Sculpting Mythical Creatures out of Polymer Clay

Chapter 11 - THE LEVIATHAN

2010-05-15T00:24:00.000-07:00

In this penultimate lesson in the book we show how to make the sea monster Leviathan. Also, by way of "extension" here you get an extra mini project that is just as fun - we show how to make a ship (galley) full of viking soldiers, suitable in itself for the beginner level. The Leviathan - with his giant whale/predator fish body is in itself a project for the more advanced clayer, although it is too broken down into simple enough individual steps most people can easily follow.

Chapter 10 - CENTAURS - Abraxas

2010-05-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

This advanced-level project will teach you how to make a Centaur, based on the skills you picked up with the previous project in the book - making a horse's body. What makes this a little more complicated is the fact that the Centaur has 8 limbs (4 legs, 2 arms, 1 head, and a tail) so it feels like making an Octopus while you twist the armature for the wire. But for those of you who like a little challenge, as long as you stick with the project (involves multiple bakings) the patience really pays off. We show how to make a semblance of an anatomically correct torso from a bunch of balls of clay of different size - a complex looking end result from a series of no-brainer steps. We made our Centaur a little buff, so you can use this project to make as an extension a Hercules.

Chapter 9 - UNICORNS - Igrif Belcon

2010-04-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

In this chapter we show how to make a unicorn - which is, before you put in the magic, a white horse with a horn in the middle of his forehead. We show how to make a skeleton out of wire and tinfoil for a quadrupled creature, which will also come in handy for the making of the Centaur in Chapter 10.

I will let you in on a little secret, an inside joke: the name we picked for this creature, although it has a somewhat Nordic ring to it, is actually a pun - Igrif Belcon means "playful white horse" pronounced with a certain Bulgarian dialect. We laughed our heads off when Boris came up with this, good times... The moral of the story is that when working with clay it's always good to try and have a good time - if the claying becomes too onerous, or you don't seem to get it right again and again, don't get frustrated, squish everything if you have to (that's how you get the grotesque look) and you can start over when your mood brightens.

Chapter 8 - THE SPHINX - aka the SPHINX

2010-04-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

The Sphinx is an ancient monster, a cross between a lion and a man. The body of a lion and the head of a man, to be precise. We were inspired by the the Egyptian statue of Tunakhamun and the stone Sphinx monument near the pyramids in Giza for the design of this guy. This is not a complicated project, although it looks like it consists of many parts. It will appeal to those clayers who dabble in millefiori, because we use some cross-sections here for the attire of the monster.

Chapter 7 - GRIFFINS: Orelav

2009-10-18T03:48:00.000-07:00

In this chapter you will learn how to make a cross between a roaring lion and eagling eagle. This is what they call a griffin, a magical creature that is very popular on coats of arms of all sorts.

Chapter 6 - GORGONS AND VAMPIRES: Medusa and Branduff

2009-08-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

In this chapter we kill two birds with one stone; we show how to make two different characters using the same beginning. The Gorgon, the mythical female monster who had snakes for a hair, turns out to have a lot in common with the Vampire Branduff.

Non polymer clay fun

2009-07-07T23:24:00.001-07:00

It has been quite a while since we last posted, but we were busy with some non polymer clay fun. Dinko and I (Boris) had to put some time in organizing the third annual Midsummernight's sprinkle - essentially a water gun fight which happens traditionally in front of the national theater in Sofia. It has been a cool event - again. About 120 people showed up and had a great time for about five minutes. With this over we are steadily returning to polymer clay and hopefully will post often on the blog. Oh, almost forgot - here are some pictures from the water fight.

Chapter 5 - MERMAIDS: Jambalini

2009-06-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

In this chapter we show how to make half-fish, half - hold your breath - female character. A.k.a. Siren, Sea Maid etc. The reason why you had to hold your breath is that if you are already familiar with the type of character that Boris and I typically make, you will have probably noticed already that we tend to make clumsy trolls and goblins rather than delicate and effeminate forest and sea beings. And so we do not make female characters very often.

We show how to make the upper body of a girl and the tails of a fish, in such a way that the tail and fin look like the dress and feet of the character. In the variations we take this concept one step further and make a mermaid with a more sophisticated dress. We really wanted to make a Merman too, bit skipped that part for some reason. You can make your own mer-dudes by using the torso portion of the Centaur (half-man, half horse creature) lesson, in one of the following chapters and the fish part from the mermaid character. You can make all kinds of mer-things for that matter. I personally wanted to make a Mer-Miaou character at some point, but you've gotta draw a line somewhere eventually... Don't let me stop you though.

Another thing you can do, and I think I have seen a drawing like that somewhere, is to make a sort of inverted mermaid - the head of a fish, with the sulk and the bulging eyes, and the legs of a human. A visual pun of sorts. Applied to the centaur project, and I will sure mention it again when i get to it, this line of thought gives a human body and the head of a horse - which, if you think about it is one step away from making a Minotaur - the famous mythical monster in the Labyrinth, with the human body and the bull's head. To make a bull's head make the ears, lips and nostrils of the horse's head (that you will learn how to make in the Unicorn project).

Dinko's fan

2009-06-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

I (Boris) was really happy yesterday to see what Dinko's fans do. Susan Sherry Avarello set up a Flickr group for polymer clay creations inspired by Dinko's work. I have to say also that I personally really like Susan's work. Her creations can be found at her Etsy store and on Artfire. You must check out her work. I have to say too that the other thing I enjoy is the nickname she uses sometimes 'time4coffee'. For me personally it is always time for coffee. I drink almost 1/4 of a gallon of that stuff each day. Anyone who enjoys coffee and Dinko's work is in my 'coolest people' list.

