To paint or not to paint, that is the question I’ve been toying with ever since I wanted to sculpt animals.
The argument is as follows: Painting to me seems less ‘authentic’. As a sculptor, I want my work to start and end with clay. However, achieving realistic details and intricate fur patterns requires the help of a paintbrush. Even my standard sculptures use paint for eyes, lips, nails, and overall details.
So after sculpting Sandy sans paint, I decided to try and mimic Bodewell’s complex fur with the help of acrylics.
Bodewell
This adorable Yorkie, Bodewell, is my best canine friend after Trooper an adorable Schnoodle. I have been honored to share many a holiday/weekend with this little guy, and created this sculpture as a holiday gift for his mommy. Bodewell has an adorable waddle, jumps REALLY high, and can bark like an old lady.
Choosing Clay Colors
Since my ultimate plan was to pain the sculpture, clay color wasn’t as important for Bodewell. My planned method of painting would add an overall painted layer while allowing the underlying colors to peak through. So I chose to use a light flesh color for Bodewell’s blond hair, and a grey for his darker hair. Since Bodewell’s face would include heavy detailing I chose to work with Premo and Living doll sculpey, 2 brands of ‘tougher’ clay ideal capturing fine detail. I mixed in generous amounts of very soft original sculpey for the heavily textured areas such as his back, legs, and tail. Original sculpey is a lot easier to imprint (read: attack with my needle tools)
After selecting a few of the dozen photos (half showing him running away) a quick and crude sketch, I was ready to begin sculpting
The Head
As with my humanoid sculptures, I chose to start with his head. I created a simple armature using a heavy gauge wire for his ‘skeleton’ and covered the top portion with a ball of foil for his ‘skull’. This not only provided a solid surface to work on, but it would ensure a thorough bake down the line. (unbaked insides cause sculptures to crumble after a few years)
I covered the skull with clay, added the simple facial features like the muzzle and eyebrows, and marked the rest of the face for detailing. I prepared my pre-baked eyes using my ‘new’ eyeball trick
In the past I baked two spheres for the eyes, and then tried desperately to force them into the foil skull resulting in distorted facial features. My next ‘experiment’ involved baking half-circle eyeballs, but those always looked ‘squished’. My newest trick involves baking a single well-formed circle. When the eyeball is still hot I used my super-slicer to cut it down the middle. This gives me a perfect sphere with a flat back that easily settles onto the clay with no facial distortions.
While the actual nose would have to wait for later lest it get distorted, I added a ‘placeholder’ nose to stop the nose-less Bodewell glaring at me (read: so I can have an idea of how the face would look)
The Body
Bodewell’s body, like his face, would be sculpted over a thick foil armature. I shaped a large piece of foil using my sketch as a guide. I wrapped the foil in a thin layer of ‘tough’ clay to ‘save’ the shape by trapping the foil to prevent distortion. I built up the body adding flattened ‘pancakes’ where needed.
The pancake method involves adding a flattened ball of clay then blending it into the bigger structure. This is useful for adding bulk to fatty areas like the belly, sides and back. Once satisfied with the overall shape I added a layer of my soft-mix clay and added extra padding to the tummy and back.
Once satisfied with the overall shape I added a layer of my soft-mix clay and added extra padding to the tummy and back. After pinching the bottom for a seated posture I pierced the foil with a long needle. This allowed me to slide the partially sculpted head into the body with distortion (another past nightmare)
Connecting the Head
This part gave me a lot of trouble. The wire armature helped ensure the head ‘stayed’ (good boy) in place, but it kept turning to look at me. I added a few pancakes starting from the back of the head connecting to the back, and another starting under the muzzle connecting to the belly. This secured the head in place and prevented further rotation while creating the building blocks for the neck and shoulders.
Ears
Bodewell has very unique ears. They point to the top of his head, but tend to stick out to the side. I tried to mimic the overall idea by sculpting 2 triangles and adding the necessary texture. Because the ears are so thin and fragile, adding texture later would be a disaster. While some of the ‘fur’ did get distorted while attaching, most of the texture remained, whew!! I added a bulky layer of soft clay behind the ears for the large tufts of hair sticking out of his head.
