Many people remember plasticine figurines from childhood when, under the strict guidance of their parents or caregivers, they tried to create kolobok, a bowl for an imaginary dog, or a caterpillar with naughty fingers. Time runs very fast, kids grow up, the love of creativity for the majority is replaced by other addictions. However, not all. Among the fully held and very serious people there are those who, at leisure, still love to create plasticine figures with their own hands, helping children or just for fun. This lesson perfectly calms the nerves and makes it possible to express oneself from the creative side.
Types of plasticine
In Soviet times, neither children nor adults had much choice. And plasticine, and many other materials for creativity bought as they were available. Now, with a huge selection of the most different shades, shapes and types of this mass, eyes just run up, and sometimes it is completely unclear what exactly is worth buying and what is not.
The answer to this question depends on the purpose of the acquisition. If plasticine is needed for children's creativity at home, in the garden or school, it is better to take not too bright (it may contain toxic dyes) and not very hard so that it is easy to knead.
For the execution of panels and mosaics (they are sometimes also created from this material), the softest version is suitable, from which thin flat elements can be made. For those who create mock-ups from plasticine or engage in sculpture, hardening is useful (this also happens). At work, it is soft and supple, the color scheme is very rich. Finished figures freeze in the air for an hour.
What you need to stock up for modeling
During work, especially creative, it is imperative that everything you need is at hand. Therefore, in addition to the clay itself, it is necessary to stock up with wet wipes to remove its residues from the hands, a special lining board (something like a work surface). On it you can roll balls and other figures, cut pieces. Still need a special knife. It can be either metal or plastic. Those who plan to create small but complex figures from plasticine (flowers, animals) may need toothpicks or wire to draw small elements.
Where to start creativity
Those who decide to do modeling should not immediately try to create masterpieces. It should be practiced on something simple. And this concerns not only children, but also adult sculptors. Before sculpting plasticine figures more complicated, you need to understand how soft it is, how to work with it better. Therefore, for starters, you can create something very simple, such as a snake. What could be easier? A piece of green, marsh or brown plasticine is kneaded, and then rolled from it a “sausage” on the board so that one edge (head) is thicker and the second (tail) thinner. After that, a muzzle is formed (a mouth is carefully made using a knife), eyes are formed with toothpicks or small black dots. The tongue is molded from red plasticine (you can do without it). Next, a drawing is made on the entire body of the reptile with a needle or toothpick, turning it into a snake. If desired, you can curl the tail, then it turns out to be sleeping.
Gingerbread man
Another simple character that even a small child can create. It would seem that the difficult thing is to roll up the ball and stick its eyes? But if you show imagination, then this hero of a popular children's fairy tale can turn out to be very unusual. It’s really not so difficult to roll a ball from plasticine (although it will turn out to be ideal after fairly long manipulations with both hands). But he still needs eyes (from simple beads to complex designs with eyelashes and other details), a smile (from red plasticine) and legs with handles. To create the latter, they usually use a strong base in the form of a wire. And already plasticine is attached to it, forming palms and feet with boots. The result is not a “ball with eyes,” but a completely independent, spectacular fairy-tale character.
How to sculpt animal figures from plasticine
Having trained on koloboks and snakes, you can proceed to more complex heroes. For example, fabulous (and not so) animals are quite suitable. To begin with, you can make a hedgehog (after all, this is the same ball, but with an elongated muzzle). A piece of black plasticine is well kneaded and formed from it like a kolobok. A muzzle is made of another fragment (smaller), and then neatly connect them, carefully brushing the place of the joint with the fingertips so that it is not visible. It remains to make the eyes, nose and needles. They can be made from toothpicks, wire and even sunflower seeds. When creating plasticine figures, the main thing is diligence and the ability to fantasize. Indeed, the composition details are sometimes literally made from improvised means. And it turns out very spectacularly.
More complex sculptures
Having learned to cope with easy tasks, you can begin to create serious compositions. For example, fashion a whole farm from plasticine. There will be a sheep, a cow, and a horse. And all this is plasticine figures. The schemes for their creation are approximately the same. Separately form the body, legs, head and connect them together. At this stage, it is extremely important to make the common ground minimally noticeable. This is achieved by painstaking coating with a small amount of material. And finally, they leave small details: ears, horns (if any), tail.
To make the horse more fun, the mane is made of plasticine of a different color. By mixing several shades, you can achieve as close to natural. They do the same with a cow, sticking a couple of spots on its sides or forming an “asterisk” on its forehead.
Wild animals
As a rule, they turn out a little worse than homemade ones. Perhaps this is due to the fact that not everyone can clearly imagine what a deer, squirrel, fox, wolf or wild boar looks like. Indeed, they come across the eyes far from every day. Therefore, before making fox, wolf or bear figures from plasticine, it will not hurt to even look at these animals in the picture.
As for the scheme of their creation, it is no different from the one described above. In the same way, they separately sculpt the body, head, tail and paws, connect them and make the silhouette as smooth as possible. To keep the animals firmly on their feet, they can be strengthened with matches, toothpicks or wire. Better yet, use hardening clay. Then, after a couple of hours, they will be no different from clay sculptures. Unless they need to be decorated.
Plasticine panel
In addition to sculptures of animals, people and various objects, other souvenirs can be made from this material. For example, frames for photographs (only from hardening material) or various panels. In the latter case, the material should be used only very soft. A panel or mosaic can be created on the same principle as figures from plasticine, but they are made by forming on a plane. As a basis use cardboard or a sheet of plastic (PVC). So that the structure does not bend under the weight of plasticine, it is finely rolled out, each element (sheet, petal, stem, stamen) is individually formed and attached to the background. The panel thus obtained is framed and covered with glass.