Chapter 3 - HALFLINGS: Mr. Gladden

2009-05-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

In this chapter we show how to make a hobbit character, although we never use the word "hobbit" itself in the book, because it was the name of a race of creatures in the Lord of the Rings invented by Tolkien, so we didn't want to infringe copyright. We used "halfling" in the end, instead of hobbit, because our legal department is too busy just now. :) Anyway, hobbit or not, it was made to look like one, as you will recognize.

Again we build on the previous projects - a slighly more sophisticated face (and I don't mean that in the sense of "refined"), standing on two legs (two armature bits) etc. Based on the same design any human character can be built, if you vary the proportions a little.

Taurus

2009-05-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not this is a Taurus. It is built for a friend of mine who will give it as a gift. Here are the specifications he gave me (Boris).
- it has to smile - check
- not very big horns - check
- dancing position - check
- sunglasses between the horns - check
- a bottle of vodka that has to be removable in case the person he intends the Taurus for gets offended - check
- a silver necklace - check, even though this is not exactly silver, but it looks like it, some old piece of broken jewelry
- silver trainers with pink stripes - check
- I love WV Polo inscription - check
So much for building custom ordered figurines. Hope you like it.

Chapter 2 -PIXIES: Brice the Pixie

2009-05-17T02:49:00.000-07:00

In the second chapter of the book we show how to make a pixie. This project is tailored to beginners as well, and is intended to upgrade a notch the skills practices with the gnome. We show one way of making a slightly more sophisticated face and introduce the basic building block of wire armature to make some upstanding creatures. If you are into mythical creatures, you have probably seen over a dozen different images of what artist thought pixies should look like. That's just the thing - it has been so long since anybody last saw one that few people remember what they look like exactly. The general consensus seems to be that they are blue in color, so based on that we show how to make a pixie looking the way we think ought to look. We called it Brice.

Our friend Alexander

2009-05-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

This is our friend Alexander playing with his son in the park. On the next picture is the gnome Alexander made. I (Boris) like a lot Alexander's attitide towards polymer clay. He uses it for purely recreational purposes, without building a stock of tools or clay. As you can see he did not adhere to the color scheme of the gnome. 'Those are the colors I had at hand' he says. He changed the hat a bit - instead of it being pointy, he made it curved at the top. The beard of his gnome has several colors, instead of the one color beard shown in the book. The head of the creature is smaller in comparison to the body than the ratio in the book project. Alexander doesn't care much about smoothing surfaces or making things look perfect, he uses the polymer clay sculpture to relax. In that respect I think he shares one of the main ideas Dinko and I had writing the book - polymer clay is for fun.

'Polymer clay fans are growing in numbers'

2009-05-09T01:22:00.000-07:00

'Polymer clay fans are growing in numbers' - this is what the sales lady told me yesterday when I (Boris) went to buy some clay from my favorite polymer clay suppliers Dekar M.

She told me about these nice ladies that make jewels and jewelry boxes. She tried to find their catalog and since she couldn't, she told me she'll have it the next time I pass by. So I left. She then found the catalog and ran after me togive it to me. The paper catalog actually is much better and with more products featured than on their site. Plus - the site is in bulgarian only, but anyway here it is http://www.sugar-and-candy.com and the work has a really fresh vibe that I quite like.
And even though it may be nothing special, it is a fellow clayer and what is more a countryman/woman/women in this case and I am quite happy about it.

Project 1 - GNOMES: Rollieball Dropletson

2009-05-08T01:01:00.000-07:00

Starting today we will do an extensive sneak-peek/ preview of all the project characters in our latest book Sculpting Mythical Creatures out of Polymer Clay. We start small, by showing how to make a gnome character – Rollieball Dropletson. Boris designed this character as an introductory project that requires very little prior skill or experience with clay, and next to no tools. You really need to know only two things – how to roll a ball, and how to make a rain-drop shape (also derivative of the simple ball). The idea is to make it comfortable for beginners to practise how to combine simple shapes to produce complex-looking results. At the end of the project we show several variation ideas and tips on how to make different gnome characters by varying facial hair.

Making of the dragon - part 2

2009-05-03T04:17:00.000-07:00

This is the boring story how the dragon in the book became what he is. Once it was decided there has to be a dragon in the book, I (Boris) decided that I want to make it. So I did some research about dragons. Learned that there are many varieties of them and finally concluded that I will revert to the commonly known stereotype - fire breathing, scaled, big, winged. The red dragon is the first one I made. Although he is a magnificent beast there are several things about him that made him not suitable to be featured in a book project: he looks evil, he is too big - about 14 inch long and about 5 inch tall, and fat, too fat in fact. A project like that would consume time, lots of time. I work fast but he took me 2 days and several bakings to make. Another shortcoming is that you'd have to work with red only, which on a too big of a project is rather boring. So he has been measured, weighted and found unworthy to be the main character of the chapter. Next I proceeded to make the colorful dragon - did not change the size, left the wings out and tried to make him look friendly. Colorful scales took even more time and without the wings he looked a bit strange. At this point I knew: the dragon has to be all one color, he has to have wings and a friendlier expression, he has to be smaller.