Nose and Face
With the face partially sculpted and attached to the body, it was now safe to add the more fragile details, including a real black nose. This proved to be another challenge. I’ve avoided that nose (and wet tongue) so often, perhaps I should have taken the time to examine the real thing more closely. Bodewell had a highly texture face, to help prepare for this I added his ‘hair groups’ in pieces as a guide for texturing later. Final additions included a lower lip, lower muzzle, and soft clay for the beard. Then came the real fun. I went to town on his face with my needle tools. I did all the fine texturing around the muzzle and between the eyes using a very thin sewing needle. Each ‘hair’ carefully and meticulously ‘carved’ to follownhis natural hair pattern. Larger texturing was done with a tapestry needle to represent the hair that grows thicker and longer. This includes the side of his face and back of his head
Legs
At this point I had a somewhat realistic face looking back at me. I forgot my camera in the excitement to see the rest of him come alive.
The ‘fun’ thing about a fur-ball type dog, is that ‘shape’ is lost under the hair making the legs relatively easy to create. Since Bodewell is seated, his hind legs do not require support since the body core is nothing but support. His hind legs were sculpted as round disks smoothed towards the lower back, but sticking out widely to show his knees and inner thighs. The actual legs were created as 2 simple logs. Since Bodewell is so furry, his legs wait to come alive with texturing.
The front legs of a seated dog play a major role in structural support. Weak legs would cause the sculpture to sag forward in the oven, and eventually crack and break. The leg armature was created using the same thick gauge wire as in the head. I curved the bottom for a firmer stance (read: not to scratch my glass work space) and secured the wire deep into the foil body core.
I added a thick layer of very soft clay for the legs, bulked the joint and toe area, and curved the legs outward for his signature waddle look. (I wish I had video to show you what I mean, his waddle is adorable) With the legs in position, I went to town again with my needle tools.
The tail (not shown) was created from a soft blob of clay, shaped and textured the same way.
Whew! With the actual dog sculpture complete I set him aside to ‘set’. Freshly sculpted clay is warm and soft, thus easily distorted/squished. Allowing him to ‘cool’ overnight gives me the opportunity to assess his features with fresh eyes and fix anything that I missed
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This post picks up from An Elf is Born - Part 3
Styling the Elf’s Hair
Tibetan lamb hair behaves very much like human hair, or should I say unruly human hair (like mine)
I allowed the glue to dry overnight before going for the 'royal hair treatment'
The royal treatment consisted of washing the elf's hair using my personal shampoo and conditioner. With the texture and frizzyness greatly improved (I’ve had years of practice on my personal mop of hair) I added some leave-in conditioner, and hair moose for good measure. I combed her hair using a toothpick and small hair comb, then set her aside to dry.
Blushing the Elf
The elf was sculpted using my personal combination of random ‘flesh tone’ clay colors. However, if you look at your own skin you will notice that certain areas, especially where blood flows close to the surface, are slightly pinkish. This includes your forehead, nose, cheeks and chin, knees and elbows, hands…
‘blushing’ is a painting method that adds a nearly invisible layer giving sculptures a 'flushed' look. Once I get better at this and perfect my technique, I may create a tutorial.
The overview for now: I used brown acrylic paint mixed with water for a very runny consistency. I painted small sections of her skin, then wiped it off. Then painted some more and wiped some more. A subtle amount of paint was absorbed with each layer. While tedious, the results are nearly life-like and provide so much depth to her carefully sculpted features. Notice these in areas of the elf's face, hands and knees.
I repeated this ‘blushing’ using red paint on the face focusing on the cheeks, nose, chin and forehead
Painting the Final Details
The elf’s face was detailed starting with the eyes. I used a mixture of green and brown to outline the iris, then painted the iris alternating between yellow and green strokes. Alas the green was too dark and her eyes did not quite achieve the bright consistency I was aiming for. I finished the eye with a black center for the pupils.
Using a fine brush I added black eyeliner and brown eyebrows. The eye-shadow was painted in layers using watered down green paint
Lips and finger-nails were painted using a less watery method of ‘blushing’ with a heavier layer used for the fingernails.
Additional photos of Ha’ela can be seen on my website
CONTEST WINNER!!
