This is the sculpt I made of the character Swidhelm.  It was created using a plasticine based clay available in most art and craft stores called Super Sculpey.  Super Sculpey is a beige/pink, semi-translucent clay. I prefer to work with a neutral grey, opaque clay for sculpture - so I created my own mix using one block of regular Super Sculpey mixed with one block of White Sculpey, and half of a block of Black Sculpey.  Mixing this clay by hand is like massaging a rock and can lead to tendonitis at an early age, so I suggest using a pasta rolling machine to do the heavy lifting.  The technique for mixing is as follows - layer the Super Sculpey (pink), white Sculpey, and black Sculpey, then feed it through the machine, fold, rinse and repeat and you’ll have a nice chunk of shiny new grey Sculpey in no time.  I’m currently drafting a tutorial of this process for my Facebook page and will be posting it in the near future.

      Past the clay creation process, the important things to take into consideration when sculpting are depth, symmetry, and exaggeration.  Depth because it’s easy to be timid with clay and not build up form as much as you should.  Lean towards over-building your forms, it’s easier to subtract than add.  Symmetry is extremely important because it’s a fundamental cue for us as humans to discern beauty within the human form.  If you want to convey an attribute in your character that embodies something other than “attractive”, lean towards an asymmetrical design. And finally, exaggeration - this is the most important aspect when establishing a visual style.  It’s easy to draw an angular form into a character design and much harder to sculpt one in.  Look at your sketch and make clear purposeful decisions about where you’re going to add style and exaggeration.  Exaggeration is successful when partnered with subtlety, know when to push and when to hold back.