The matter of size had to be tested too, so I made another dragon. It may not be obvious from the picture but she is much smaller. I say she because this dragon has the looks of a female dragon. And this is how the question of gender is resolved with polymer clay dragons - if the dragon looks male, male it is. If it looks female, female she is. It is a purely subjective decision you take. It is also a decision that is always correct no matter what you decide.

Making of the dragon - part 1

2009-05-02T01:34:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of my dragon making Dinko took. The book will explain what happens in between the first picture and the last one. he first picture is of me (Boris) discussing with someone, don't remember who now, something, don't remember what now, something obviously important enough to stop working on the dragon. The second picture is again of me, it could have been a picture of any bald dude, but it is of me, preparing to take a brake. As you can probably see I prefer to work sitting on the floor. The comment I have to make here is about workspaces. Any workspace you feel comfortable with is fine, there is no rule that you should have a studio or a specific work area or anything like that.

This is the picture of the dragon that is in the book. Mention has to be made of the dragon variations. In order to be able to present a step by step instructions for his dragon I made several different dragons before this one. Sometimes making several versions of a figurine before making the final version works better. However there are times when the final version of the figurine is the first one you make and only after that ideas of variations rush into your mind. Both approaches work equally fine. In my opinion when you feel inspired (and inspiration is a mysterious thing) the second approach comes into place. At times of logic and cold blooded craftsmanship the first approach seems to work better.

The 'old bone' look.

2009-04-30T23:28:00.000-07:00

I(Boris) had to explain again to a fellow clay enthusiast how I give the figurines I make an old bone look. So here is what I would normally do description. The first two pictures are of the same not varnished and then varnished figurine. Keep in mind that the same effect can be used not on one color sculptures only. It can be used on colorful sculptures too. You just have to keep in mind that the varnish will make the colors darker and in some cases slightly change them.

There are two different ways to achieve an old bone look for figurines made of white clay only. One way involves working with brushes gouache and water - this way is suitable for kids. Better results are achieved working with turpentine, asphalt varnish, brushes and old rags - this way is not suitable for children. So here is some info about materials. I feel it is important to read before continuing.

Gouache Extra Fine Quality flacon 16 ml

Turpentine (also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, wood turpentine, gum turpentine) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene. It has a potent odor similar to that of nail polish remover. It is sometimes known colloquially as turps, but this more often refers to turpentine substitute (or mineral turpentine).

The word turpentine is formed (via French and Latin) from the Greek word terebinthine, the name of a species of tree, the terebinth tree, from whose sap the spirit was originally distilled

Asphalt varnish. Asphalt varnish is composed of asphalt pitch that is heat-treated with Gilsonite and thinned with mineral spirits or naphtha. Varying degrees of flexibility and toughness are obtained by varying the ratio of pitch to Gilsonite.

Giving an 'old bone' look - for kids

These are the tools needed to give the creature the 'old bone' look. Two bottles of gouache, one ochre and one black. A small plate to mix the gouache. If you don't have gouache but have tempera paint at home it will also work fine. It is good to have several brushes of different sizes. Those don't have to be expensive - ordinary brushes that kids use at school are perfectly fine as long as the hair of the brush doesn't fall.

The process is as follows - imagine (at this point imagine) you have the pawn or the pawns baked. Take some ochre and some black and mix a dark ochre color. I missed to ad that you will need some water to work with the qouache, but I suppose you already worked that out. After you have the color ready paint a thick coat of gouache over the entire figurine. Be careful to paint all over the pawn, don't miss even the smallest and hardest to reach places. Let the paint dry for several hours. Then with a brush dipped in water start to wash off the paint. Most of the paint will wash off but some of it will change the color and some of it will remain at places. This will make the outlines of armor and other body parts better visible. After you have finished let the pawn dry. At this point it must be varnished one more time with a water based transparent varnish.

Giving an 'old bone' look - for adults
These are the tools needed to give the critter the 'old bone' look. A small bottle of turpentine - this one looks green because the manufacturer's label on the other side is green. Some asphalt varnish - here it comes in quite big bottles so one bottle can be shared between artists, that's what I did so my asphalt varnish resides in an old coffee box. You will need a wooden stick (sculpting tool in my case) or a spoonlike tool - you must have one since the asphalt varnish is quite thick and when small quantities have to be moved from one container to another such a tool is needed. A small dish to mix the turpentine. Several brushes. At this point is is good to remind that after finishing work with the asphalt varnish one must not forget to carefully wash the brushes.

The general idea is to paint the piece with the varnish, let it dry for about 20 minutes and then with a brush dipped in turpentine wash off the asphalt to the necessary point. I realize this is not explained in detail, but it is best to show the process and not describe it. I will be showing that process as soon as possible - as soon as I find someone to assist me and film it since it is a messy process and it is not possible to film and work at the same time. Another reminder when speaking of asphalt varnish and working with it is to remind those of you that have sensitive skin to work with gloves. And a reminder for everyone is to work with open windows or if possible outside your home - asphalt varnish and turpentine don't smell good.

The Book is Out Today!

2009-04-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today is the big day - Sculpting Mythical Creatures is officially out! We are very excited that we finally get to share our recent work and new set of ideas with you guys. We hope you will enjoy and share your feedback.

More about the book: it's how-to book with step-by-step picture instructions on how to make mythical characters out of polymer clay. We show how using simple techniques, materials and tools you can get some sophisticated-looking critters.