My ‘name the elf’ contest had an interesting turn-out, with one contestant adding to the suggestion of another for the perfect name
The first suggestion Ha’el was submitted by Debi
Second suggestion by Donna was to add an ‘a’
And so her name is… HA’ELA
Congrats Debi and Donna, you have both earned a gift certificate to my Artfire Shop
And Finally – My Secret Santa Gift
I participated in a Secret Santa Exchange on the Promotional Frenzy Team on Etsy and received this STUNNING Necklace Handmade by the wonderful Natasha from GreenhouseGlassworks
This necklace features a fused glass pendant, custom designed to my style of liking dark colors and magical themes. Notice the fiery red and black design. I LOVE IT!! Thank you Natasha!
And… it goes very well with black (my favorite)
Second photo shows me wearing the pendant this past weekend (pizza is Di Fara's yummmmm)
This post continues from Part 2
My Sexy Christmas Elf finally has hair!!!
Adding hair to a sculpture is quite tricky. When it comes to sculpting, I take my time. I do each step slowly and carefully. When adding hair, I don't have that luxury. The glue smells and dries super-fast. Hair gets stuck everywhere and makes quite the mess
But I'm jumping ahead of myself. I use Tibetan Lamb Fur, also called Mohair, for my sculptures.
Mohair is an animal friendly product as it is shorn from the lamb without causing any harm to the animal. (like getting a haircut)
Mohair is soft, dies easily, has natural curls, and according to my boyfriend, looks just like my hair ;)
I wasn't sure which hair color to go with. My four choices pictured here include black, dark brown, dirty blond, or Santa white. I held each swatch against the elf’s head letting the curls drape her face. I even tried a two-color look for kicks (looks too much like a skunk)
I prepared all the tools and supplies needed.
- Fabri-Tac a VERY strong, fast drying glue
- Acetone to mix with the glue for a slower drying and thinner medium (smells to high heavens)
- toothpicks
- small sharp scissors
- paper towels (did I mention this was messy)
- Open front/back doors and windows (I'd rather freeze than choke)
After selecting the dark brown hair (the elf requested it personally) I selected the curls one at a time and cut it from the pelt.
This is where the very fast 'slow' process begins. As soon as the glue touches the hair, the curls are on the clock. I held each strand of curls by the middle and removed any loose strands. I added a bit of glue, and pressed it to the back of her head.
Perhaps when I'm more proficient at this process I will create a proper hair tutorial.
Like human hair, fairy/elf hair begins at the base of the skull and goes all the way up. Each layer of curls was added carefully to ensure no excess glue or hair strands wind up in the wrong place. I worked my way up the head and around to the temples.
The top of the head proved a challenge between ensuring that the hair is properly glued, yet not allowing the glue to show. I accomplished this (nearly) by gluing the hair on the wrong way, then folding it over itself, almost like making a part in your own hairstyle.
After each layer I took a 'soap break' to scrub my fingertips raw from all the accumulated hair, glue, and paper-towel residue.
She is now sitting on my desk watching me type, with her hair flying in every direction. Once the glue is 100% dry she will get her hair done, shampoo, conditioner, and even hair moose (I use my personal hair products)
Tomorrow I plan to add color to her face including eyes, cheeks, and lips. I'm still debating on nail polish (red?) what do you think?
Hopefully she will be completed, set, and photographed by this weekend to be unveiled in my next newsletter issue. Not a subscriber yet? Join now using This Link
I am happy to say, that after a few dozen hours of work, the sculpting/baking of my elf is FINALLY COMPLETE
If you are curious about the process, read on. It will be a bit lengthy, but I'm sure you'll be intrigued. If you are simply anxious to see the results. Simply sit back, relax, and wait for the completion photos to arrive via my newsletter sometime mid-month.
(Haven’t subscribed yet, do so HERE
This post picks up from Part 1 Where I took you through all the pre-sculpting steps.
The Face
I start every magical sculpture by sculpting the face. I find the face to be the most difficult and tedious part to sculpt. If it turns out 'bad' then I start again (or leave it for the day). Since I don't follow a 'pattern' the face practically designs itself. I have a basic idea of the features I'm looking for. I sculpt them one at a time, and wait for a magical creature to look back at me. When the face is complete, I use that as a guide for completing the rest of the magical creature.
