Finishing a clay sculpture.

Nick mercier

I have been working on multiple clay sculptures, but I never know how to "finish" them. I would like to eventually cast and mold my pieces, but for now I would like to finish and paint some before I progress. 

So, my question is, what is the best way to seal or finish my sculpts so I can paint them?

Thanks a ton,
Nick

Chris Ellerby

With oil based clays like Chavant or Monster Clay you can spray them with krylon crystal clear to seal them, and then paint on top of that layer using whatever methods.

/Chris

Chris Legasse

If you're just looking to practice,  you can just spray paint your clay with generic primer. But I would recommend using a clay like sculpey or fimo if you want to paint the clay directly, because you can bake those in the oven to solidify them. Otherwise if you just use water based clay or chavant, you're going to have a sculpture that will always stay soft. I personally would just use sculpey or fimo clays.

Maximilian Schmid

I would recommend making a sculpture with super sculpey, because you can paint this nicely:D But watch out that you make your sculpture as big as the oven that it can fit in it later, because you have to bake it before you paint it.