Best materials for sculpting for a newbie?

Hello! I read the rules, but im not sure if my post follows all of them, so if it doesnt, please lmk what I missed! :>

Okay, so i usually just draw with mechanical pencils or charcoal on paper. OR, I draw on my Gaomon drawing tablet. But, ive always been interested in sculpting. Im a big realism lover, so my art has a unique style. Its realisti+cell shading comicy? Not sure if i described that well. I can add some photos of my art if that'd help! But, im wondering what clay would be best for a newbie?

I wanna sculpt heads, hands, stuff like that. I take pride in the hands I draw, because I always struggled with them lol.

I know you'll need a skeleton or wire and aluminum foil (ive sculpted small things back in middle school), but i only really know of air dry clay. Its not what I want; its too dry and cracks wayyyy too easily.

Is there any sculptors who know of clay that dries over time? I know about Apoxy Sculpt but its too heavy and too expensive for large projects.

Ideally, the clay would need to:

-be rather malleable after it starts to dry (in case I wanna add anything, and itll probably help when adding clay)

-be kinda on the cheaper side, but i dont mind spending more if needed

-be lighter than apoxy if possible

I know i basically described Apoxy, but are there any other clays that could work? Thanks in advance!