Hot Sculpture How-Tos


How To: Make a duplicate sculpture using a press mold
Mary Buckman describes how to create a cast clay sculpture from a press mold. Press molds can be used over and over again to duplicate a sculpture without going through the tedious process of actually sculpting it or without the artistic talent required to. Watch this video sculpting tutorial and learn how to use a press mold.

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: Paint eyebrows and hair onto your reborn baby doll
The importance of paint cannot be underestimated when it comes to correctly constructing a reborn baby doll. There are many tutorials showing you how to correctly replicate the hair on your baby doll's head, but what about the eyebrows? This tutorial shows you how to use a variety of paints and fine tip brushes to correctly achieve realistic eyebrows as well as head hair for your next reborn project.

How To: Make a paper mache baby elephant
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a paper mache baby elephant. To begin, you will need a pattern, which you can find at Ultimate Paper Mache. There is a grid on the pattern that you can use to expand onto a large piece of particle board. This will give you the entire body for the elephant. After you cut the elephant out of the board, glue and nail it together with spacers in between the body parts. After this, crumple up newspaper and then tape and squish it onto the wood until the muscl...

How To: Sculpt a human head with Philippe Faraut
This video tutorial shows how to sculpt a realistic human head out of clay. Follow along with artist, Philippe Faraut, and learn how to mold, scrape, and design a human bust sculpture.

How To: Work with Polymer Clay for Beginners
Polymer clay is an exciting arts & crafts medium. Actually, "clay" is a misnomer; it contains no true clay, but rather consists of tiny particles of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) combined with plasticizer, which is what makes it malleable like clay.

How To: Sculpt & carve fake teeth from soap
Need a use for a model tooth? Learn with this "Tooth Carving 101" tutorial how to carve a fake tooth from a bar of soap. One will need a small carving knife, a bar of soap and about thirty minutes. Your fake tooth with make for one heck of peculiar mantel piece.

How To: Make simple one piece silicone rubber molds
Check out this video for how to create simple one piece silicone rubber molds. This technique is ideal for smaller projects (less than 12" x 12"), this is the easiest process for creating parts, patterns, tools, & molds. We demonstrate creating a silicone rubber mold and then the casting of parts with Repro, epoxy casting resins and polyurethane elastomers. This process can be used in automotive, mechanical, fine art and film special effects uses.

How To: Make a latex mold
This video segment will show you how to make a simple mold using TAP Latex Mold Builder.

How To: Make a silicone face with Gel-10 & Polyfoam
Attention aspiring horror movie makers! Have an interest in making fake heads to use as your gory extras? BITY Mold Supply has supplied the world with this great tutorial on how to cast a silicone head or face from Gel-10 and Polyfoam. In the later half of this video, BITY lends great tips on how to paint your finished silicone face for a realistic look.

How To: Human Hair Bugs (It's Not How It Sounds)
Hold the repulsion- we're talking art, not lice. Seattle artist Adrienne Antonson makes tiny insect sculptures with recycled human hair and glue, and they're pretty spectacular.

How To: Make contemporary installation art
Each & Every One of You (EEOOY) is a mock TV show pilot that teaches ordinary people how to make contemporary installation art. If these words strike fear into your heart or make you cringe with memories of seeing contemporary art and wondering what the hell it was all about, this show is for you!

How To: Cast a nude model with silicone
Watch this video to learn how to make a mold of a female torso using Body Double RTV silicone rubber. This is a great technique for sculptors!

How To: Make a simple mold and cast liquid plastic and resin
Watch this video to learn how to make a simple mold and cast Smooth-Cast 300 liquid plastic and resin into it.

How To: Make a fiberglass mold
This how-to video series is a step-by-step guide to molding fiberglass. These videos give a simple introduction to fiberglass mold construction, explained using a model aircraft cowling but the same technique applies to any fiberglass sculpture. The entire process is detailed from plug, to mold, to finished fiberglass part. Follow along with the eight steps: develop the plug, construct the parting board, lay up the mold, release the mold from the plug, prepare the mold for fabrication, lay up...

How To: Make a mold of a face using silicone rubber
Watch this video to learn how to make a mold of a face using Body Double Silicone Rubber. This is a great technique for making masks or sculptures! Watch as he casts a finished lightweight casting.

How To: Make a mold of a sculpture
This three part instructional sculpture video demonstrates how to make a two part plaster mold. Make a plaster mold to make stop-motion animation puppets from clay models. A plaster mold can make casts out of almost any material. This model will be cast out of foam rubber with a movable metal skeleton.

How To: Make fake ice with Encapso K silicone rubber
This video demonstrates how to use Encapso K to create a lasting faux ice display. Encapso K is a soft, clear silicone rubber that perfectly simulates water. Learn how to sculpt mock ice for a beer bottle sculpture.

