"Irish Ruins" Themed Plant Pot: DIY + How-to Instructions. Part 1 (of 2) - Sculpting.

  Hi everyone.  So I got this idea in my head about a month ago and starting making it a reality two weeks ago. Here's the back story: One of our last trips was to Ireland and Northern Ireland.  It was an awesome adventure and we saw some awe-inspiring ancient ruins while we were there.  These ruins stuck with me.  I knew I wanted to create my own, but I was initially thinking I'd do an oil painting of them, which I still plan to do.  BUT around the same time of the trip, I acquired some authentic Irish ivy and that's when it hit me.... I'd make an 'ancient Irish ruins' pot for my Irish ivy!
  By trade I'm an exhibit designer and fabricator.  I make dioramas for museums and animal habitats for zoos and aquariums.  I put these skills to use for this project and I'd like to share some step-by-step instructions with the Steemit world, incase anyone would like to try and make their own! Here we go....

^^^STEP 1 - Get a reference photo.

   One of the first, and most important parts of the project is to get a reference photo and have it handy.  This photo is the one I decided to theme my pot after.  I took it at the Gleninagh church ruins, which existed all the way back in 1302, but it may be much older yet.  It's exact age is indeterminable. 

^^^STEP 2 - Get a pot/vase to start with.

   You're going to want to get yourself a pot that accommodates the grown size of your plant. Being that ivys don't really grow massive root balls, I went with this glass pot that I bought at Michael's craft store.  It's around a 6-inch cube.

^^^STEP 3 - Build an armature. 

   You're going to need something to support any clay that isn't attached directly to the glass vase.  For this, I built an armature out of 18-gauge wire.  I knew I wanted the back wall of the face to stick up in the air quite a ways and have a slot window in it, just like in our reference photo.  Wire and hot glue made a quick, sturdy armature. 

^^^STEP 4 - Apply the clay.

   Now that we have some supports made, it's time to lay on the clay.  I used Super Sculpey original (also bought at Michael's craft store), but any oven-bake polymer clay would probably work.  I prefer polymer clay over earthen clays as they're not as brittle once baked.  In my opinion, Super Sculpey is worth the extra money over regular Sculpey.  It cures much harder and basically becomes a solid, rigid plastic.  The clay sticks awfully well to the glass walls of the vase and then I just sandwiched our armature between two layers.  Lay out your rim and edge work using your reference photo as your guide.

^ Super Sculpey

^^^Step 5 - Smooth & block out the clay.

   Now that your clay is laid in place, it's time to smooth it out and shape things.  This is where you'll need a sculpting tool called a rake.  You use the rake to literally rake the surface of the clay.  This takes the high spots off and covers the entire surface with tiny grooves.  Then you just go over and smooth it all out with your fingers.  Be sure to create sharp edges at the corners and top.  The edges on the tall back wall and rim of the pot don't have to be super sharp though as we want to mimic the wear and tear of 700+ years of weathering.
  I got my rakes from an etsy store called "AMCreatures".  You can make your own by bending some jigsaw blades and inserting them into a wooden dowel..... but that shop has a great set for just $12.  Well worth the money.  Here's the link: Set of 3 RAKE saw- ended Modeling and Sculpting Tools Discount price.  Also, here is a photo of the rake I used...
^ My rake. 

^^^Step 6 - Start sculpting!

   This is the fun part.  Start sculpting out your rocks/blocks.  I started with the window and worked my way outward.  A good rule of thumb is to try to not have a horizontal 'seam' not go longer than 3 or 4 blocks before breaking it up with a taller block.  I also don't let the vertical 'seams' go more than 2 or 3 blocks long before breaking it up.  An organized random pattern is what you want. lol Keep in mind, when the original building was built, it was done one stone at a time.  Probably as they come up from the field.  No organization of shape or size.  Also, throw in some non-rectangular stones once in a while.  I breaks up the monotony. Also, once you're done with your blocks, use a cheap chip brush/paintbrush to brush off all the little clay balls and curls.  

   TEXTURING - Once your blocks are made/outlined, you'll want to add texture to them.  Dents, dings, and roughness.  The way you do this is to get a few rocks from outside and stamp them into the clay blocks.  I used a few round river stones that were covered with distinct pores, and also a few pieces of granite or shale with some little ridges and waves to them.  Press them into the clay blocks, bouncing around so as to not make it too uniform.  You won't see much difference as you do this, but it will all stand out when it comes time to paint the piece.
  For sculpting the rocks, I basically used one tool. I have this set of carving tools that I bought on Amazon for $9: SE DD312 12-Piece Stainless Steel Double-Sided Wax Carvers Set.  I used the sharp end of this tool for most of the carving, and the other rounded side for smoothing the grooves I made:

^My carving tool.

^The finished sculpture.  Notice the lack of long, continuous lines going horizontally or vertically like I mentioned.  Also, note the few non-rectangular blocks here and there. Also note the little dents and dings from stamping with stones I grabbed out of my driveway.

^^^Step 7 - Bake!

   Okay, now that the sculpture is finished, it is time to bake it and make it final. You're supposed to bake the clay at 275°F at a time of 15 minutes per 1/4-inch of clay thickness.  I guesstimated it to be around 3/8-inch thick so I baked it for around 24 minutes.  Ended up being just fine. I put some tin foil over an old cookie sheet we had for baking.  Notice, the clay with come out of the oven really hot, but still soft feeling.  DON'T MESS WITH IT.  It hardens right up as it cools down. 

Congratulations! You're done with a sculpting part.  That will be it for now as I don't want to make the post too long.  It really comes to life after the paint job, which will be the followup to this blog.  

BE SURE TO FOLLOW ME FOR PART 2  - PAINTING!