My 'guidelines' for this face were simply to make it about an inch tall, and somewhat lean, for a young sexy feminine look. I started by covering my foil/wire armature (see Part 1) with the conditioned clay. Conditioning the clay ensures that it is soft, consistent, and easy to work with. I formed a basic 'egg' shape for the head, and then sliced off the front section, for a flat 'blank palate' where I will slowly added facial features one at a time. Knowing the size of the eyes, I prebaked 2 partially flattened eyes using white glittered clay.
In a future post I will go into details on sculpting a face. For now, here's a brief overview. I marked the face in sections, carved in simple shapes for placement of the eyes, nose, and mouth. I first sculpted the mouth, lower then upper lip, then the nose, then added cheeks and chin. This process took nearly 2 hours as I added the clay in tiny pieces, smoothed, sculpted, smoothed some more... Once I was satisfied with the result I added features for the 'upper head' starting with the pre-baked eyeballs, eyelids, and forehead.
A freshly sculpted face is very soft and easy to damage. So I set it aside for the day to 'set' (slightly harden)
Many artists will choose to bake the face at this point. And while it's 'risky' to handle a 'raw' face I prefer to bake head and torso together. The torso core was created by wrapping a thick sheet of foil around my armature wire. When the foil was shaped and set, I sculpted ears onto the face. Ears are rather fragile and so I don't risk breaking them before the torso core is set.
The Torso
I sculpt a torso based on the final desired costume theme. Since my plan for this elf included underwear and a coat, I was able to 'tone down' the detail in the chest area and entire back since those will not be visible. I started sculpting the torso by covering the foil core with well-conditioned clay. I added more clay as needed to form the chest, ribs and belly. I then added clay to form the neck and spent a few hours adding details with a small needle and pen ink-well. The torso took me about a day to complete.
After a full day of sculpting I tend to get a 'lazy' attitude towards minor flaws. Knowing this, I don't like to bake the same day sculpting. I set the torso aside to 'set' with the intention of returning with 'fresh eyes' to edit any major flaws I missed. I poked 2 holes for inserting the legs to help the future raw clay adhere to the baked torso. I would normally do the same for the arms, but not for this one. Since I plan to sculpt a coat, I wasn't sure yet about the final arm pose and didn't want to sculpt hands only to have them miss-aligned with the coat sleeves. In addition, I planned to have the coat modeled to the body, providing support for the arms from the neck down to the base.
The first Bake
As I mentioned above, raw clay is fragile and easily destroyed. I complete larger projects using 'series baking'. This means I sculpt major features, bake, sculpt additional features, bake again... this allows me to work on the details in question without worrying about destroyed meticulous details added previously.
I baked the torso on a bed over paper towels in my deni-convection oven. I use 2 oven thermometers to keep an eye on the temperature and 'stalk' my oven checking every few minutes lest she burn when I'm not looking
Under garments
A sexy elf requires sexy undergarments. I chose red of course to go with the Christmas theme. Since the coat will hide the elf’s back, I only sculpted the visible portions. I sculpted the panties and bra using a dark red glitter mix and smoothing it to the body. I first attempted to trim the underwear in green. this made her look like she was wearing a strawberry (my bf said watermelon) so I changed it for a green and white striped 'candy-cane' trim
One thing I've learned from past sculptures. If I don't like something, I better fix it NOW despite the extra time. Otherwise I'd hate it down the line
Legs
The legs proved to be rather tricky. I planned for the elf to wear tall green boots. Sculpting these over the leg wires would be a nightmare. However, cured (baked) clay is tricky to attach to baked clay. After much debate, I decided to sculpt the legs without boots, and hope for the best when attaching to the body. The fact that my elf is seated worked in my favor as I will not have to rely on the legs for support.
Legs are tricky to sculpt. There are so many bumps and grooves that make less sense that a face or torso (to me). After a few hours I was happy enough with my results. Alas I dropped one on my jeans which resulted in more lint than usual (there's no real way to prevent lint getting on the sculpture) I cut and fitted the raw thighs to the body allowing a bit of wire to protrude for attaching to the torso. Alas the legs got slightly darkened (this happens with flesh colored clay). After baking I covered the thighs with more clay to 'fit' the torso, build the buttock region, and help provide a means of adhering to the torso.
