 So this is monster clay and this is what it looks like in the package when you purchase it It is a sulfur-free oil-based clay that comes in this black Microwaveable and oven-safe container. It's made by the brand Monster Makers and it comes in a variety of Softnesses you get four and a half pounds in a container and I recommend going for the medium. It's middle ground and Has the most universal purpose. It'll be marked on the side of the container as well It's a non-toxic clay that never cures So that means you can reuse this as many times as you would like so that makes it a great candidate for practice sculpture But also anything to do with resin casting and it reheats to a malleable consistency It comes in this color gray or this terracotta the terracotta is more standard And you'll find it more frequently the gray is a little more translucent I would probably go for the terracotta if you were to choose one but having both colors serves a purpose as well so here you can see that it is a Plastic-y consistency it is quite firm when it is cool like this and you can mess with it with your fingers But it is quite solid and hard to work with in this state It's also not very messy and I find that it doesn't leave a gross residue on your hands And I guess the negative to this particular clay and sculpture method is that if you do want to create an original sculpture for Casting purposes you're not going to be able to ship these sculptures very easily to a casting company So you'd want to perform a waste mold Which is basically where you would mold the model in silicone and create a single resin cast to detail with a clay similar to epoxy and then that would be your master copy that you would send away So that's a little risky Especially if you're new to mold making and that's personally why I stick to the epoxy Originals because I'm able to just send the original in the mail and not have it damaged and Not put three years of work into a monster clay sculpture only to have it ruined in the mold making process You can imprint your nail into it fairly easily though as you can see So it's not completely solid another product You're going to want to get when using this clay is isopropyl mirror state Which is a product that is used in cosmetics But the monster maker company sells one that is made for the clay This is the smoothing agent and I store a little bit of this in a glass jar It will erode some plastic So you have to be careful what you store it in but I also got this really awesome Nail polish remover dispenser which allows you to pump up some of that solution while you're using it without Forgetting to you know close the container when you're done sculpting Then I have a selection of tools that are specific to monster clay separate from my epoxy tools And I like to have a variety of them. I gravitate towards the metal based tools for this clay It's a bit too firm for any of the silicone shaper tools I don't find I use them at all and these are some of my favorite tools So these ribbon clay tools I actually found on Amazon and I'm gonna link them in the description below because they are Incredible they're super strong super high quality and because they're double-sided you get a ton of different options I also got these miniature sculpting tools off of eBay. I'll link them as well I find the mini spoon tool the most useful. They're good for fine detail work for sure I also like this flat little metal spoon and this pointy or metal tool as well I like to have a collection on hand and whatever works best for you Also, you're gonna need some cheap synthetic brushes and before working with this clay I do recommend taking off any jewelry because it will get caught in your rings So here's a blob of clay that has been chilling out in the container And if you mess with it, it is quite firm Even the medium consistency is quite hard to make malleable and it'll almost break off in chunks So I find like peeling a tiny piece I'm able to warm that up in my hands by kneading it in between my fingers But it takes a lot of effort and your hands would inevitably get very very fatigued and very sore and like early onset arthritis So I don't recommend taking chunks of this clay and trying to warm it up purely with your hands This stuff is so easy to use in the sense of just popping it in the microwave Like I said before, it is in a microwavable safe container You can also heat it up in the oven. There's directions on the side of the package for that Throwing it in the microwave here, I put it in for four minutes and that makes it the perfect temperature And make sure that you use oven mitts to take it out of the microwave so you don't burn yourself And you can see here that the container itself isn't too hot on the edges But the consistency of the clay is very soupy in the middle So it is very warm and more malleable for sure Like this is taking no effort to move around Another example I'll show you is that if you put a small portion into a microwavable container You can melt it down to a literal liquid And that means that you have options for casting, mold making You can find a lot of different uses for it in this liquid state because you can purely pour it out So here you can see that the clay is very hot and you want to be very careful not to burn yourself in that liquid stuff And I find that the microwave heats the underlayer of the clay a little more than the upper layers