Tin Foil Sculptures That Are Fun And Simple
By Yvonne Anderson | Jan 2021
Tin foil sculptures are not only simple to make, they're truly fun too. They can also be unbelievably sophisticated!
Tin foil, Tinfoil, foil or Aluminium foil (no matter what you call it) is a great sculpting medium for any stage of your creative journey.
First off, who are we and why do we love tin foil?
We’re the Pal Tiya International Crew. Between us we’ve been sculpting for decades and have used every sculpting material on the planet. We just love tin foil. It’s pretty inexpensive, it’s easy to get and it makes for quite a sophisticated sculpting material. In fact, we use tin foil as the core armature for almost every sculpture we make.
We think you’re gonna love what you see here!
Grab your favourite beverage, go have a seat and let’s dive into how to do foil art.
If you haven't seen How To Make Gorgeous Tinfoil Animals then check that out too!
Tin foil, Tinfoil, foil or Aluminium foil (no matter what you call it) is a great sculpting medium for any stage of your creative journey.
First off, who are we and why do we love tin foil?
We’re the Pal Tiya International Crew. Between us we’ve been sculpting for decades and have used every sculpting material on the planet. We just love tin foil. It’s pretty inexpensive, it’s easy to get and it makes for quite a sophisticated sculpting material. In fact, we use tin foil as the core armature for almost every sculpture we make.
We think you’re gonna love what you see here!
Grab your favourite beverage, go have a seat and let’s dive into how to do foil art.
If you haven't seen How To Make Gorgeous Tinfoil Animals then check that out too!
Here’s what you’ll need for this tin foil sculpture art lesson.
* Heavy duty tin foil/aluminium foil. We love the costco tin foil. It’s nice and thick and makes a great sculpting material. However, if you don’t have it to hand, then any roll will do :)
* A spoon and/or regular knife
And if you want to get real creative:
* A hot glue gun with hot glue sticks.
Psst...If you're in a hurry or you would rather watch a video of the following, then skip to the end of the page :)
* Heavy duty tin foil/aluminium foil. We love the costco tin foil. It’s nice and thick and makes a great sculpting material. However, if you don’t have it to hand, then any roll will do :)
* A spoon and/or regular knife
And if you want to get real creative:
* A hot glue gun with hot glue sticks.
Psst...If you're in a hurry or you would rather watch a video of the following, then skip to the end of the page :)
How Do You Shape Aluminium Foil?
Take your roll out of the box. Start ripping from the corner of your roll. As soon as you start ripping the foil, you are sculpting!
You might not think this is an important step but trust us, you'll save lots of time doing it this...
We show an easy peasy way of doing that in the video further down the page. ↓↓↓
Take your roll out of the box. Start ripping from the corner of your roll. As soon as you start ripping the foil, you are sculpting!
You might not think this is an important step but trust us, you'll save lots of time doing it this...
We show an easy peasy way of doing that in the video further down the page. ↓↓↓
Aluminium foil ... which side?
We’re glad you asked. Always use dull side out, shiny side in. This makes it easier to see your sculpture.
When making tin foil crafts, think of it as you’re sketching directly in the tin foil. You can start with a sketch or a picture, but really, when you start making your tin foil creation, you might change as you go and there’s an easy way to do that.
We’re glad you asked. Always use dull side out, shiny side in. This makes it easier to see your sculpture.
When making tin foil crafts, think of it as you’re sketching directly in the tin foil. You can start with a sketch or a picture, but really, when you start making your tin foil creation, you might change as you go and there’s an easy way to do that.
Popcorn Balls & Cigars
When sculpting with aluminium foil, we start by making what we like to call, "popcorn balls".
Keep them light with lots of air inside, because later we’ll be compressing them so you want to give yourself plenty of room to play.
We also shape the foil into "cigar" shapes. These are great if you are doing figures or long pieces…
Keep them light with lots of air inside, because later we’ll be compressing them so you want to give yourself plenty of room to play.
We also shape the foil into "cigar" shapes. These are great if you are doing figures or long pieces…
Hot Glue
Without hot glue, you can make some pretty nice simple forms. However, if you wanna get crazy then go heat up your hot glue gun.
When it's ready, it’s time to put them together and start really heating things up!
Don’t waste your glue, only use it in places where the tin foil touches. You'll want to make sure your tin foil sculptures are robust with no loose wiggly bits.
Without hot glue, you can make some pretty nice simple forms. However, if you wanna get crazy then go heat up your hot glue gun.
When it's ready, it’s time to put them together and start really heating things up!
Don’t waste your glue, only use it in places where the tin foil touches. You'll want to make sure your tin foil sculptures are robust with no loose wiggly bits.
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As you start to get further into it and your creation is taking shape, now is the time to teach you how to make “leather”.
Leather
Making a piece of tin foil that is super strong can be useful in some situations. This way you have a very strong piece that can be smoothed out especially over any loose bits on your form or to the underside of an aluminium foil sculptures.
Start by holding a piece of tinfoil by the edges on both sides and moving your hands together to crush the foil then flatten it back out, shiny side up, on a table. Light and quickly drizzle your hot glue over the shiny side, then fold it in half like this.
Leather
Making a piece of tin foil that is super strong can be useful in some situations. This way you have a very strong piece that can be smoothed out especially over any loose bits on your form or to the underside of an aluminium foil sculptures.
Start by holding a piece of tinfoil by the edges on both sides and moving your hands together to crush the foil then flatten it back out, shiny side up, on a table. Light and quickly drizzle your hot glue over the shiny side, then fold it in half like this.
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