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sculptural
All techniques

Modeling

Clay modeling

An additive, responsive process that records pressure, revision, and the movement of the hand.

Modeled terracotta portrait by Auguste Rodin

Materials & tools

  • Clay
  • Armature
  • Modeling tools
  • Slip

Clay can be pushed, built, cut, and reworked around an armature. Models may be fired as terracotta, preserved through plaster molds, or translated into stone and metal.

The Met: Honoré de Balzac

The process

  1. 01

    Build an armature

  2. 02

    Block in primary masses

  3. 03

    Develop gesture and proportion

  4. 04

    Refine or retain tool marks

  5. 05

    Fire or mold the model