Bunnies on aution and sale

2009-04-28T02:32:00.000-07:00

These three bunnies are auctioned on ebay with a starting price of 0.01 usd. On the right side of the blog there is a widget that will link to the auction listings. Here is another link. Those bunnies are variations of the bunny video tutorial that was posted here some days ago. The price is reduced to a minimum hoping that these fine animals will find an owner who would keep them until next Easter when their skills will be needed again. The rest of the Easter bunny bunch (the friendly bunnies are on sale too on our Etsy shop).

The bunnies on the second picture are the ones that are featured on our Etsy shop.

And to return to one of the usual themes of this blog - the variation. With these animals it is pretty obvious - their color, the things they hold in their hands, but most of all the ears are their most prominent feature. Changing the shape and the posture of the ears is what contributes most to giving each bunny a distinct character.

How to come up with a mythical critter idea

2009-04-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

When you start making mythical creatures every once in a while you get the desire to make one. But which one, there are tons of them? No need to get nervous wondering what creature to make. Wikipedia always helps. Here is a link to a particularly helpful list of species in folklore and mythology. They are listed alphabetically and there is an image provided for most of them which makes a good starting point for a mythical creature polymer clay project.
On another note learning about the myths and legends of other cultures is really, really fun. Well, at least for me (Boris) it is. You may discard some of the listed creatures as too complex to make, or too easy to make, or not enough interesting to make, but anyway the list is huge. I am quite sure you will find the creature you like and then start playing with the clay.

Where do the Easter bunnies dwell

2009-04-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have kids and are already working with polymer clay know that it is hard to determine the natural habitat of the polymer clay creatures. And even though they are most likely to reside in your studio if you have one, or on a shelf somewhere in your work area, sometimes they have strange dwellings. In this instance it turns out that three of my Easter bunnies inhabited my four year old daughter's slippers.

Several hours later one of the bunnies was living in a kitchen drawer, another one behind the couch and as for the third we don't know yet. 'Daddy, he went in the forest to see some friends.' she says. I am inclined to believe that it rather went in one of her toy boxes or on a strange trip around the house and some of these days I am going to find a bunny at the most unexpected place.

Just a cool picture

2009-04-21T12:20:00.001-07:00

Someone took a camera and looked into the wizard's glasses made of magical glass. What did he see - nothing definite alas. Some ghosts that passed, memories of the past, spaces tiny and vast. Charcoal, coal, fire and blast, images that changed too fast. The big teeth of a creature of a strange breed, stories of valiant deeds. Legends, fairy tales, a white nightingale, a long sharp and deadly tail.

There was nothing specific that prevailed, so it is impossible for the description of the vision to be detailed. Now that I think of this story it seems to be tragic. I wish I knew how the wizards do their magic.

Wire

2009-04-20T07:37:00.001-07:00

This is a video showing one of the little tricks I (Boris) use when I make skeletons.

Gargoyles

2009-04-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

I (Dinko) did some heavy scholarly research on the fascinating, and highly academic too, topic of gargoyles - the grotesque stone-carved creatures you see on the outside of Gothic cathedrals and some other buildings. Why they put demons and monsters to drain rain-water form the rooftops of churches, when they could have just as easily put angels with hoses, and other sprinkling devices (a certain fountain in Brussels comes to mind), is not exactly clear to me to this very day. There are theories of course, but we won't dwell on them here, for lack of conclusive evidence.

The research technique I employed borrowed heavily from train-spotting and bird-watching, fascinating hobbies in their own right. So I went places, I saw gargoyles, and I took pictures, looked at them for some time, shook my head violently, and made these deranged-looking creatures. I guess it's all the dripping water that made them crazy.

"But what does that have to do with mythical creatures and their sculpting?" some of you may ask. Just about everything, I would say: gargoyles, and chimeras (the ones that are just statues with no water draining function) are often depictions of mythical beasts, and beast cocktails -1/2 part lion, 2/5 snake, 1/8 man, stirred not shaken etc. In a nutshell: If you are looking for some interesting ideas about mythical creatures, Google "gargoyles" and you will find some century-old and tested material.

Easter

2009-04-20T04:31:00.000-07:00

It was Easter yesterday (Christian Orthodox Tradition). So families got together to see each other, feast, talk and do the usual holiday stuff people do. Here on the left are some of Boris' easter bunnies. I made about fifty different bunnies this year and the ones here are the type I like the most - the so called 'butcher bunnies'. The butcher bunnies are not really butchers. They are not going to slaughter the hen. They are bunnies after all and we all know how sweet and good natured those fine animals are. The hatchets they hold are merely a persuasion tool. They are used to frighten the hen enough so that she would produce a red egg. Anyway a number of the bunnies I made were not sold, so by the end of the week they are going to be on sale, a huge sale - 10$ for a bunny at our Etsy shop.

Here are Boris (on the left) and Dinko, who are usually friendly collaborators in addition to being brothers, in an Easter egg fight. Oddly enough, because it was only yesterday none of us remembers who won the fight.
We did try to make an effort and find out who won, but it seems no one remembers who won, which must lead us to the conclusion that the matter is not of utmost importance to anyone and that there is no harm if it stays unresolved.
There were other important issues that were resolved: we are moving here all the instructions for making a polymer clay chess set, and we are posting some more images of the 'outcasts' (the creatures that we made, but that couldn't be featured in the book). Stay tuned.

