Making a Candle Out of a Sculpture

For this piece I had the idea of a sculpture burning its evil reflection. It represents letting go of a dark part of yourself. A bad habit, a shadow in your personality, a dark thought. To rise up to them and to let them burn. How better to make this then to create a candle out of it! In this page I will explain to you how.

To create this piece you will need to make two clay sculptures. The 'good side' holding the match will be baked and glazed, while the evil side will be used to make a mold, from with a candle can be poured.

For the glazed sculpture you will need:

• Clay
• Plastic bag
• (News)paper
• Sculpting tools
• Spray bottle
• Wooden board
• Glaze powder
• Brush
• Sponge
• Match
• Superglue

For making the mold and candle you will need:

• Plaster
• Vaseline
• Paraffin Wax
• Wooden boards
• Clamps
• Rubber bands/bike tires
• A small weight (like a screw)
• Wick
• Brush
• Some clay
• A big bucket
• A pot to melt the wax

Start by imagining the sculpture you want to create. Make sketches, gain inspiration online or just start sculpting. To get the right anatomy I used models from sketchfab.com You can view the models for free in every angle you desire, very useful!

To start the sculpting process place a big chunk of clay on a wooden board. Make sure to push the clay together well so there will be no hollow spaces inside. Then slowly start to add mode details and optionally use a plastic cup to support the weight of the head. Use a variation of sculpting tools to get the right shapes and spray/apply water during the sculpting to keep it from drying out. Near the end I used the back of a spoon and a brush with some water to make the surface nice and smooth.

During the sculpting keep in mind that the wax figure will be almost identical to the first sculpture except for the facial features and the hand. This means the sculptures has to be right for mold making. So when the mold is taken apart there should be no pieces hooking into the mold at different angles since the mold is not flexible and so it will break off. If you have never made a mold before I recommend doing some research so you can visualize the process. For example in this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo8C5LGjuys

Now it's time to split apart your masterpiece. Take a piece of strong and thin wire and drag it through the middle of your sculpture. Start hollowing out the inside, leaving about 2 cm of width on the sides of the sculpture. This is done to make the sculpture dry faster, make it lighter and to prevent it from exploding in the oven.

Once the sculpture is hollow, take a pointy, needle like tool (fork, knife) and start cross hatching the open sides. Then take a brush, dip it in some water and brush it on the sides. Now you can stick the two parts together again. The cross hatching makes the two parts interlace together. To attach the hand use the same process.

Push the two parts together tightly, smooth out the edges and use your tools to make it look like the original again.

When the clay dries it will shrink. Depending on the thickness of the clay not all parts will dry at the same pace. To prevent it from cracking at weaker spots you wrap the scultpture in (news)paper to keep some moisture inside but to still allow it to dry. Use some tape to create a paper tent around the sculpture while trying not to let it touch the clay.

Keep the paper on it for a few days and then take it off. The sculpture (depending on the size) will take about two weeks to dry out completely.

Now it's time to bake your sculpture. The clay that I used had to be fired at a high temperature so I used a kiln in a ceramics shop. There are clays out there that can be baked in a regular oven or even clays that don't need to be baked at all. They might not be suitable to be glazed though.

To make the glaze I mixed a glazing powder with some water. I made sure to make the glaze in a ventilated area to not breathe in the powder. Once the glaze was well mixed I brushed on an equal layer that covered the whole sculpture. I then repeated this three times and let the sculpture dry. Lastly I took a sponge and wiped off any glaze that was on the bottom of the sculpture so it wouldn't stick to the floor of the kiln.

I then baked the sculpture again following the instructions of the glaze.

If you don't have access to a kiln you could use alternatives for glazes, like spray paint. To learn more about the glazing process and alternatives I recommend taking a look at this page: https://www.thecrucible.org/guides/ceramics/how-to-glaze/#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20make%20your,applied%20to%20your%20bisque%2Dware.

For my sculpture I wanted it to hold a match. Since it's too thin and fragile to create in clay I used a real match that I cut in half and superglued onto the hand.

Now the first sculpture is done!

Get your sculpting tools out again and start working on the second sculpture. Use the finished sculpture as a reference but keep in mind that after you have baked it (depending on the type of clay) your sculpture will have shrunk. Mine decreased in size with about 30% so I had to make the new sculpture a bit bigger.

I paid extra attention to the fact that I would make a mold out of it. So I made the inclines less steep and rechecked all the angles again.

This time you should not let the clay dry out and so make sure to cover it in plastic once it is done.

For the sculpture I decided to make a three part mold. To make the mold use pieces of wood and mark down the area of the sculpture, leaving enough space around it so the mold will be thick enough. Also make a channel on the top where the wax will be poured in. Let the sculpture dry a little bit so it will not stick to the fresh clay. Then use fresh clay to block off where the mold should come, so halfway around the sculpture. Press it all around the edges so no plaster can leak through.

Tightened the clamps around the wood so it will be secure and ready for the plaster.

Fill a big bucket with the right amount you need for your mold. Gradually add in the plaster by sprinkling it onto the water. When little islands start to form that don't sink you've added enough plaster. Let the plaster sit for a few minutes and then start mixing it. You're now ready to pour.

Before pouring, draw a line to which height you want your plaster to go. Start pouring the plaster into the mold. Keep an eye on the mold, if there are any gaps the plaster will start pouring out. In that case use a piece of soft clay and wedge it into the hole.

Once you have your plaster poured, use a tool to lightly hammer onto the sides of the mold for a few minutes. This will take out some bubbles and will result in a cleaner mold.

Once the plaster has hardened you can pour the next mold. Take of the clay and reposition the wood so the hardened plaster is on the bottom. Take a spoon or a carving tool and make little round circles in the plaster around the sculpture. These registration points will make sure the mold will stick together in the same spots over again.

Then cover the whole surface of plaster with a thin layer of vaseline so the new plaster will not stick to it. You can now pour again.

Repeat the same process for the last mold.

When your molds have dried for at least a few days, it's time to prepare it for the wax. You want the wax not to stick to the mold and so you have to create a barrier. Get a big bucket of water and submerge your mold into the water. The plaster will absorb the water and bubbles will rise to the surface. Once it has stopped creating bubbles (or close to no bubbles) you can take out the molds and reassemble them. Use big rubber bands or old bike tires like I did and tighten the mold.

While the molds are soaking up water you can heat up the wax in a pot. Make sure to put it at a low heat and to stir regularly since the wax can catch fire at a high temperature.

Before pouring in the wax don't forget to add the wick. The wick will start to move around in the wax so it's best to tie a little weight on the bottom of the wick. On top of the mold, add a stick to tie the wick to keep it in the middle but leave enough space for the wax to be poured.

Then slowly start pouring in the wax. Pour it almost to the top since the wax will lower while it's cooling down so you might have to pour more in after a while. Gently tilt the mold after pouring so that there are no air pockets inside.

As with the plaster pouring, keep an eye on any possible spills and keep some clay nearby to fill potential holes.

The most fun part of the project has arrived, taking apart the molds. Remove the rubber bands and carefully take off the molds.

Carve out the channel so the wick is uncovered and touch up any spots with a knife or with a lighter. Also wipe down the plaster with a wet wipe for a cleaner look. I found out that the more candles I poured the less bubbles they had and the better they got. I would also recommend using a colored wax instead of white, to show more definition in the face.

Your hard work is done, it's time to reunite the two sculptures.

Thank you for reading this far! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them.

Good luck with your project!