Sentence:  his quill drawings had a scratchiness , suggesting skin texture ; the clay he <WSD>used</WSD> plastically to suggest soft moving flesh , as in an abdomen , in a reclining torso ; the wax he smoothed over to give the body surface an elastic pull . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose