Bringing the Saddle Bronc to Life: Scott Rogers’ Wax-and-Paint Workflow on Clay

What You’re Seeing in the Video

This isn’t your everyday sculpting. It’s shop-floor problem-solving on the original clay:

• Wax:Scott uses a crystalline wax (Trade name: Victory Brown) for tightening edges, hardening fine details, and locking in his desired surface textures.
• Paint: Scott paints the wax for visual cohesiveness—so the overall clay piece can be read correctly from 5, 15, and 50 feet away. Here’s the lowdown: When I am looking at a clay sculpture, if I find myself looking at two colors (one of clay and the other of wax) it messes with my eye. I am not able to focus easily and read the piece as on cohesive whole. That is why I paint the darker colored wax to match the color of the clay.

Why Wax on Clay?

• Edge control: Every artist finds mediums that work for them. For decades Scott has used wax for small parts (i.e. hands, spurs, firearms). It’s only been the past couple of years that he has found that, on his monumental work, wax lets him cut a crisp eyelid, a knife saddle edge, a taut tendon or saddle concho. Scott has found that clay alone can hold but can have a tendency to move when bumped. The incorporation of wax, with the clay, gives a steadiness he enjoys. Note: Clay alone is fantastic…I’ve used clay alone on hundreds of pieces for 30 years. It’s that I’ve found using wax actually speeds up the process and displays a ‘surety’ to my artistic eye that I enjoy.

Step-by-Step: Scott’s Wax & Paint Pass (As Seen in the Reel)

1. Prep & Warmth
   To use wax in sculpting, Scott uses a warming box or his hands alone (having shaved off smaller pieces of wax) with thumb and forefinger.
2. Wax Application
   • The only way to truly learn how to apply wax is to ‘do it.’ Just do it and start learning what the medium will do for you. It’s OK to flub up. You won’t flub up the same way the next time.
   • Use your sculpting tools to pull crisp edges, sharpen transitions and feather in with the clay. Here again, just do it and learn what the medium can do.

Foundry-Friendly Notes (The Practical Stuff)

• Test paint compatibility. Scott took a clay sample to Home Depot and had them mix up a couple of quarts of acrylic paint to match the clay’s color. Scott uses a paint with a matte finish.
  • Keep layers thin. Be careful to not achieve a gummy overbuild with paint. I’d say two watery-thin layers that still allow for the wax’s textures to show through is better than a thick layer of paint.

Watch the Short Reel

See the wax tools, the paint passes, and the before/after clarity:
Watch on Instagram › https://www.instagram.com/p/DQC0ydcEv5G/?hl=en

Interested in the Monument or Process?

Reach out to Scott Rogers Sculpture to discuss availability, site planning, or to schedule a studio visit.