Duration 

03 – 07 August 2026 / 1 week 

Monday - Friday 10am – 4.30pm

Course leader(s) 

Jo Guile

Level - This 5 day waste mould-making course with Jo Guile, our Slade Sculpture Technician, is suitable for beginners, more experienced students or professionals interested in different fabrication processes.

Course Description

Description

Focusing on material understanding, this course will explain the differences between various moulding and casting materials, helping you determine which is most suitable for each unique object's shape and final medium. You will explore the distinctions between hard and soft moulding, working with alginate and plaster for moulding and casting. This hands-on intensive course will teach you: small-scale life-casting from the human body, casting from ‘still’ life, such as provided objects or spaces, and small objects/sculptures you can bring in.

Alginate has been chosen as the core material because, it is a natural material which has a short curing time, allows flexible and highly detailed moulds to be made and is a safe material to use. To help your personal creative process, the course will teach you a number of techniques. These will include: the following techniques – relief casting, press moulding, flexible block moulding, 2-part plaster moulding, small scale life casting; casting in a variety of plasters and wax; and experimentation with pigmenting, finishing and direct sculpting techniques. Additionally, there will also be an introduction to thermoforming plastic using a vacuum former as a method of mould production. This will enable students to experiment with all these techniques to create a variety of small sculptures

The course will consist of a mix of demonstrations and group and individual activity and will not only teach you some principles of moulding but also offer you an opportunity to experiment with different types of materials and mediums. This course is relevant for anyone involved with art, design and 3-D Making or interested in finding out more about mould-making and will set you up to move on into silicon casting.

 

Please Read Slade’s Terms & Conditions: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/slade/study/summer-school/short-courses/#general-information