Polymer Clay Fan

I’m going to put the tutorial for this series together a little differently than the other tutorials.  Since I am doing a series I want to show the entire sculpting process.  I’m aware that some of the tutorials will be a little redundant but I think it takes away from the series if I do not show the entire sculpting process from beginning to end.

So to give you an example of what I am talking about I went into detail on how to sculpt a face in the Fiddler sculpting series.  Instead of reinventing the wheel for this series, I will just show a series of pictures that give step-by-step visual instructions of the sculpting process.  Just read the photos like you would a book from left to right.  I will switch to my regular format if there is anything that I feel needs additional instructions. Read the rest of this entry »

There are a lot of different ways you can sculpt scales and the tutorial below is just one of many examples that you can use. I’m using a wax in this tutorial but the same steps can be used with polymer clay.

1. The first step is to design and sculpt the forms of your sculpture (i.e. muscles bulging, wrinkles in skin, etc)
2. Next, using a sharp tool I will draw patterns into my wax.
3. Periodically I’ll brush away the excess wax to clean my surface while I work.
4. Once I have my pattern to my liking I’ll go back and carve a deeper cutout around my shapes.
5. After the excess wax has been removed I’ll begin to smooth out and clean up the sculpture with Odorless Mineral Spirits (use rubbing alcohol if you are sculpting with polymer clay). Read the rest of this entry »

The Fiddler

Ever hear Charlie Daniels “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” song? Well if you have a pulse and are over the age of twelve then you probably have. To make a long story short I thought I would do a sculpture based off of that song. Not that it is my favorite song in the world or that I’m Charlie Daniels number one fan (although I do think it is a pretty cool song), I just thought it would make an interesting sculpture.

I’m going to put together a series of tutorials for this sculpture where you can see step by step how the sculpture is created. Now keep in mind that at first the sculpture is not going to look like much but over time, as the series progresses, you should be able to see how I turn a block of clay into a unique piece of art. I think this will be a fun lesson for everyone and a great way to see how a sculpture comes to life. I will add links to the different lessons below so bookmark this site and come back frequently to see the latest lessons. It takes me over 100 hours to complete a sculpture so don’t expect this thing to be completed over night

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Stop the press, isn’t this site suppose to be about polymer clay sculpting, after all the name of the site is Polymer Clay Fan! Yes you have read the title to this post correctly, I’ve started playing with wax lately and although I’m still wet behind the ears I thought why not put together a little post to compare the two mediums. I’m sure a few diehard polymer clay artists may snub their nose at this post but I recommend reading through the entire article before jumping to a conclusion. This isn’t an article about discrediting wax or even polymer clay, it is just my observation of the positives and negatives the two different mediums have to offer.

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I’ve made enough progress on the face at this stage where I can move on to the torso.  Initially when I started this sculpture I only had plans to build a bust (sculpture from the waist up).  However, after working on it for some time I decided to do a full figure instead.  The reason why I am pointing this out is because I did not build an armature for this sculpture that would support an entire figure.  So for the next couple of lessons I will be sculpting this piece as if it were going to end up as a bust and then will switch to doing a full figure sculpture.

Ideally you will want to build out the armature for the full figure from the beginning since it will produce a better and more stable armature.  However, if you feel you need to take the design in a new direction there is no reason why you can’t.  The armature that I will use in the future post is not ideal for a full figure but it will work for this piece and will allow me to make the changes in the direction of my vision.

* This sculpture is created with Super Sculpey.

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Starting to sculpt the arm

OK, we have a good start on the face, made pretty good progress on the torso and sculpted the fiddle and a hand.  Now it is time to start making the Fiddler look like an actual fiddler.  I’ve been wanting to attach the fiddle to my sculpture for some time now but in order to do so I need to first build out the arm.

Now I started the beginning stages of the arm some time ago so the torso in some of the images isn’t as far along as it is in some of the more recent tutorials.  The first two images in this tutorial were taken quite awhile back while the rest of the images were taken recently.  I had plans to do the arm earlier in this series but decided it would be best to put it together after the fiddle was completed.

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Sculpting faces is very time consuming and something that I work on throughout the entire sculpting process.  However, before I begin another area of the sculpture I like to get a good foundation for the face.  I use to save the face for last only to discover that I ended throwing the entire sculpture off when the face was completed.  The problem is that the face would end up too big or two small for my piece.  I just recently started sculpting the face first and I think it has made a huge improvement in my overall work.

My goal is to knock out at least 80% of the face before I begin another area of the sculpture.  I will continue to bounce back to the face during the sculpting process.  Even though the majority of the work is done up front, I still end up finishing up the face around the end of the piece.  However the foundation was already built so the only thing left at the end is perfecting (to the best of my ability) the little details.

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Shaping the Dog’s Face

Now that we have built a good foundation for our dog portrait, it is time to start adding the details that will bring our sculpture to life. The detailing stage may be the most time consuming stage in the game but really is the most rewarding stage in the entire sculpting process. It is nice to see a chuck of clay shaped like a dog turn into an actual dog portrait.

The key is to take your time and not rush through this stage. Flying through this step will show in the end results to go ahead and already plan on investing a lot of hours to get the detailing done right. The final details will not be completed in this tutorial. The goal for now is to build out the dog’s face, with wrinkles and all, and add the polishing touches a little later down the road. Read the rest of this entry »

Sculpting the eyes

There are a variety of different ways to sculpt eyes and the technique that should be used really depends on the type of eyes you are looking to create. I’ll probably paint this piece with a bronze like finish so I want a more classic feel to my eyes. For these types of pieces I like to sculpt a hole where the pupil and iris are located. The hole creates a neat illusion and is a really nice way to sculpt the eyes. Now if you wanted to paint your eyes then you will probably not want to sculpt a hole for the pupil (and or iris).

For me personally the eyes and the hands are the hardest things to sculpt. The eyes tell so much of the story in your sculpture so if they are off it can really mess up the entire piece. These steps may seem pretty simple but they can be a real challenge. I probably sculpted the eyes on this piece 4 or 5 times until I got it close to what I am looking for. Don’t get discouraged if you also struggle with the eyes, just keep practicing until you get it right.

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Sculpting the lips – time to fix some errors!

Well, I have some good news and I have some bad news. The bad news is that I checked the proportions of my sculpture in the mirror and a lot of the facial features were off. The eyes, nose, cheeks and mouth just need a lot of work. This is a good example of why you should consistently check your sculpture in the mirror when you are sculpting. I started out by checking the symmetry in the mirror but I failed to continue to do so in the later stages. If you have no idea what I am talking about then read the “Why use a mirror when sculpting” lesson first.

The good news for you is that I have to sculpt the eyes and mouth all over again. So, this is a good opportunity to show you the individual stages of sculpting the different facial features. I’ll break the sculpture features up into different lessons.

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