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Building Legs and Feet of Clay: You'Ll Need These Supplies

This document provides instructions for building legs and feet out of clay for sculpted figures. It describes using clay cores baked inside the legs to help them hold their shape during baking without scorching. Patterns are provided for thigh and leg clay cores. Cutting the master cores in half will create matching pairs. Building realistic bare limbs is recommended before adding clothing, to give the figure a solid foundation to stand on.

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denby_m
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70 views

Building Legs and Feet of Clay: You'Ll Need These Supplies

This document provides instructions for building legs and feet out of clay for sculpted figures. It describes using clay cores baked inside the legs to help them hold their shape during baking without scorching. Patterns are provided for thigh and leg clay cores. Cutting the master cores in half will create matching pairs. Building realistic bare limbs is recommended before adding clothing, to give the figure a solid foundation to stand on.

Uploaded by

denby_m
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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LLF-InsidePages2ndPrinting.

qxd 6/25/07 7:11 PM Page 72

Part 6  A Leg to Stand On

Building Legs and Feet of Clay


Again, you’ll combine simple shapes to create complex forms. Again, you’ll use armatures to make
those forms strong—a stiff metal rod will replace the bones in each limb. Instead of foil you’ll use
clay cores. Easier to craft than foil cores, baked clay cores reduce the baking time of a partially or
completely finished sculpture. Without a core, the thickest component of the limb, needs to bake 2
hours. That much time in the oven can scorch one of the best polymer modeling clays. Smaller
elements in a sculpture—noses, ears, and toes—will darken. More importantly, these cores help you
to model limbs that match.

Patterns for Building the Lower Limbs


YOU’LL NEED
Thigh Core Pattern - 9 Base Units THESE SUPPLIES
• Work surface

• 40 Base Units of clay

• Straight blade for cutting


clay
• Gauge or dividers

• Large and small tapestry


needle tool (page 15)
• Large and medium
Leg Core Pattern - 5 Base Units aluminum knitting needles
• Curved Tip Tool (page 16)
THE BAKED CLAY CORE
Once baked and threaded onto the metal bones, the clay cores made according to these patterns • Craft knife
will give you a sturdy and poseable foundation for modeling. Both cores begin as elongated bi-
cones, rod tapered at each end. Cutting each master core in half at a 45 degree angle will create • Standing figure armature:
two matching thigh and two matching leg cores. two 1⁄8 inch brass rods 5 1⁄2
head lengths long
• Seated figure armature:
two 1⁄16 inch brass rods 4 1⁄2
NOTE head lengths long
Even if you choose to costume your figure • Four temporary rods same
with loose-fitting trousers or a long diameter as armature
gown, those garments deserve a figure rods 3 head lengths long
that stands on realistically modeled
limbs. Don’t skip ahead. Stay in step and • Sculpting stand (page 18)
learn to model the bare limb. The well- • Large baking dish or
dressed limb will follow soon enough. ceramic tile & Fiberfill

72.

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