A frame made of laths (Fig. 163) covered with oil-cloth or rubber (an old gossamer water-proof will be just the thing), placed over the modelling, will keep it better than the cloth, as it excludes the air and prevents its drying (Fig. 164). When using the frame, sprinkle your work by dipping a clean whisk-broom into water and shaking it over the clay. Remember, the clay must always be kept moist and pliable and never allowed to dry. If it does become dry and hard there is nothing to do but to put it back into the jar, and go through the process of damping it again.
Keep your tools clean, and do not allow the metal ones to become rusty, as they will if carelessly left on the modelling-stand when not in use. To avoid trouble of this kind it is best to put your tools in a box where they will be perfectly dry. Unless you wish to go through one of the writer’s first experiences, when she was obliged to let her tools lie in a pan of kerosene oil for two days, and then clean them with knife-brick.
How to Preserve Modelled Clay.
If terra-cotta clay is used, it can be baked in a kiln, which will, while hardening, turn it a fine buff terra-cotta color, and make the object, if well modelled, ornamental enough for almost any use.
From the other clay, plaster casts can be taken, and the article reproduced in plaster as many times as desired.
Hints for Modelling a Head.
Always work from a model, and it is best to try copying plaster casts before attempting to model from life.
