The oldest form of mold making and sculpturing is with
clay. Clay is a simple and readily available material that is easy to use as
well. So much so that even children enjoy rolling the clay and molding it into
various three-dimensional shapes.
But not many people know that clay
is also used in animation works. Animation with clay is known as stop motion
animation or claymation.
How does it work?
Clay modeling is simple as
the soft clay can be easily shaped into various figures and characters. The
only likely problem is that the clay will not be able to support its own weight
in the model. Therefore, artists generally design a wire armature and then
build the figure on it.
Clay models are inherently
flexible and can be bent or moved in different ways. In fact, claymation
artists design the model as per the movements required from them.
The animation is created through a
series of photographs. The stage is set and the clay figures are moved ever so
slightly in every frame. This calls for a lot of careful planning and attentive
coordination.
When the pictures are combined
sequentially, it creates an animated effect. This illusion of movement through
clay figures became popular with Gumby and Pokey, Wallace and Gromit and the
California Raisins.
Which clay to use?
Water-based clays are very common
in the art world. However, they harden on exposure to air. Non-hardening
variations are also available and better suited for clay modeling and animation
works. These flexible clays can be oil or wax based.
Artists choose the clay type depending
on the potential use as well as their personal preference in terms of texture
and hardness.
You can source different types of
clay from the leading house of art supplies, EnvironMolds. The website www.artmolds.com
stocks all kinds of mold making and casting materials along with tools,
supplies and equipment.
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