So you have to be careful digging into this stuff And you can see it's really gooey and it's getting all over my hands And it's like this is going to be a hot mess But the more that you work with it in between your hands and it starts to cool to room temperature It all sticks to itself and none of it will remain on your hands It's wild, it is like the coolest stuff ever I find this process very therapeutic because it is so warm, it's nice to work with And that's a nice change because I do feel like my hands fatigue quite a bit in the sculpting phase I have really weak joints and I'm prone to arthritis So working with this consistency of clay is so liberating and actually enjoyable So here you can see it has a very stretchy consistency as well And you can dip hard pieces that have cooled into that molten lava And then we mix them to make a better consistency for working You can fuss with this and find what works best for you Another tool that a lot of people will recommend and I have tried is heating it up in a crock pot on the low setting I have this little different crock pot that doesn't have temperature setting on it But I find that this just turns to straight liquid and actually makes it too warm Because you don't want to overheat it to the point where it's boiling And I feel like that's what this does so I don't recommend using that Now Monster Clay you can use to create your own original 3D sculptures They can be freestanding because this stuff solidifies hard enough or you can do it on an armature pole I also really like using this clay for my personal medallion sculpture And I was able to salvage this apple medallion out of the original mold So it's good, hearty stuff You can use this clay to create pieces that you intend on casting You can pour your mold silicone right over it It works in great conjunction Here you can see that I've imprinted my nail into this horse sculpture I'm working on And I can just smooth that out simply with my thumb I find if you're working for flat medallion like sculptures using a kitchen tile with a smooth finish On a tabletop art stand is really beneficial So here I'm just gonna put some of that warm clay onto this sculpture of a horse here I can do a lot of the beginning fleshing out with just my thumbs and fingers It smooths really nice with just your thumb texture But I find that these ribbon tools are the best tools And you will complete your sculpture in a subtractive sculpting method Where you will simply peel away the clay almost like chocolate And it looks like chocolate And when I'm sculpting I crave chocolate But I find that these work the best for it So you're gonna do your original sculpt in kind of a sketchy manner And then you'll be able to buff out a lot of the imperfections And smooth this all down with the mirror state I find it a really different sculptural process than the epoxy clays But I find it a little more practical for practicing and for understanding form and understanding anatomy It's a lot easier to use And you can work on these projects for a year if you wanted to So not having that timeline of the epoxy clay makes this stuff a good choice for when you're starting out and learning Here I'm using that mini spoon tool to flesh out some of the eye detailing And it works really well I'm just using a scotch bright pad to buff out some of the imperfections This work says like a sandpaper on this clay Here I'm just demonstrating that if you just put it on a straight brush and go to town It's not really gonna smooth anything out It doesn't work like isopropyl So I take this blunt brush that I cut the bristles off of And I use that as a sandpaper source as well To smooth out all of the little imperfections that those ribbon tools made in the clay I'll just buff everything out And then I can apply the mirror state to the sculpture to smooth out the clay And this will give it a relatively smooth finish But it does give it still a bit of a sketchy or a bit of a more organic look And I think that's why this clay is so popular It takes detail really well If you want to use the mirror state really sparingly And I recommend dipping your brush in it and then blotting it out on a paper towel Before smoothing the sculpture Because if you add too much to the surface it's going to turn to soup Another little tip Using a hairdryer I can just warm up the clay on the surface Until it's a little bit shiny And then I can smooth it out with my thumb And that works a lot easier than dragging my thumb over that hard hard solidified clay And then if you need things to cure really quickly Because you don't want to be smushing them around If you get some canned air and hold it upside down and spray This instantly cools the clay in an almost magical way It's quite fun to watch, so... Thank you so much for watching I hope that you learned something And Monster Clay is a really great tool to use And I use it quite a bit now in my studio practice I really like working with it It's really easy stuff to have fun with There are links in the description below on where to buy Monster Clay And how much it will cost for you If you have any questions or concerns Feel free to email me or message me Make sure to like and subscribe to my YouTube channel For more tutorials and art related content Make sure to check me out on Instagram and Facebook as well Thank you so much for watching Happy sculpting Get out there and make something