8 de July de 2025
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Oh, this is such a good topic. You can’t imagine how much time and effort I’ve spent trying to wrap my head around this. In my studio, I use my own plasticine recipe—one I developed after countless hours of research and experimenting with different methods to achieve the results I needed for my work.
But first, you might be wondering: why would anyone want to make their own plasticine?
Well, there are two main reasons. First, I use a lot of it, and the more I teach, the more I need. Second, here in New Zealand, where my studio is based—and really, in most parts of the world plasticine, good quality plasticine, is expensive. A 900g (2 lb) block of NSP ( Chavant) costs about NZ$46 ( US$24 or €21.) It used to be $32-$40, but tariffs have driven up the price. In the U.S., the same product is about half that price. If you’re not familiar with the price of this product, let me tell you, NZ$46 (US$24), is expensive, very expensive.
By producing my own plasticine, I gain full control over every aspect of the material: price, quality, quantity, and even color. It makes total sense for someone like me, where this material is such a vital part of my practice. If you’re curious about making your own plasticine—whether for fun or out of necessity—I hope this article helps you to make your own home made oil based clay.
Let’s begin with some basic research. According to what you’ll find online:
Plasticine is an oil-based modeling clay that stays soft and malleable without drying out. It’s widely used in sculpture, stop-motion animation, and education. It was invented in 1897 by English art teacher William Harbutt, who wanted a non-drying clay his students could reuse. He patented it in 1899 and began commercial production in 1900.
The original formula included calcium salts, petroleum jelly, and fatty acids, making it non-toxic, reusable, and easy to shape. It became a staple in schools and was later made famous in animation, especially by Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace & Gromit. Today, “plasticine” is often used generically for all non-hardening modeling clays, though the original brand still exists.
Historically, natural waxes, such as beeswax, were used in a similar way to how we use plasticine today—though they weren’t as refined or chemically stable as the versions we have now.
A First Formula
The traditional formula (calcium salts + petroleum jelly + fatty acids/wax) gives us a generic but useful foundation. Essentially, it combines:
This basic formula is well-known in sculpture circles and popular culture. It’s easy to replicate with materials found at most hardware or grocery stores, and it’s relatively inexpensive.
My First Workshop Formula
My first attempt at homemade plasticine was in 2021 during a 10-week workshop at the Wellington School of Drawing, right after COVID. The workshop, “Figure and Écorché,” involved weekly sessions with a live model, where we sculpted the human figure and exposed one side to reveal the muscular structure. It was the first course of its kind since I opened my Wellington studio in 2018.
For this course, I produced about 60 kg of plasticine in 10 kg batches using the following base formula:
Binding agent: Beeswax + Thick fats:Vaseline (Petroleum Jelly) + Mineral Oil + powdered filler: Plaster of Paris
It was affordable, relatively easy to work with, and got the job done—but it had a few key issues:
Improving the Formula
I continued researching, aiming to create something similar in quality to Chavant. Through experimentation, I discovered that the type of wax, oil, and filler made a huge difference.
Plasticines vary by brand and formulation—some are oil-rich, others are wax-heavy. Oil-based versions are softer and feel more like clay, great for gestural work. Wax-based versions are firmer and better for capturing detail.
Generally, the softer the plasticine, the stickier it tends to be due to a higher oil content. Both types have their place depending on the work.
Waxes and oils are not the same. Waxes are solid at room temperature and provide structure and binding. Examples include beeswax, paraffin, and microcrystalline wax. Oils, like mineral oil or organic oils, are liquid or semi-liquid at room temperature and provide softness and workability. Petroleum jelly and lanoline are two examples of mineral and organic oils that are not fluid, rather thick paste like.
In plasticine, wax gives the body binding all the components, while oil adds fluidity. Getting the right ratio is essential—too much oil makes it greasy and unstable, while too much wax makes it too hard.
Further Experiments
Trying to mimic the texture of professional plasticines, I replaced beeswax with microcrystalline wax. I tested paraffin wax and also the kind used for waxing legs, mixed with Vaseline, natural oils, and plaster. The result was more crumbly than before—paraffin is too rigid. So I combined beeswax and paraffin to strike a balance between structure and flexibility.
This blend improved the consistency, but I still wasn’t satisfied. I learned that plaster, while cheap and accessible, is unstable—it reacts to moisture and temperature. I started exploring calcium carbonate, talcum powder, and clay dust as more stable alternatives. The change worked.
Also, I realized that thick fats improve malleability but increase stickiness. Swapping some fats with fluid oils (like mineral or canola oil) improved texture—but still didn’t match the quality of Chavant.
