. It can then be mounted and the surface finished in a number of ways.

The piece titled 'Richard' is in fired earth and then 30 layers of acrylic paint and varnish is added to build a surface which shows depth and lustre.

Work in progress in plasterlene, a modern alternative to plastercene.

Modern Alternatives

If the sculpture will not be reproduced in at all, there are new materials that can be air dried or baked. These turn hard, yet the drying process can cause shrinkage or cracking. Often too, items are not robust and this is not a method of creating an item that will last for many years.

The gallery shows items in NuClay (Bella & Lawrence) for illustrative purposes and these are very delicate and fragile.

Lawrence finished in NuClay with acrylic and varnish finish

Creating an edition or copies

Cold cast Bronze - Resin

Another final material is resin, which is sometimes called as cold cast bronze. This is a very attractive medium and is simpler, easier and considerably cheaper to make. This can be look similar to bronze but can easily be distinguished by being a different temperature to solid metal. This is normally a two-stage process or creating a latex mould, then mixing the two-part resin and pouring it in. Whilst this is a cheaper process, it does have significant limitations over the tradition bronze method, which is described in more detail on the following page.

Bronze resin horse by Mary Scott, SEA, SWA 2009

450mm H