help with lifesized children

[kaboom_racoon]

I know this is probably one of the most common questions and I have looked around at other threads, but I still feel unsure.

I would like to find a sculptingmaterial that feels like cheramicsclay, but doesn´t require firing/curing. I love the material, but don´t have access to a kiln.

I am mostly interested in doing large figurative sculpts of childsized figures.
I love the style of Tricia Cline, Ron Mueck, Paul Toupet and others.

I think plastilina is great as I can reuse it after making a mold, but airdrying clay has the benefit of only having to do one step( plus the painting ofcourse).

I have modeled some smaller stuff(~4") with polymer clay, but I don´t get along with it, plus it´s quite expensive.

Also if you have any tips as far as technique goes I´d love that too. What I have envisioned doing is roughly:

Model in plastilina(or something else)

Make a mold( multipart plaster or onepiece soft mold(like rubber of some kind?)

Cast in whatever material would suit best(Fiberglass,Silicone??I haven´t really started looking in to this part yet as I still have alot of work in the first stage.)

Thanks for any answers and your patience with yet another newbie question. And a rather unstructured one I feel.

[HappySculpting]

Try www.craigslist.org . Check under the category "Community" and then click on "artists". Often times I see ads by people requesting live models. Most are probably photographers but the same type of ad will work for requesting sculpting sessions.

[howling_melon]

kaboom...

ever consider fibrous concrete?...after seeing greenman by blessingdragon on this forum i have been experimenting with this material

cellulose insulation...sheetrock mud and portland cement...id be glad to tell you what ive learned with it if you cared to hear...if you can catch blessingdragon he could help you more than i...but good luck...and keep at it

[kaboom_racoon]

I once worked with something that were some sort of concrete wich we reinforced with woven hemp. That wasn´t very good for doing detailed stuff though.
I will look into fibrous concrete and se what it is exactly, probably not the same thing.
I´ll look for the greenman too.

Thank you for the tip.

[howling_melon]

best way to find the particular greenman i am talking about is just to do a google image search of "papercrete greenman"...its the first image that comes up for me...of a man sitting in the woods...follow that image link and it should take you to this forum and some posts by its creator

blessingdragon describes his technique and basic mixture...which i sort of follow...but there is room for plenty of experimentation....the materials are so cheap it allows for a volume of mistakes....i myself make small batches using a round plastic chinese food container for measurement and mixing it in the bottom of a five gallon bucket

one part sheetrock mud....one part cellulose insulation...one and a half parts water and two parts portland cement....i mix it with a wooden spoon in that order....there is a strong amonia smell so have good ventilation...i plan on building a draft hood to exhaust while i mix

if you approach it correctly...there is very little mess...i usually have everything cleaned up by the time i am finished applying it....but most important dont breath the dust...lowes has some really good tough green plastic gloves you might want to buy too

as far as detail...its true that this stuff wont pick up the finer detail that other materials will...but its so easy to work with...and so cheap that i think its worth the trouble to develop ways to trick it into performing....after its dry it can be tooled somewhat nicely...maybe i ll have something to look at before long...im just now beginning to create my desired sculptures...as opposed to playing with mud and watching it dry like i have been for the last few months...gotta learn the secret you know

see ya