The shaping technique for plasticine is nearly identical to shaping clay. The artist uses his hands to mold a particular shape, combine pieces of clay together and define details. The artist can roll the plasticine in his hands, pinch it between his fingers, press and indent it with his thumbs and smooth it out. The artist can also choose to press or indent plasticine against other surfaces, such as a tabletop or the lid of a coffee can, which will shape and cut out a perfect circle.
Plasticine can be sculpted with any craft tool, including toothpicks, Popsicle sticks, stamps, files and scrapers of varying shapes and sizes. Artists can find tool sculpting kits at major craft stores including dozens of tools that produce different fine detail effects. Once the basic shape of the model is formed with the hands, sculpting tools are used to define the figure clearly and form particular pieces, such as facial features on a human figure.
Originally, Plasticine was sold only in the color gray. Eventually it evolved into four primary colors and is currently available in several colors. A Plasticine artist can work with a single color of Plasticine or blend two or more colors. To blend Plasticine, the artist takes two or more colors and twists and rubs them around each other. The extent of the layering depends on how deeply the artist twists the colors together. If two colors are completely merged, they create an entirely new color.
Texturing Plasticine allows it to look like a different object or material, such as the spikey and uneven surface of a patch of grass or the rocky and sandy consistency of soil. To create texture in Plasticine, artists use the object they want the Plasticine to resemble. For example, pressing the surface of a rock against the Plasticine will make rock-like indentations on the Plasticine. These texturing effects can be further defined with sculpting tools, such as picks and scrapers.