Preparing Wax to start a Sculpture

Preparing wax to start a sculpture:

As you know, I use victor brown wax to do my most detailed sculptures with. But this wax comes in rather large slabs from the manufacturer.

And being wax, its rather strong when you are faced with a thick slab. There's no way your going to break that wax up in order to get it ready to put onto your armature of you intended sculpture.

I use a cutting wire which is wrapped around two different pegs. You can buy these as a normal piece of sculpture tool. Or you can use a knife. But don't use it while the wax is cold.

 I've tried it and it can get pretty messy. And most of the time you only get have way through the wax itself.

And resorting to bashing it against something in temper is not the answer either, as you stand the chance of getting grit and bits into the wax, which will only end in you throwing  that piece of wax a away.

I find if you put the wax outside for a while in the sun, you can then cut it into smaller more manageable pieces.

Don't leave it out in the string sun for too long, as it then becomes unmanageable, and you get it everywhere. And when its melting it is like a think paste, and it sticks to everything, including your hands. And you could also burn your hands in the process.

If you don't live in a warm country where the sun will not be hot enough to soften the thick wax, then put it in front of a heater, and don't forget to put something under it at this time.

A plate is a piece cloth. Don't use newspaper, as it will stick to the newspaper, and when you try to remove it, the paper will tear and get into your wax.

Now you have the pieces of wax in more manageable sections, you can then use the amount needed at the time to build up your sculpture on your armature.

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