I realized today that there was only way I was going to be able to make an informed decision about whether to go with ceramic clay or plastilene: perform my own “scientific” experiment. There were too many variables going on, so I needed a constant to anchor me down in my process. So this morning I remade the face I had been working on in plastilene in ceramic clay. It was obscene how much faster and therefore more fluid the sculpting process was when I worked on the ceramic clay piece. I like working quickly, and the pacing of the ceramic clay seemed to match the speed of my thoughts much better. I was able to sculpt this ceramic clay head in just two hours! I kept looking back at the plastilene version, as I worked the ceramic clay version and the plastilene version just felt so stiff and static to me.
Your artwork is brilliant! The face sculpture is so realistic! Great job!