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I needed a goblin face to use as a “test dummy” for some experiments I’m doing.
To make the Grandma Goblin sculpture really fast, I made an easy (and really cheap) form to hold up the clay while I was working. It isn’t as precise as using a mannequin, but it’s fast.
You can use this method for other kinds of sculptures, too. Just push the paper around and add some more. You could make a dog portrait, or a monster, or an alien…
I haven’t tried it for really big sculptures, but it might work. I was told about this method years ago, by someone who gave me the name of a famous sculptor who used it a lot. I forgot the sculptor’s name, naturally – if you know who it was, please let us know. 🙂
Links mentioned in the video:
- How I made Daddy Goblin over a cardboard mannequin – and my experiment in “plaster cloth mache”.
- Santa face made over wet paper form.
- Einstein portrait with crazy wire hair.
- Pepy Plastilina: https://amzn.to/4bdF81u
- DIY mask sculpting stand: https://youtu.be/DmtOO4aXpfE
- If you like the animal sculptures and masks behind me in the video, you can find downloadable patterns for them here.
How I Made the Wet Paper Sculpting Form:
The first step is to cover your table and your sketch, if you’re using one, with plastic.
Then get some newspaper wet, and squeeze out most of the water. You don’t want it to drip, but it needs to be wet enough to hold its shape. I used both newspaper and brown paper from amazon.com boxes, because that’s the kind of paper I had on hand.
Push the paper around so you get the basic outline of the head in the shape you want, and give it some eye sockets by pushing the paper in with your fingers. I wanted my goblin to have a big, jutting chin, so I added more paper in the muzzle area.
Cover all the wet paper with plastic, wrapping it around the back of the wet paper to help hold everything together. If you use one big wad of wet paper for both the neck and the head, it will stay together better than mine did.
Warm up your oil-based modeling clay, if that’s what you’re using. For the Santa and Einstein portraits I used WED clay – any kind of modeling clay with work. Cover the wet-paper sculpting form with a thin layer of clay to start with, and then start adding features. I found resource photos online for old lady neck, chin, eyes, etc., and used the ones I liked.
Here’s Daddy Goblin, covered with plaster cloth, and Grandma Goblin. I think he got his nose from his dad. 🙂
Grandma came out a bit smaller than I intended – that’s why I’ll probably use the mannequin pattern for the rest of the goblin family, even though the wet paper armature is a lot faster (I didn’t have to cut out the mannequin pattern and tape it together.)
It’s also going to be easier for me to remove the wet paper and clay from inside Grandma Goblin – getting the clay out was kind of a mess when I made Daddy Goblin, but I think I can do it easier next time by putting a plastic bag over the mannequin before I start sculpting with the clay. Maybe – we’ll see…
The goblin family will be outside all October in Minnesota, so they need to withstand both rain and snow. I’m doing some experiments with wood glue and cement, and hope it will make a waterproof ‘gesso’ to cover the plaster-cloth faces. My experiments look promising so far, and I’ll use Grandma Goblin for my final test. Wish her luck. 🙂
Can I use air dry clay instead? Thank you
Yes, you can do that.
Jonnie
I got a case of plasticine clay from a friends wife that pasted away but it is hard as a rock can you do a video on how to soften these blocks of clay or send me a step by step way of doing it
Wally Imfeld
I just put some in a bowl and microwave it for a few seconds. Test it to see if it’s soft enough, and put it back in the microwave if it’s still too hard. Most plasticine is much harder than the kind I use. Professional artists who use the really hard clay often keep it warm in a box with an old-fashioned light bulb inside. I’ve never done that, and have no idea how to build the contraption or how to make it safe. This channel uses Monster Clay, and she shows how she warms it up in a microwave in this video . She’d be a good person to ask for more information about the harder types of clay.