How to sculpt a head out of clay

How to sculpt a head out of clay
I decided to embark on making a clay head, so naturally, I chose Lionel Richie (circa 1984) as my model. For the uninitiated, Richie's video for the 1984 blockbuster hit, "Hello", features his clay head molded by a blind art student, Laura.

I am not blind, but I do wear glasses and love Lionel Richie. Perhaps most importantly, my name is also Laura. As you can well imagine, given all these similarities, I felt a psychic connection with the Laura in the video and wanted to make this tribute to Mr Richie.

If you've never molded a clay head, don't worry. I am going to give you all the secret tips and tricks to doing this and GUARANTEE you will have a well formed head when you are done with this Instructable.
 
Remove these adsRemove these ads by Signing Up
 

Step 1Gather your materials

Gather your materials
I did an incredible amount of research in order to figure out how to sculpt Lionel. You can read more about that HERE.

Point is this: if you don't know how to sculpt, you need to build off of a base. In my case I decided to build my head off of a foam head. This can most commonly be found in your local neighborhood hair weave emporium.

In addition to your clay head, you'll need air drying clay, a sponge, assorted clay sculpting tools (typically sold in packs at a art or pottery store), a protected surface to work on and a bowl of water.

Finally, I chose to buy a small sculpting wheel to mount Lionel on so that I could easily swivel his head around. This is entirely optional, but it made it easier to sculpt around his head.

Parts List in detail:

Foam head  ~ $10
Air drying clay  roughly 8 pounds ~$25
Clay sculpting tools ~ $10
Sculpting wheel ~ $10

« Previous StepDownload PDFView All StepsNext Step »
8 comments
Aug 29, 2011. 3:16 PMangelabchua says:
hahahha! its single handedly the most amazing, beautiful and terrifying thing I have ever seen. It haunts me, but in that good way.

Regretsy! here we come!
Sep 11, 2011. 4:01 PMjessyratfink says:
5 stars forever.
Sep 4, 2011. 7:21 AMsplazem says:
Wow! Cool-creepy-awesome-weird-all-in-one-sculpture!
Aug 29, 2011. 3:23 PMSHIFT! says:
This Instructable is Hilarious! Good eye for sculpting and I'm glad to see the video was able to be of assistance!
Aug 30, 2011. 7:12 PMangelabchua says:
your cinematography skills are amazing. Way to zoom in
Aug 29, 2011. 5:28 PMwilgubeast says:
Hello?
Aug 29, 2011. 3:47 PMmikeasaurus says:
Amazing and creepy gift!

Pro

Get More Out of Instructables

Already have an Account?

close

All Steps Viewing
View all steps of an Instructable on the same page when you're a Pro Member.

Upgrade to Pro today!
459
Followers
15
Author:zazenergy(Instructables)
Lover of hackers, knitters, cupcake bakers, shennanigans, sci-fi/fantasy, board games, coding and men in drag. Find me blogging at Dorkbyte.com Catch me on Twitter too! @zazenergy