Porcelain

My Advanced students when given a choice of material to sculpt with will almost always chose porcelain. I  prefer to use Hagi porcelain, a type of Japanese clay with a really smooth texture. This material is excellent for small, refined details and many students prefer to sculpt with Hagi over other clay bodies with sand.

 Hagi porcelain is considerably more expensive than most other clay, so it is best to have students create small projects first to get accustomed to the feel of the clay and its limitations. When this clay becomes leather hard it is very easy to carve into and does not crumble, the consistency is close to soap or wax.

Student Hagi sculptures in progress