Recently updated on April 19th, 2023 at 05:45 pm
Everything you need to know about clay mold for the sculpture.
Sculpture as a striking ornament can bring an attractive decorative effect to your building. So now many people choose to add a sculpture to their home or commercial place as decoration.
However, do you know that producing a sculpture needs clay mold making? Different sculptures have different requirements for clay mold. For some novice buyers of sculptures, this article will be very helpful.
Today’s article will answer some of your questions about sculpture clay mold from a professional point of view. The issues will be elaborated from the following five aspects.
#1 The necessity of clay mold making
Because the clay mold has the characteristics of good plasticity, easy modification, vividness, etc., sculptors can create at will. The clay mold can quickly turn the flat diagram into a three-dimensional mold and present it to you.
Then the shape of the sculpture can be seen intuitively. This not only ensures that you can see the details of the sculpture earlier but also communicates with the artist in time to make changes to ensure the success of the final sculpture.
Generally, the size of the clay mold made by the artist is made according to the l:l size of the original sculpture. Therefore, the artist is able to capture the details and ensure the right dimensions to restore the charm of the sculpture.
And the very good thing is that almost all the details can be well shaped by the artist first in the clay mold. If you have unsatisfactory details, the artist can also make changes in time before adding them to the final sculpture.
The clay mold is the foundation of the sculpture. Therefore, in order to ensure the accuracy of the size and details of the final sculpture, the clay mold is still very necessary.
#2 What statues should start by sculpturing in clay?
Usually, sculptures with complex details of different materials need to make a clay mold at first. And marble sculpture and bronze sculptures often require a clay mold to be made first to ensure the details.
And if you have a 3D file, then we can directly print the 3D model. If not, the clay mold is necessary to make.
First of all, the dimensions and details of the sculpture may be deviated without sculpturing in clay first. Because artists can make multiple modifications to the clay mold to ensure final size and detail, but there are limitations to modifying directly on the sculpture.
Sculpture-making in marble, for example, requires artists to carefully handle the marble surface. And if there are details that need to be changed when the sculpture is completed, the surrounding details may be affected.
Secondly, for cast sculptures like bronze sculptures, which are cast by the traditional lost wax method, the clay model is its foundation. The quality of the clay sculpture and the expression of the intention can directly affect the quality of the final sculpture. So making a clay mold is very necessary.
#3 What is the price of the clay mold? Who will bear the cost?
The cost of the clay mold varies according to the design and size of the sculpture chosen by the customer. As for who bears the cost of the clay mold, it also needs to be determined according to the specific situation of the sculpture, but it can be roughly divided into the following two situations.
First of all, if the sculpture you choose is a sculpture of a hot-selling design, or it happens to be a sculpture of the merchant’s own hot-selling style. Then the cost of the clay model is not borne by you. Because these sculptures’ clay models are generally kept in the factory after the first time it is made. And these clay models can be reused, so you don’t need to pay for the clay mold again.
Here’s another situation. If you need to customize a unique sculpture, then the seller will make a 1:1 clay model with the original sculpture according to your design. Then the cost is generally borne by the buyer.
Because customized sculpture requires artists to carefully restore details in strict accordance with the requirements and characteristics of customers. It is also necessary to timely communicate with customers to make modifications many times to ensure that the clay sculpture image is realistic, so as to ensure that the final sculpture is satisfactory.
#4 Is there an alternative method to the clay mold?
The answer is yes. With the development of science and technology, people are also trying to use 3D printing technology to replace clay mold making. It is no doubt that 3D printing is a very convenient method to quickly turn customers’ designs into three-dimensional. And its choice of printing materials, it may cost less than the price of making a clay mold. However, it also has certain limitations.
3D printing is currently mainly used in the field of sculpture to make reliefs and some commonly used sculptures which are mainly marble sculptures. What’s more, it is not as fine as the hand-made clay mold. And it also needs to be modified and improved manually.
Moreover, the strength of its material has certain limitations, and it may be deformed in the production of later sculptures and cannot accurately restore the details of the sculptures.
At last, if only part of the details of the customized sculpture is complicated, you can choose to make the clay model of the complex part separately, which can also save some cost.
#5 What sculptures do not need sculpturing in clay?
The first is that the sculpture design is very simple, and the details do not need to be repeatedly modified to complete.
Then there are common marble figures, classic figure sculptures, and religious sculptures that can be directly hand-made.
Because the artists are so familiar with some sculptures that they don’t need to make a clay mold anymore. For example, for the below popular marble sculptures, the artists can directly carve on the cut marble.
For some complex sculptures, only a few very top sculpture artists can make them directly. It requires a very high level of professional skills.
Then, it is necessary to make a clay mold and ensure the optimal solution of sculpture detail. In this way, the customer can communicate with the artist at any time in the process of production and timely feedback, so that the final sculpture can achieve the expected effect.
The End
If you need to buy sculptures and have other questions about sculptures, please contact us. And if you think this article is useful, welcome to forward it to friends in need around you.
