DS4 - FASCU 234: WEEK 14

Torso Final!

I took a trip down to my local clay supplier this week -- Freeform Clay in National City. I bought 2 different bags of clay to try out. They were very helpful there, also mentioning 'grog' content versus smooth with sagging concerns in larger sizes. They had a 'clay board' too, but short of the obvious gritty 'absolutely not!' varieties, there were a staggering number of choices! Next time I'll venture up to Aardvark and see what they've got. I did purchase a few new tools including these:

I used the medium-tooth version to rake out my sculpture, fixing some areas and tidying up some forms along the way:

The final smoothing was really just my fingers. I did use a brush with some water to get into some more tight areas, but mainly I just slowly worked my way around the piece and smoothed it primarily with my index finger. I'm pretty happy with the result, though there's certainly more I could fiddle with it. I am going to hollow this one for a firing in the next week or two and probably also attempt to create a mold of it as well. I have no experience in mold making but the only way to learn is to try!