How To: Melt a vinyl record in the oven and shape it into a plastic bowl
Spice up your next party with some unique party dishes, and we're not talking about food here, we're talking about the actual dishes, specifically bowls. But not just any bowls, vinyl bowls, made from authentic vinyl records. The steps are simple: melt the vinyl record in the oven, then take it out and mold it (safely) into a plastic bowl. Change the shape up each time!

How To: Sculpt a rabbit
Interested in making a rabbit sculpture? Get step-by-step instructions for sculpting a bunny rabbit with expert sculpture tips in this free art lesson video series.

How To: Spray rubber to make plastic molds of anything
This video tutorial shows how to use Smooth-On's EZ Spray Jr. system to spray mold rubber, liquid plastics and casting resins. Learn how to make molds out of any object out of rubber, plastic or resin.

How To: Make a shrimp from a straw
This is a tutorial on how to make a shrimp from a drinking straw and a pair of scissors. This is a nifty arts and crafts project for the summer, or doing on the side of the road for money. Everyone will be astounded by your shrimp-making skills.

How To: Make a latex mold to cast a tree branch peg rack
Martha Stewart uses OOMOO 30 silicone rubber to make a mold of a tree branch and make a casting in liquid plastic to use as a peg coat rack.

How To: Make a surreal paper mache hand
If you're looking for ideas for creepy decorations to make for your next Halloween party, or just want to have a little fun, you can use papier mache, cardbord paper, a little foil and some paint to create a surreal cartoon hand.

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 a paper mâché dragon
Are you an aspiring paper mâché sculptor? In this video, see how Dan from Monster-Man.com builds a really cool paper mache dragon from start to finish. Although instructions aren't given, it is easy to use this video as a guide to begin your dragon's structure and build up. Be on your way toward creating an extremely impressive paper mâché dragon with help from this video.

How To: Make a paper mache "fishwichwich"
In this video you get to watch a talented mache artist make a fishwichwich from paper mache. It is fast paste but you get the idea of how he does it. Starting with the paper mache materials, the paste and paper, he makes the body and head in several pieces. He pastes these together and uses some sort of stick to make its spikes. He covers the spikes with mache so they have a more realistic look and starts to smooth out the features of the fish. Once the body is done, he's got the teeth and so...

How To: Make a leaf imprint tile plaster mold
Add leaves and patterns to your mold! This how-to video shows you a way to create an organic design in your molds. Watch this video sculpture tutorial and learn how to design tile molds with leaf and different pattern imprints.

How To: Make a cat sculpture
Looking for a fun sculpture project? Why not make your self a cat! In this free online art lesson on video, learn how to make a clay cat sculpture from expert Jorge Benlloch, including tips on shape, details, tools and more.

How To: Sculpt a clay eagle
Need a new sculpting project? Why not watch this video and make a clay sculpture of an eagle! Learn everything you need to know from materials to finishing your piece from expert sculptor Jorge Benlloch.

How To: Sculpt a pig in polymer clay
This video sculpting tutorial shows a high speed version of the process for building a pig out of clay. Beginning with an aluminum foil skeleton, pink polymer clay is slowly added on, molded, and finished to create a realistic looking pig. Watch this video sculpting tutorial and learn how to make a pig figurine out of polymer clay.

How To: Sculpt a copper wire scorpion
Copper wire scorpion sculpture is designed by Daniel Burke of Torrington, Wyoming USA. He uses metal wire sculpture to bend this arachnid art.

How To: Make a plaster mold of a skull
This video tutorial is a quick run-through on the process used to make a plaster mold from a skull, and then a couple casts from it.

How To: Make a cavity pour mold out of silicone rubber
This instructional video shows the simple steps for how to cast a cavity pour mold with Mold Max 30 RTV Silicone Rubber. Learn how to make the mold and make duplicate models of statues, sculptures, or figures, with this casting technique.

How To: Make a clear silicone rubber mold
This is an excellent video that covers creating a clear silicone rubber mold to deal with a complex parting line or irregular shape. When a project requires a complex parting line, it is often easier to pour the entire mold in one process with clear rubber, then cut your parting line. This process also saves at least a day in creating the mold. This process can be used in automotive, mechanical, fine art and film special effects uses.

How To: Cast resin and liquid plastic into a mold
Watch this video sculpting tutorial to learn how to mix and pour liquid plastic into a mold cabin. Wait a few minutes and you have a perfect finished plastic casting! Learn how to cast resin and liquid plastic into a mold by watching this how-to video.

How To: Make a two-part mold with urethane RTV rubber
This video segment will show you how to make a simple two-part mold using Urethane RTV molding rubber. The same process can be used for silicone molds.

How To: Produce large scale carnival sculptures
Get a glimpse of the techniques used in creating large scale carnival sculptures and satirical floats made of polystyrene.

How To: Make a molded ice sculpture
This is an example how anyone can make their own ice sculpture without having it hand carved! All you need is... a ton of fancy equipment!

How To: Wire sculpt
In this video series Mark Kooy is going to show you how to make wire sculptures and use braising techniques and tools.