Mold-Making & Casting Course

Upon completing each sculpture course, participants are given the option to preserve their works through casting. Raw clay is too fragile to serve as a final sculpture material without further processing. Ceramic artists use hollow-out techniques to air-dry and fire their clay works in specialized kilns. However, firing a solid sculpture with an internal armature is not possible, which limits the size and complexity of the artist's subject.

The most common and effective way to replicate clay sculptures in more durable materials involves mold-making and casting. Mold-making creates a hollow cavity with an exact impression of the sculpted form, allowing reproduction in plaster, resin, bronze, and other long-lasting materials. This technique also offers the added advantage of producing multiple copies of the same piece, enabling the creation of editions.

This process is a crucial aspect of a sculptor’s workflow and requires extensive knowledge and skills. The Mold-Making & Casting Course offers participants guided learning in professional techniques aimed at preserving their sculptures as lasting works of art. Mold-making and casting are time-consuming processes; therefore, lessons take place daily over a period of 5-10 days, depending on the complexity of the work. Other schedule formats are available upon request. At the end of the course, participants can take home the finished resin cast and a mold, allowing them to create further copies of their sculpture.

New students are welcome to bring pieces created outside the Berlin Sculpture Atelier that they would like to mold and cast.

Materials used in the course include molding silicones, fiberglass, and acrylic resin.

In this course you will learn

• Mold-making techniques

• Casting a sculpture in acrylic resin

• Refinement of a cast

• Mounting the sculpture on a base (optional)

• Painting the cast for a desired effect (e.g. immitation of bronze)

Included in the course

• Molding materials and equipment

• Instructions in English

• Drinks and snacks