When leaving unfinished work cover it with a damp cloth to keep it moist. If you are working on a head, and the features have been commenced, stick a small wooden tool in the head just above the forehead to hold the cloth away from the face, for it is liable to soften the nose and push it out of shape if it rests upon it. [Illustration] A frame made of laths (Fig. 163) covered with oil-cloth or rubber (an old gossamer water-proof will be just the thing), placed over the modelling, will keep it better than the cloth, as it excludes the air and prevents its drying (Fig. 164). When using the frame, sprinkle your work by dipping a clean whisk-broom into water and shaking it over the clay. Remember, the clay must always be kept moist and pliable and never allowed to dry. If it does become dry and hard there is nothing to do but to put it back into the jar, and go through the process of damping it again. [Illustration] Keep your tools clean, and do not allow the metal ones to become rusty, as they will if carelessly left on the modelling-stand when not in use. To avoid trouble of this kind it is best to put your tools in a box where they will be perfectly dry. Unless you wish to go through one of the writer’s first experiences, when she was obliged to let her tools lie in a pan of kerosene oil for two days, and then clean them with knife-brick. =How to Preserve Modelled Clay.= If terra-cotta clay is used, it can be baked in a kiln, which will, while hardening, turn it a fine buff terra-cotta color, and make the object, if well modelled, ornamental enough for almost any use. From the other clay, plaster casts can be taken, and the article reproduced in plaster as many times as desired. =Hints for Modelling a Head.= Always work from a model, and it is best to try copying plaster casts before attempting to model from life. [Illustration: How to Model a Head.] Place on the centre of your stand a wooden or tin box (a cigar-box will do) to form the base; cover this with clay in the form of Fig. 165, and stick a support in the middle, as shown in diagram. The support may be a piece of kindling-wood eight inches long and about one inch thick. Build up the clay around this stick, as in Fig. 166, and with your hands mould the clay, piecing it out here, and cutting off there, until it bears some resemblance to a head, as in Fig. 167. Still using your hands, get the general proportions of the head, and then commence the features. Begin with the profile, using tools when necessary, and try for character without detail; then turn the head a little and work from that point of view; always look at your model from the same point of view as you do your work. Turn the head in the opposite direction and model the other side, keeping the face evenly balanced. Continue turning your work little by little, until each outline it presents is as near as you can get like the corresponding outline of your model, and then work up the detail.