Need Advice on Sculpting Supplies

Hi L.,

While I am not a sculpter I am an illustrator and designer and teach college level art. The craft stores often sell packages of supplies you don't need.And most of the sales people are more craft and sew oriented..
If you can take a trip into Phili. I recommend Pearl Paint. They will have an area for scuplting and they usually have sales people who are serious artists that can tell you the essentials.
I have taken sculpting classes.A couple of wood tools is all you need. If you want to buy clay,you need to know if you should get air dry or kiln type.If he is using it for home get the air drying,they also sell some type of sealer so it doesn't crumble.

You can also call Pearl Paint they have an order dept.
Utrecht art supplies also sell less expensive supplies.

Enjoy shoping!

L.

Call your dentist and ask if you could have or purchase any old tools when they are done with them. They are perfect for sculpting.

Ac Moore is a great place to find everything. Go online or you may get fliers in the mail that have 40-50% off one item. I would look for a kit that has tools for sculpting, that may have a knife, wooden tools, and a cutter (a wire with a handle on each end). You may not know what kind of clay he is working with, so I wouldn't recommend buying clay and that can be pricey. If you want him to do things at home, there is a great bakable clay called Sculpey, that my kids love. They seel it in blocks or a package, it's not like Play-doh (messy), comes in all colors and is easy to work with, plus it doesn't dry out if left out, it must be baked on pyrex or a glass dish. Please don't get Fimo or other pricer clays, thaey need to be kneaded before hand and are used mostly for jewelry making. Best of luck!

You don't want to do a gift cert? That way he could pick it out and get exactly what he needs,
What about taking him to an art museum in your area, sort of an experience gift?
Check around your area, see if there are lessons outside of school you could pay for, Like a Sat class.
If you really want to get him supplies, just wander the "clay" aisle at micheals.
Or check a book store for a book, either of famous sculpture or a how to book. I would imagine his school would have the supplies he would need.
Good luck, gift buying is hard especially as they get older.

Will he be sculpting clay? The company that I work for employs freelance sculptors to create patterns in clay. They use very simple tools like the O. shown in this set:

http://www.figurines-sculpture.com/clay-modeling-tools.html

Or they use simple wires, plastic knives, etc anything to give the finish & texture for the specific project. There are various tools specialized for sculpting with polymer/wax, etc., but the stuff I see them use for clay looks like that set.

As a BFA graduate in ceramics, I immediately go to clay as a sculpting media and I will suggesst low cost tools for this material to sculpt. If it is wood or another sculpting material, most likely my suggesstions will not be helpful. What a great aunt you are to put so much thought into this!

For handbuilding or sculpting clay he will need: a good sponge (natural sea sponges are the best but tend to be expensive so a round manmade sponge works well also), a needle tool (a wooden handle with a 2.5/3 inch metal needle top), a clay knife (a wooden handle with a long flat dull metal blade), an old hard toothbrush (this is used for texture and also to meld 2 pieces of clay together because clay when wet will stick together but as it dries if there is no scoring and slurry - mushy clay- the 2 pieces will pop apart), a wooden or metal clay rib (a kidney shaped piece of metal or wood for scraping or smoothing over the clay) and maybe a tool box to hold all of these items as they will get muddy and dirty and dusty with dried clay.

These are the basic necessities; he could use a clay wire (2 wooden dowels with a wire wrapped between them to cut pieces of clay off of the big lump or to cut pots off of a throwing wheel) but for sculpture it is not really a necessity. Also any found objects that might make cool texture could be added (combs, shells, pinecones, metal washers, forks, old typewriter keys; essentially anything that might make a lasting mark in the soft clay).

Now, I don't know about Michaels to buy tools. I've never bought them from any place other than community art centers or art school. So give them a try but if you cannot find what you need, you can check any local community center that offers clay classes.

I hope this helps some.

Fondly,
ann m.

Buy him a beginner's wood carving kit. He can use any wood to get started. Tell him to do preliminary drawings so he can think about how and what he wants to depict in the wood. Also, found objects are great to use in sculpture. Take him to a museum sometime so he can walk around the sculpture. Looking at an object in the round give a whole new perspective.

Hi, L.:

Talk to your nephew about what he is doing in his class.
Ask him what kind of tools do they use, etc, etc.

Wait and see if he is going to really continue doing this for a hobby. Don't waste your money if this is a passing phase.

Just thought I'd share. D.