How to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza - part 3

After the skeletons are done with the wire and the baking foil for filling is wrapped around the wire it is time to actually start the work with the polymer clay.

FIMO and CERNIT are the two brands that are sold locally, so they are the ones I use. The selection of polymer clay sold locally is the most important factor that will determine what brand one will use. Don't be afraid to use local and less popular brands of polymer clay. Although their qualities may be inferior, there are particular usages where they are better than the well known brands. Experimenting with the medium often gives very good results.

I'd like to comment a bit on my personal clay shopping habits. First let me say that every time I enter a crafts supply store I feel like a child in a candy store. And second ( and probably the more important ) I am horrified every time I hear the expression 'scrap clay' - this implies unused polymer clay, the same polymer clay I love as much as children love candy. 'Scrap clay' sounds to me a bit like 'abandoned candy'.

So what I do is try to roughly estimate how much clay I am going to need for a particular project that I have in mind and only buy as much as I need. Less is fine for me. I go back and buy more. This is a good strategy if your polymer clay supplier is close ( in my case 15 min. drive). I am not prepared at this time to speculate on the possibility of not having a polymer clay supplier close by. If the brand of clay you use is an import it might be a good idea to buy directly from the importer.

Anyway... the pictures show the white bar of clay I am using for the Don's horse and the colors I am mixing for Sancho Panza's donkey. It is inevitable that some pieces of clay will remain, the so called 'scrap clay'. If those are clean put them in an air sealed bag and try to find a usage for them as soon as possible.