It is just a game

2009-04-18T01:43:00.001-07:00

These are the guys I usually play chess with. We play in front of a coffee shop. On the street as you see. People come and go, some stop and watch, some comment, some stay and play. The point is that chess is just a game, you don't need fancy pieces, computers, massive collections of textbooks to learn the game, silent places to play, clocks, you don't need to take notes of every game. You just need to know the rules and play. Play and have fun.
As far as the polymer clay goes I would like to see more of that attitude in people. Grab the clay and play, let it surprise you, lead you to new ideas, have fun. You don't need a studio, a massive collection of tools, a huge library of books on the subject. If you have fun these will come along naturally.
And then may be you can blend in a mixture two or more of your favorite things like I do with polymer clay and chess. Having fun is a good strategy to overcome cultural and age differences. The guy in the black suit is Russian, the one with the blue shirt is Roma and the other two are Bulgarians. The age difference between the youngest and the oldest is almost forty years. What brings them together is just a game for fun.

What about tools/basic set of tools - Chess project

2009-04-18T00:37:00.000-07:00

The tools described are a basic set, not the minimum, because the minimum would be your hands and a safety pin. The basic set will enable you to work on complex projects.

On the first picture are photographed a set of dentist's tools. In many craft supplies shops tools similar, if not exactly the same. They are sold as sculpting tools. In general it doesn't matter where you will get them. I prefer to buy from shops for dentists' tools because they are in general much more durable and strong. When buying tools for sculpting there is no particular rule what tools you should get - get whatever you think will suit you and your goals.

The next three tools are quite familiar to everybody. A knife - nothing is special about knives but having one is a necessity. The other tool is a handheld drill which will be used on many occasions but only on cured clay. Why the automatic pencil - the automatic pencil must be an old, not working one, we will use only its tip to work on clay.

The clay shapers - those are pen like tools with resin tips that are really useful to shape and smooth polymer clay objects. Those are made to be used with polymer clay - found in almost every craft supplies shop and paying for them is absolutely worth it.

And finally your most important tool - your hands. Please note that if working with hard clay pieces, wire or some of the other tools proves to be to difficult or requires too much effort you should ask for help your parents, teachers or friends. You may also post in the blog about such a difficulty and I'll try to come up with an alternative way of completing the same task.

The Never Selling chess set

2009-04-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

These two dudes are actually the pawns of the 'Never selling chess set'. Several reasons why those two glorious warriors appear here.

The first one is that Iris Mishly posted a link to them on her polymeri online blog. I am grateful, because her post got me thinking - which by the way does not happen very often and is an event that is slower than the movement of tectonic plates. Anyway I thought that I may copy the posts of my chess set making blog here, thus aiming to put all the descriptions of my polymer clay adventures in one place.

The second reason for the chess warriors to appear here are all my ramblings about variations. Actually making a chess set is a great exercise of variation. 16 identical pawns, 4 identical rooks, 4 identical knights, 4 identical bishops, a pair of queens and a pair of kings - this is the chess board gang. Well..., pieces are different in color, but how do you make each piece different and still preserve their uniformity? Variation deals with this issue. Look for them in the next posts with a 'chess' tag.

And last but not least - this is 'The never selling' chess set. It is impossible to sell. It has become a favorite hobby for me to make futile efforts to promote this set. No matter how popular it becomes it doesn't sell. I am ready to bet that the set won't sell no matter how popular it becomes.

Polymer Clay Central

2009-04-15T02:47:00.000-07:00

It is time that I start mentioning some of my, and I believe the same goes for Dinko, so I am going to make a correction - some of our favorite polymer clay sites. At the top of the list is the absolute polymer clay site - The Polymer Clay Central.

I thought for quite a long time how to describe this wonderful site and the best I can come up is the following. Imagine that polymer clay and everything polymer clay related is the world of Star Wars. You did? Great. Now, in this world Polymer Central would be the Jedi Temple. The place where the young polymer clay apprentice and the polymer clay master feel comfortable. Where knowledge of the polymer clay is shared, possibilities explored and opinions exchanged.

Believe it or not...

2009-04-14T08:14:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not these are dwarf variations. I agree that it is a far fetched statement, but nonetheless it is true.

Instead of explaining how and why these are dwarf variations, I am asking you to carefully review the Dwarf chapter. Please do it once again. Now, do you have the answer, can you explain why these are dwarf variations.

My guess is by now you are acutely aware that these are dwarf variations. They are also an example how the polymer clay can lead you to ideas of appearance, character, type of clothing and other things. One idea triggers another, one concept ot stereotype leads to another and the creative process starts with making a dwarf face and end somewhere in the wild, wild west where a sheriff keeps the peace. I have to admit I like the sheriff, he never made it to the book, but he has a good posture and obviously enjoys life.

It is a good thing but I rarely do it.

2009-04-14T00:50:00.000-07:00

Recently I reviewed some of the posts of my 'How to make a chess set blog' and I think some of my ramblings deserve to appear here in connection with the 'variation' theme.

To cut the long story short it is always good to take a pencil and draw the ideas of the creatures you are going to make. It doesn't matter if you are good at drawing or not. Think of the drawing as a general outline of what you are going to make. This helps to get clear ideas. Though I have to admit I personally rarely do it, but whenever I had done it gave better results that starting right off with the polymer clay.

And one other thing. When you make the creatures it is not a bad idea to take notes what colors do you use (writing down the polymer clay manufacturer number: for example FIMO soft, color catalog number 0). I have often regretted not to be able to reproduce some color mixtures because I was too lazy to take notes of what colors have been mixing. If you have a good idea and a good sculpture comes out of it, take notes of how or where you got the idea, this helps a lot for future projects.