Eventually, after many tests and tweaks over the years, I found a combination that worked. I refined the formula to the point that I got what I needed, I very high quality product at the same level of Chavant plasticines. I now produce and use my own plasticine in the studio and since I can produce it, I also sell it, A-Series plasticines. I can confidently say that I’ve developed something that meets my standards.
If you’re curious about the A-Series, click here to learn more.
If you’re looking to make your own plasticine, I hope the information in this articles helps. To me, the learning curve was steep, and there was a lot of trial and error involved. But I started form scratch. This why I know how valuable the information I am giving away here is. Only by following my steps you will get a lot of answers, helping you to get your own version. And once you find what works for you, the satisfaction is immense.
Good luck with your experiments—and if you’d like to dive deeper into materials, techniques, tutorials, and get early bird access to both online and in-person workshops, be sure to sign up for my newsletter.
We usually send a newsletter once a fortnight or monthly. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Sculpture studio © 2025. Javier Murcia.
Developed by Tulpnic.
Sculpture studio © 2025. Javier Murcia.
Developed by Tulpnic.
In-person workshops are scheduled in different places at different times of the year. Most workshops run twice a year in different locations in New Zealand, Auckland being the most demanded of the locations. Australia and Europe are other locations planned to run workshops.
We are setting up a different challenge with a live model changing pose each time. Plenty of material, tutorials and online courses can help you on this journey and keep you connected with the community. To ensure you get this information, sign up for the newsletter.
If you are missing one day out of 2 or 3, we recommend you to wait until there is another chance as you might be missing quite a bit of information and time to do your work. If this is a 5 days workshop it might be ok.
Not really. Simplified figure is the only workshop we have designed to teach the basics of building the human figure so you have enough knowledge to make the most of a model. So, if you are thinking of joining the five days figure workshop with model, this might be good for you, although it is not mandatory.
Not really. The more experience you have the better. Javier Is an experienced sculptor and can adapt to your level whether you are just beginning or you are experienced, whether you are just looking at learning more anatomy or pursuing a more artistic challenge.
The workshops are designed for:
If you want to learn about the human figure, I would suggest you join the Online courses. Why? There is a lot more information Javier can share with you. You can find your time to invest in your learning process. Head studies online is about six weeks course, and the figure online course is about ten weeks. The more hours you put in, the more you will learn; that´s a rule. And finally, it is more personalized as the progress of your work will be reviewed every week by Javier personally.
If you are interested in doing a workshop but you don´t know which one, get in touch and let us know what is that you are looking for and we will help you. Either if you are looking for some good training, knowledge or just living the experience as a hobby, we can help you.
This book is essential for learning more about the human figure as it is very complete. Includes proportions based on eight heads ( be aware that we are using 7.5 heads), bone structure explanation, balance and range of movement of the joins. The anatomy applied to the figure is not necessarily as accurate as in the Paul Richer book. This book also includes pictures of models for an applied explanation.
This book is excellent for learning anatomy from a medical perspective applied to art. Here we also find his 7.5 cannon explained. The illustrations are accurate, giving the precise location of muscles, layers and mapping of the human body. This book is used in official academies like the Florence academy.
In this book, Michel Lauricella presents both his artistic and systematic methods for drawing the human body–with drawing techniques from the écorché (showing the musculature underneath the skin) to sketches of models in action. In more than 1,000 illustrations, the human body is shown from a new perspective–from bone structure to musculature, from anatomical detail to the body in motion.
This small, portable book presents a unique perspective on the human body for artists to study and implement in their drawing work. In this book, artist and teacher Michel Lauricella simplifies the human body into basic shapes and forms, offering profound insight for artists of all kinds, sparking the imagination and improving one’s observational abilities. Rather than going the traditional route of memorizing a repertoire of poses, Lauricella instead stresses learning this small collection of forms, which can then be combined and shaped into the more complex and varied forms and postures we see in the living body.
This book provides a simplified and practical vision of the human skeleton to help all artists in their drawing studies. Here you will find the most common and useful approaches to the body’s underlying skeleton and bone structure, which will fuel your imagination and enrich your observational skills as you draw the living form. In this small, portable guide, artist and teacher Michel Lauricella focuses on the essentials you need to know.
This book is excellent for the quality of the drawings; very expressive, fresh and accurate. This book is recommended as a reference for the quality of work we can achieve in the art standards mostly applied to drawing. It is also a good source of images of bodies and living anatomy.
Here are a few small set of high-quality sculpting tools available from the following stores. These are the kind of tools you’ll likely only need to buy once—if you take good care of them, they can last a lifetime.
