Active Sculpture Posts
News: If the World Were Made of Pixels...
Texas based artist Shawn Smith brings the digital world to reality with his woodcut pixelated sculptures. The combination of a traditional material (wood) with a contemporary concept results in surprisingly fresh work. Plus, the craftsmanship appears to be impeccable. Check out his artist statement below.
HowTo: Print Cement
Printers are getting pretty high tech these days. Print a building, print some organs... and now, print your own cement sculptures.
How To: Make a simple silicone mold
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a simple silicone mold. You will first need a silicone base, which is an off white liquid. You will also need the hardener, a thickener, and a thinner. To build the mold, cut a paper cup in half, then fill the container with rice. Measure the amount of rice in the cup so you know how much silicone needs to go into the mold. After this weigh your ingredients for the silicone, then mix them and pour into the mold. When the mold is finished hardening, use i...
News: Careful, No Pooping in This Pizza Box
It's amazing what you can do with an ordinary material like cardboard... or a truckload of discarded pizza boxes.
News: Cardboard Mechanics
We love it when everyday material is used in a new and unexpected application. Cardboard is something most of us take completely for granted. We need it when we're moving, and that's about it. When Frank Gehry created the cardboard chair in 1972, he blew the minds of both the furniture and the design world. So strong. So durable. So fluid.
News: Olafur in the Sky with Diamonds
Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson totally inspires us here at Wonderhowto. His waterfall installations on the Hudson River. His incredible sun exhibit at the Tate in London. His concepts and execution are dazzling. Plus he has Taschen book that weighs a frickin ton. (Yes. The tonnage does translate to respect.)
How To: Use daylight lamps and do polymer clay silkscreening
Ray Charles created music in the dark (literally), but somehow we doubt you'd be able to create the same magic while attempting to mold polymer clay in the dark.
News: The World's Slowest Porsche
Sounds like an odd bragging right, but hold your horses, artist Hannes Langeder's handmade Porsche is pretty damn interesting.
News: This $50K Sculpture is Made of What?
53-year-old artist Scottish artist David Mach uses tens of thousands of matchsticks to create sculptures of animals, as well as religious and political icons. He first creates a plastic or fiberglass mold, and then inserts the matchsticks, one at a time. His work sells anywhere from $30,000 to $52,000... unless he sets the piece on fire, of course.
News: Massive Cocoons Trap Humans Like Flies in a Web
INSANE what you can do with a truckload of packing tape. Viennese/Croatian design collective For Use/Numen uses the common junk drawer office supply to create massive, self-supportive cocoons that visitors can climb inside and explore.
News: What's Going on Here? Amorphous, Living, Breathing... Butts?
Love it. Spooky. Weird. Visually compelling. Entitled, "Klunk Garden", the piece was made by (well-known-in-the-art-world) Austrian artist collective, Gelitin. Looks like one of those cheesy little tabletop zen gardens. You know what I'm talkin' about:
News: Azuma Makoto's Serious Flower Power
I'm totally drooling over artist Azuma Makoto's insanely lush, decadent floral arrangement-sculptures. Drop. Dead. Beautiful.
How To: Make mini churro charms out of polymer clay
Learn how to sculpt a miniature churro charms out of polymer clay with this free video art lesson. While this tutorial is best suited for those with some familiarity of polymer clay sculpture, novice sculpters should be able to follow along given a little effort. For specifics, including step-by-step instructions, and to get started crafting your own mini polymer clay churro charms, watch this sculpture tutorial.
How To: Make a polymer clay chocolate frosted doughnut
Learn how to sculpt a chocolate frosted donut out of polymer clay with this free video art lesson. While this tutorial is best suited for those with some familiarity of polymer clay sculpture, novice sculpters should be able to follow along given a little effort. For specifics, including step-by-step instructions, and to get started making your own polymer-clay donuts, watch this sculpture tutorial.
News: Careful, Don't Fall Down the Rabbit Hole
When two houses were scheduled for demolition, artists Dan Havel and Dean Ruck of Art League Houston decided to take advantage of the situation and create the super trippy Tunnel House.