Funky old projects

2009-04-14T00:21:00.000-07:00

Here are four of the classic Dinkos creatures. The how to projects are hosted on Dinko's site http://www.funclay.com . Here are only the links to the tutorials.

I must say several things about these project. First one is that the bird with teeth is one of Dinko's concepts that I like the most. No bird to my knowledge has teeth. Adding them to the creature's smile makes the creature unusual and funky. I am sure that if you think along these lines you may come up with your own funky creature. And if it is a piglet with wings or a snail with hands it would hardly matter.

The other thing that I would like to mention is that the purple dinosaur and the green lizard projects are variations on the reptile theme. So even if you decide not no make those creatures take a look just to see how by varying some of the work steps the final result is different.

Sphinx variation

2009-04-12T02:01:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of a sphinx. It is rather apparent that this is not the image that first appears in our minds when the sphinx is mentioned, but still this is a sphinx. Every once in a while when you decide to make a mythical creature you might have the time (that is usually not the case) to make some research.

The result often is that things are not the way you thought them to be. As it turns out there are several interpretations as far as the appearance of the sphinx goes. There is a very nice wiki article about that here. Once you have decide what tradition of representation to follow hurry up and make the sphinx. Ah, and don't forget to make a riddle for the sphinx. The sphinx here was inspired by an Attica sphinx statue and a Delphi sphinx statue. Here are pictures of them.

Don't be afraid to experiment with less popular ways of representation of a mythical creature. You can also come up with one of you own that is completely different than anything you have seen or heard of. This won't mean it is not a valid representation of the particular mythical creature you are making.

On the other hand it is always good to make something and have people recognize what it is at first glance. So you have to decide on your own what to do.

How to make an Easter bunny - summary

2009-04-12T01:20:00.000-07:00

This is a summary of How to make an Easter bunny video tutorial. The entire project takes 21 min. to complete. (excluding the 30 min. baking time). It is separated in three videos: part 1, part 2, part 3. It is one of my favorite creatures to make. If you decide to make one, please feel free not to adhere to the color scheme. Any colors work fine. f you have any questions please feel free to mail me or post a comment. I have been making some of those since February this year for my friends. Pictures can be found here and here.

There is one other thing that I found out yesterday. I was working at my day job - a telecommunications company. We have various brands of test mobile phones for all kinds of reasons... Anyway, the point is that I tried to play one of the 3G I phones and it worked great.

So if you are looking for an excuse to buy a new I phone here is one for you. 'I need it for polymer clay educational purposes!' Can't say no that. Can you? Oh by the way - all the other how to polymer clay videos from youtube worked just great too.

How to make an Easter bunny - part 3

2009-04-12T01:09:00.000-07:00

How to make an Easter bunny - part 2

2009-04-11T01:32:00.000-07:00

How to make an Easter bunny - part 1

2009-04-10T02:34:00.000-07:00

The Vampire Variation

2009-04-09T01:13:00.000-07:00

This is a classic wizard. Instructions on how to make one are available in Dinko's book. The reason he appears here is again a variation comment. Making the wizard is essentially a variation of making the Vampire. Although it may not be apparent at first glance it is so. At this point you may review the Vampire instructions in the Gorgon chapter of the book. Or even better - if you have Dinko's book review the Wizard instructions too. I am guessing you will come up with a bigger list of similarities and differences, but here is my list:
- the skeletons are much or less the same
- faces are different
- ears are different
- the vampire doesn't have any facial hair
- the vampire's shoes don't show under his coat
- the clothing of the wizard is much more elaborate
- the wizard has a hat
- the collars of the wizard and the vampire are the same
- their teeth are different
-colors are different
Please, feel free to post any additions or comments on this list.

Facebook widget and photo albums

2009-04-09T00:59:00.000-07:00

Just added a facebook profile badge on the right side of the blog so that you can reach me easily with any questions or comments. Also another facebook activity - started to add pictures of my work to profile here and there. Hope to get more comments that way. Also hope to find time and make another figurine today.

How to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza - part 9

2009-04-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is how the sculpture of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza came up in the end. A few things that I have to add. It is baked twice. One - the horse and the donkey are baked separately. Two the two riders and the stand are baked.

The variations in human figurines are subject to an entirely other and mighty big discussion which will be probably added later on.

The choice of theme for this figurine was made by the person who ordered it. For that matter choosing to make a popular literature or movie character is a very good idea. Such a choice gives the possibility to check how other people before you have treated the subject and get some ideas for our own work.It has a downside too - it is hard to come up with something really new and interesting and different.

How to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza - part 8

2009-04-07T10:02:00.001-07:00

After the animals are made the saddles have to be installed on their backs. As you will see in the finished sculpture of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza the donkey's saddle is a different color than the one shown here. The reason is obvious - I changed it. The blue saddle seemed to be much better than the green one you see here.

Oh, I am forgetting - the animals are baked at this point. Before installing the saddles. Basically this is it as far as the variations from the Centaur and the Unicorn projects of the book. The rest is just two simple human figurines.Human figurines will be discussed later. Especially the knight and the variations of the knight which can be used in creating numerous other creatures and characters.

I hope the comments on variations have been helpful. Please if you have a question or need more info just post a comment.

