Making of the dragon - part 2

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

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.

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.

How to come up with a mythical critter idea

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.

It is a good thing but I rarely do it.

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.