News: Fossilisation Machine Cuts 1,000 Year Process Down to 3 Months
Artist Austin Houldsworth of the UK has come up with a device that drastically speeds up the process of fossilisation. Entitled Two Million & 1AD, Houldsworth is capable of creating a fossil in a few months (which otherwise might require thousands of years). Houldsworth is currently experimenting with objects such as a pineapple and phesant, but ultimately hopes to fossilize a human. Houldsworth proposes:
How To: Make Shrek out of clay
Everyone loves that big green ogre, and with the new release of Shrek 4 upon us, why not make some art to commemorate the occasion?
How To: Make flip flops out of gum paste
In this video we learn to make fondant flip flops to decorate cakes. Grab your fondant and mix in your various colors. You can have as many colors as you want but should have at least two. Roll out your first color to your desired thickness. Use a butterfly cookie cutter to cut out a butterfly. Use a sharp knife and cut out the center of the butterfly so you have the seperate wings. Curve the edges so they are nice and smooth. These are the bottoms of your flip flops. Then take a small piece ...
How To: Paint Hello Kitty on your nails
This video illustrates us how to paint Hello Kitty on your nails. here are the following steps: Step 1: First of all collect all your requirements in one place that is nail paint in various colors ,nail art pen, primer, and toothpick.
How To: Sculpt a ceramic clay "stitched" serpent
If you would like to create the look of stitches or sutures on your clay sculptures, you will need the following: clay, a toothpick or sharp implement, and a cutting tool.
How To: Make mimi loofah for your dollhouse
This is a video tutorial describing how to construct a mini loofah for your dollhouse. The first step is to gather your supplies. You will need a needle, scissors, thread, and tulle. The tulle and the thread should be the same color. Next your tulle should be cut to be 1.5 feet long. Then bunch up the tulle so that it is small and compact just like a loofah. Next you should thread your needle. Next sew the tulle so that it stays in the shape that you would like it to be in. Finally cut off al...
How To: Make lettuce or cabbage for your dollhouse
How to Make Lettuce or Cabbage from Polymer Clay for Miniature Doll House.
How To: Make a gum paste anemone
In order to make a gum paste anemone you first should roll out the gum paste onto a flat surface and cut out about 13 circles of this with a cookie cutter. Use thin foam and ruffle 12 of the petals leaving the last flat. Place your ruffled petal on thick foam and drag a ball tool over the bottom half of the petal. This will give it an oval shape. Now, put these into a flower former. Now let the 13th petal that is flat down to dry. Let these dry for about 2-6 hours but not until they are rock ...
How To: Make a candy bar for a miniature dollhouse
Garden of Imagination describes how to make a miniature candy bar for a doll house. First find a photo of the type of candy bar you want online. Once you find the image you want right click the icon and select "copy". Open a new MS Word document and paste into it. It should be too big so right click the picture and go to hyperlink in the menu that pops up. If the picture has a hyperlink remove it so you can adjust the size. Once the hyperlink is removed click on the picture and boxes should s...
How To: Sculpt a hairy ceramic clay monster
In this how-to video, you will learn how to create a hairy clay figure. You will need to mix basic clay to do this. Rub the clay into a ball and then shape it into the body of the creature. Do not work the clay for too long, as it will harden faster. Use matches to form the eyes. Once the form is complete, move on to the hair. Use a different color clay for a great visual effect. Make the clay into long strings. Once they are done, cut them with a clay knife to form small dots. Rub these dots...
How To: Sculpt a ceramic clay sitting monster
How to Sculpt a Sitting Body out of Clay
How To: Sculpt a purple clay electric eel
First of all take the clay and make a roll. Now keep rolling to form a roll that has one end large and the other end smaller at the tip. Now bend the roll upwards from the middle. Now take a match stick. Now use this to make a hole to make the mouth. Use to fingers to make the corners of the mouth round in shape. Make the mouth wide and open. Now make the eyes by using a matchstick to pierce the sockets. Now take a little clay and then make a roll of it. Now make a leg out of it by making the...