How to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza - part 7

2009-04-05T12:00:00.001-07:00

These are he pictures of the finished (not entirely but 90% finished animals). Again the pictures include the working surface in order to give an idea of their size. My guess is that the reader would now expect me to enumerate the variations.
I am not walking this path this time. My expectation is that at some point anyone who has read the book would be able to look for and find the variation, even create one of their own.
My expectation is that you would make comments and suggestions as to what the variations are from the Unicorn project and the Centaur project. There are at least 5 variations.
I do realize that there will be supporters of the 'scientific' approach. A leads to B, B leads to C.
It doesn't work that way when we talk about ideas. Generating ideas does not follow logic. Variations may appear by accident. Defects become effects.
Speaking of which there is a very nice effect when some of the mythical creatures are over baked slightly. Especially fire breathing dragons. But later about this, since it is a theme with 'parental advisory' and 'do not do this at home' tags attached to it.
For now I am interested in whatever comments you might have about the variations from the Centaur and the Unicorn projects in the book, that are used to create the animals on the pictures.

How to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza - part 6

2009-04-05T11:40:00.000-07:00

These are the fine animals of the project half covered with polymer clay. There is nothing particular, nothing different than what is shown in the Unicorn chapter of the book. Steps 1 to 11 are the same, most of the following steps are identical too. The variation here concerns step 35 of the book project - the skin of the donkey and the horse will be one color only. White, gray, brown and you can choose any color. But only one color. Why is that. Well... Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and their rides are a concept rather than a reality, so no need to be super precise and make everything lifelike. The important is the concept - skinny horse, skinny rider. Normal donkey, fat rider. Again there is no rule on variation. You can make your own variation. Fat horse, skinny rider. Dwarf donkey, fat rider. You can even make Don Quixote fat, provided you find the way to make the original concept show.

How to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza - part 5

2009-04-05T11:06:00.001-07:00

These are the tools I use for this projects. These basically are the tools I use on 90% of my projects. Over the years I have been fortunate enough never to catch the TAD ( tools acquisition disorder).

The TAD symptoms are piles and piles of tools that never get used. Or get used rarely. Say once every year. TAD can be dangerously costly too. It also takes every available space. It is my personal opinion that there rarely is a sculpting project that would require more than a clay shaper or two and a pointy needle like tool (the one I have is a dentist's tool). Dentist's tools are great for working with polymer clay, and most of the other types of clay for that matter.

My way of thinking goes like this ( it is not necessarily the right way) - Keep as much tools and as much polymer clay stored, as you can put in one bag (big or small it doesn't matter). Pretend you have to put all the polymer clay related stuff in one bad and go to another town to show someone what polymer clay is about. So this is my toolbox.

How to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza - part 4

2009-04-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

At this point where the skeletons have to be covered with clay a work surface is required. I am going to use one of my favourite ceramic tiles. For two reasons: one - it is one of my favourite ceramic tiles (they are all the same tiles by the way), and second, as you see it is a square 6x6 inches. The size of the tile might also serve as a reference point to the highly scientific terminology I use - 'smaller', 'longer', 'bigger'.

The choice of working surface depends on ... mainly your personal preferences and the available space you have. But it is nice to have a flat, temperature resistant working surface. I prefer as small working surfaces as possible, because this enables me to turn it around and work on all sides of the creature or whatever I am working on.

How to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza - part 3

2009-03-31T12:40:00.001-07:00

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.

How to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza - part 2

2009-03-30T00:35:00.000-07:00

The following four pictures are of the donkey skeleton. The donkey Sancho Panza rides. Even though the skeleton is the same as in the Unicorn project of the book there are several variations to be illustrated. Variation 1 - the legs of the donkey are shorter compared to the legs of a horse/unicorn. Variation 2 - the neck of the donkey is longer than the neck of the horse/unicorn. Variation 3 - the body of the donkey is longer than the body of the horse/unicorn. Variation 4 - the body of the donkey is fatter than the body of the horse/unicorn.

Again there is a picture of the skeleton of the donkey next to a six inch ruler - just to give a reference point. And another picture of the two skeletons next to each other - for comparison.

It doesn't really matter how tall/big are the skeletons/finished pieces on their own. What really matters is how big they are in relation to each other. I believe the last picture gives a pretty good idea of that.

How to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza - part 1

2009-03-29T03:13:00.000-07:00

I have a custom order to make Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Since they are popular enough characters and basically a variation of the Unicorn and Centaur projects of the book I will document some steps of the making, because I think they might be of interest.

Essentially I have to make two riders. The Don who rides a horse and the servant who rides a donkey. So there are going to be two horse skeletons - Dinko explains that in the Unicorn project of the book. What I'd like to comment is the wire used. I like the most the type of wire shown on the picture it is a 0.8 mm diameter stainless steel wire. The roll is 50 meters long, so it should be enough to work with on a pretty good number of projects. This type of wire is a bit sturdier than the one sold in arts and crafts suppliers' shops. It can be easily obtained at any hardware stores for the approximate price of 9 $. I prefer this type of wire because for me it is easy enough to work with and at the same time sturdy enough to be used on bigger projects (long necks for dragons, sines for leviathans) too.

The next thing I'd like to discuss is the usage of wire, when making complex (well, fairly complex) skeletons for the creatures. It is good to always make sure that the piece of wire you are working with is long enough. It is visible on the right hand side of the picture how I left the tail part of the skeleton long. This is because I started with a really long piece of wire. On the next picture is the cut tail.

