Kai and Xev going Egyptian there's some things I want to share about
doing molds and face sculpting with gold.
Folds in the gold will show up as a line when mashed into a mold.
It'll take time and effort to jiggle it invisible so it's best to
avoid unnecessary fold lines on the side of the wad of clay you're
fixing to mash into a mold.
Pull out a bit of clay for the nose, the chin, then fit those pulled
out bits into the nose and chin space on your mold and THEN press. If
you just put an oval of clay in a mold that has deep spaces you can
get imperfect impressions. The tip of the nose, or the tip of the
chin can be absent.
That's not a problem with "flesh" colored clay. That's not a problem
with most colors without mica.
With mica it's a hassle for added clay after the molding fact leaves
a line. And we're back to jiggling the clay with our finger tip to
press that line away.
When you're conditioning gold clay for the mold for the last couple
of moves pull the wad of clay so all the weird edges and folds are
turned to the non mold side. Pull out clay for the nose and chin,
dust the mold and ease those pulled out bits into the deep spaces and
then press.
Now that you have a fold free face of gold, you want to make
adjustments to the nose, define the lips and cut out some eyeball
room. A couple of tips here.
If you cut gold clay it'll have a different color, mica will be
shifted. If you cut, let's say for the eyeball space, cut at an angle
that gives more surface clay showing, cutting where it won't be seen
when the surface is pressed down.
Then don't drag your clayshaper over the face to move stuff. ROLL the
cone tip of the clay shaper and roll masses of clay about, pushing
it, like undulations. Don't drag it for it will crash like an ocean
wave on the beach, it'll effect the shift of the mica, causing darker
lines and it'll be a pill to get the mica grain evened out again.
If you're careful to fold over and hide the raggedy ends of the clay
wad (those who have made dinner rolls with yeast bread know this
trick to get the top of the roll smooth), pull out nose and chin
before pressing in the mold, cut so it can't be seen from the
surface, roll the clayshaper instead of dragging it to move clay, you
can get gold faces that look good enough to go over the mummy of a
king. Add thin snakes of black for eyeliner and eyebrows, for
everyone, everything, even statues of the Gods had eyeliner.
For Chiaroscuro fans... Gold, burnt umber, pearl, the blend, put the
highlight where you want, sculpt for more effect and get gold
decorations for the Egyptian run.