News: Thai Baker Sells Edible Body Parts
Thailand's own Stan Winston. Artist Kittiwat Unarrom's gruesome baked goods are mindblowing. I can't imagine rendering this level of realism in clay, let alone bread dough.
How To: Turn an old vinyl record into a bowl or platter
Seeing as record players are getting harder to find, here's something useful to do with your records, turn them into serving dishes! What you need to do is get some tin foil, oven safe dishes and of course records. Two different types of dishes can be made, a shallow plate-like dish and deeper bowl-like dish. For the shallow one use a cake pan for its form, you'll need a glass jar or an empty tin can for the other one. Start off by setting your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 177 degrees Ce...
How To: Carve a duck out of an apple
This is the video showing you how to carve an apple into a edible duck fruit carving! Fruit carving edible arrangements is very popular in Asia and now, weddings in America.
How To: Mold fantasy miniature characters
In this two part video you'll learn the complete process for casting duplicates of a miniature figure. How to make the rubber mold in two parts and how to cast the miniature duplicate. A two part mold is the kind of rubber mold you make for complex minis like figures, warriors, wizards, dwarves etc. You'll learn everything you need, and exactly what to do to duplicate your own miniature fantasy characters.
How To: Make a mosaic for your home or garden
Mosaics are a cool type of art. You can use mosaics to liven up your home or garden and they are cheap and fun to make. Check out this video for tips and instructions for making mosaics.
News: Beautifully Carved Pencils and Baseball Bats
Amazing sculptures by Peter Schuyff. Don't know about you, but they've inspired me to check out some wood carving tutorials.
How To: Make a paper mache glitter wand
This video teaches you how to make glitter wands using a simple and fast method. For a wand measuring about 18 inches long, you will need a sheet of A4 printer paper, glue, 2 strips of 1 inch wide 2 ply tissue paper, a pair of scissors, black and gold paint, an old sponge and glitter. First roll the sheet of paper and stick it so you have one small end tapering towards a slighter bigger end. Stick tissue rolls on the rolled paper and seal off the ends by twisting gently. When the glue dries a...
News: Princess Peach Poses as Mother of God
Princess Peach poses as the Madonna, cradling Mario (as Jesus), in artist Kordian Lewandowski's sculptural rendition of Michelangelo’s “La Pietà”.
How To: Buy duct tape suitable for art projects
Ducttapestuff presents colored duct tape that he uses in making a variety of objects like wallets, book bags and flowers. He strongly recommends duct tape made by "Duck", which is the only kind of tape he uses and he considers it the best. He shows all the tape he has (some of which were freshly bought when the video was made): a wide range of colored tape, from beige to black, and also a few patterned tape like "tree camouflage" or "cosmic tie-dye". He says that he always gets his tape from ...
How To: Make your own clay
Put your imagination into solid form by working with clay. Now all you need is the clay. No need to buy it at the store when you can make all the clay you like at home. Clay is a fun medium for adults and kids to work in.
How To: Sharpen a convex wood carving knife
This video teaches the secrets to sharpen a convex wood carving knife in simple steps. First find out how dull your knife is by cutting a paper or shaving hair on you hands. Now take a sand paper attached to a pad and start sharpening the ends by applying less pressure. Now try the sharpness of the knife, it will be better. Now take a double sided strop with sharpening compound and start rubbing the knife edge. After sharpening try the knife again, it should be good enough.
News: Dominoes That Fall... and Get Right Back Up Again
Nothing better than toppling a domino chain and watching them fall. Worst part? Setting them all up again. Created by Los Angeles artist Karl Lautman, the Ouroborus Domino structure reconstructs itself after a single round of five times. Wonderfully clever and whimsical. Previously, Perform the Impossible Balancing Dominoes Trick.
News: How'd He Do That?
Amazing work by artist Walee for BEAUX ARTS Magazine. Photoshop tricks? Photograph manipulation? Papercraft sculpting?