Sure it is possible to adopt the 'scientific approach and make exact measurements. And if you are inclined to do that, go ahead and do it. As for my own work I don't use that approach. I find it too time consuming and fun ruining.

The size of the skeletons you make depends on several factors: how big you want the creature to be, how big is your oven (you will have to bake the creature at some point), how much polymer clay you are willing to spend for this project, where will you place the creature once it is baked.
It is probably possible to make exact calculations but with time and experience one is able to make very quick rough estimations and combine all the mentioned factors. So I am going to stick with the rough estimates and comparisons. But for those who have a scientific approach the best I can do is take a picture of the Don Qixote's ride next to a six inch ruler. I would lake to apologize in advance for the obscure terminology I am going to use, which will include the 'scientific' terms: smaller, bigger, more, a bit, a bit less, small, big, tall, fat, bony and alike. I believe that the picture with the rules must be a good reference point for all the 'scientific' terminology.

Please note that in this project the horse skeleton has two main differences from the one shown in the Unicorn project in the book. Variation 1 - the space between the front and the hind legs is significantly smaller. The aim is to create an impression that the horse is tall and bony. A starved specimen of his kind. Variation 2 - the tin foil used on the body is significantly less than in the Unicorn project, again in order to create the impression that it is a tall, skinny horse - not the type you'd expect to win races or to stampede the enemies in battle.

How to bring a polymer clay character to life

2009-03-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

How do you bring a polymer clay character to life. The obvious answer is - you imagine it and you make it. But this is a logical sequence of events and life doesn't always go that way. Well, sometimes it does, but mostly it doesn't. As far as the making is concerned it is the making of the eyes that brings the character to life. And then you bake it. This is where the hard part begins. People come to you and ask 'Who is this?'. Not a simple 'what is this?' that can be answered quite easily 'This is a knight.' But 'who'. They want to know who and that would include background, history, character and so on, and so on.
After I made this knight I had to answer the 'who' question. Well... He is not special in any way, he is rather ordinary, but ordinary is such a boring word. A few hours later I thought of the word 'moderate'. So I tried to do some rhyming - not very successfully I have to say, but here is what I came up with.
This is Sir Dorian - the moderate warrior. He is moderately brave, his war strategies are moderately safe. He is moderately fat, sometimes his temper is moderately bad. Overall he is a nice lad. His nose is moderately small. Dorian is moderately tall. He is nice to all fantasy folk - he even has a friend who is an orc. Dorian's armor is moderately strong, his sword is moderately long. His life is moderate in all, except a bad habit, that is too small to be called a habit at all - Dorian likes to dance at every ball.
And even though the story does not cover a life from the cradle to the grave it gives some idea of 'who' this is. So in my opinion what brings the polymer clay characters to life and makes them complete are the stories you have about them.
Boris

Inke Tinke art gallery

2009-03-28T07:39:00.001-07:00

Inke Tinke art gallery is a place that also sells only hand made stuff. It gets a lot of good reviews in the local press too. There are people who don't shop for gifts anywhere else. Or at least I know some people that do that. It has an atmosphere that makes you feel at home. It is in the center of Sofia so it has a pretty good exposure. I personally shop there quite often. But for some reason it seems like businesslike the place doesn't do that good. When I went there yesterday they told me they are going to close next week and use the premises to make a coffee shop. I am wondering - after Cat&Cat now Inke Tinke closes. Is there something wrong those places did - bad marketing, bad business practisess or people just don't buy hand made any more? Probably is is a combination of factors that I would never understand. But the fact that they close makes me a bit sad.

Cat&Cat or Kotka&Kotka (in bulgarian)

2009-03-28T07:04:00.001-07:00

Sadly it is time to write about places that no longer exist. This post and the next one are about two of the best places in Sofia that sold only hand made arts and crafts. There are two post simply because the shops are, or should I say were two. The first one is Cat&Cat - a lovely place that moved to two different locations in town, trying to find the right place, but for some reason it never did. They sold hand made lamps, figurines, hand made scrapbooks, limited series of young musicians' CDs. The owners are the friendliest people in the world. One was always welcome to look around, have a chat, may be drink a cup of tea, even meet some of the artists who sold their work there. They also sold flowers. After they closed the shop in Sofia they moved it to the seaside. For one year it was there and on the next year it disappeared. It is sad when the good things disappear.
The picture here is taken by Kafene.bg. And here is an article about Cat&Cat - unfortunately in bulgarian only.

The 3 little piggies experiment

2009-03-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had some time to spend and I entered one of Etsy community chats. People discussed each others work and while talking to fellow craftsmen someone asked me if I could do a funny pig sculpture. I thought the idea was intriguing so I made a little pig experiment. A sculpture of a pig holding an apple - about three inches tall. (largely using the same technique I use for my Easter/not easter/funky bunnies. Turns out it works pretty good for a pig too. Then I made a small piglet - a really simple one to make, about one inch tall. And finally a magnet that looks like a pig. I am not particularly interested is pigs, so I put them on sale.
Anyway the one thing that was really interesting for me, or should I say became interesting is the magnet/polymer clay weight ratio when making a magnet. The piglet magnet holds easily one a4 piece of paper on my fridge. But it wouldn't hold more paper. The magnet I used was bought from a craft store. It had no description, so the only way to determine how much clay to use in order to have a functional magnet and not one that is useless was experimentation. I wonder if there is another more 'scientific' way to tackle this issue. Please if you know of one tell me.
Boris