How To Create Your Own Statue Mold

If you're into arts and crafts and interested in working in concrete art, learning how to create your own simple statues is a great first step. It's a relatively easy way to get your feet wet, learn how to properly mix concrete, create a mold, and craft the concrete into a great shape.

Creating The Statue Mold

While some expert concrete artists can create statues directly in the clay, newer concrete artists should create a small clay mold over which to pour the concrete. Creating your own statue mold is a much easier process for most artists to master.

Decide on the size you want your statue to be and purchase an appropriate amount of sculpting clay. For small statues (no more than a foot or two tall), a five-gallon bucket should be more than enough. Use your hands to carefully sculpt the mold where you will later pour your concrete. Let it sit overnight.
Let it dry for an hour and add another layer. Continue adding layers until you have added about 10-15. Once you're finished, let it sit overnight and get ready to mix your concrete.

Mixing The Concrete

After successfully creating your statue mold, you can move on to mixing the concrete. Add your ingredients in a portable concrete mixer in the following ratio: one part cement, three parts, sand, three parts aggregate (gravel), and one part water. The size of each "part" depends on the size of the project: for a small statue, a "part" can be no more than one five-gallon bucket or two.

Turn on your mixer, and use your shovel to keep the concrete from sticking to the sides of the mixer. It shouldn't take much more than several minutes to finish. You'll know its finished when it has a thick, sticky texture. Then you're ready to start pouring the concrete over the mold.

Pouring The