The Boots
The high-moccasin boot is my favorite for 'magical' creatures (so you will be seeing those frequently on my creatures. I started by mixing up a magical green color (green and black) and made a bit more than I needed (better to have leftovers than to run-out and not be able to replicate). I measured the sole against her face for size control (my sculptures tend to grow) then added clay as needed building the boot. I built the boots one at a time then cut and smoothed as needed for a 'matching pair'. I twisted red and white 'candy-cane' laces, added them in pieces along with a matching 'bow'. I added some natural 'wrinkles' and folds, and lay aside to 'set'
Thighs
The thighs proved to be as tricky as I had anticipated with the raw boots making it even more difficult to maneuver lest I destroy the delicate features. Working slowly and carefully I added layers of clay between the thigh and torso and to the buttock region until the legs were secure and the elf looked 'well rounded'
Hands
And this is where the 'delay' occurred. After dislocating my finger in volleyball I had to 'abandon' her for about a week and resumed over the weekend.
I started with the hands giving her long and lean 'magical' fingers. despite their tiny size, the hands took nearly as long as the face. I added as much detail as possible using a tiny needle and shaping tool to give her knuckles, fingernails, and finger joints. After sculpting the forearm and upper arm, then set aside to 'set' while I worked on the coat.
Fur Trimmed Coat
I had no 'real' plan for the coat, which makes it more 'fun' in my opinion. I mixed up some really dark red clay adding some pearl and glitter for a magical shimmer. I rolled, cut, smooched and tried again till I was happy with the result. I padded her upper back, shoulder, and lower neck with raw clay shaping it into the grooves to ensure maximum adhesion and support. I draped the coat 'body' over her back letting it hang towards the front. I capped the upper arms with short red 'sleeves' and attached to the shoulder. I added additional clay to mold the shoulders and support the hands.
The hood was a mystery in itself. I knew what I wanted but had NO idea how to shape it. I tried, shaped, cut, and tried again. and again, and again. I finally created the hood using 2 'off-squares' attached at the center, and ripped away at the extras ON the elf to get my exact idea.
The arms were still hanging precariously at her side awaiting the 'fur-trim'. In a future project I will trim the coat and THEN add the arms. Lucky for me, this didn't break. For the 'fur' I mixed White Premo with 'original sculpey'. I added a layer of 'fur' to the coat, hood, and sleeves. I used the softness of the Original Sculpey to my advantage and attacked it with a needle and blunt blade for the 'fuzzy fur' effect.
Now that all the sculpting and detailing was done, I secured the raw arms to the coat (attaching them here prevents them from flopping about. Alas, since the knees were already baked the hands refused to stay ON the knees, which left me with yet another puzzle
The Final Bake
This was one of the scariest hours of my life. dozens of hours of sculpting and more sculpting hung in the balance, to be determined by the results of this final bake. There are so many things that can go wrong in the oven. From scorching, to over-baking, distortions and breakage. I was terrified.
Raw/warm clay is extra week and will happily fall apart in the oven. I set the elf in a small baking pan, then lined, padded and secured every aspect as best I could.
I placed a small box wrapped in baking paper in the small of her back to support the hood and keep her from leaning back. I used a glass votive to hold that in place. I wrapped her right hand (the stubborn one) in a small strip of baking paper to hold it directly on the knee and secured with a paper clip. The other hand was secured to her side, and all was padded with paper towels and baking paper.
I positioned my TWO oven thermometers, did a quick calculation for the time needed, set the timer, and held my breath (and not just because of the baking clay odor). I stalked the oven, checking every 2 minutes to ensure the temperature was just right. About halfway through I placed a wet paper towel over her face (A trick I picked up from Katherine Dewey's Book) to help prevent the delicate facial features from scorching.
An hour later I checked the oven, and whew!! she looked ok. Allowing sculptures to cool slowly and evenly in the oven (by leaving the oven closed) increases their stability down the line. So I held of taking her out till hours later and breathed a serious sigh of relief.
THE SCULPTING WAS A SUCCESS
She now sits on my table awaiting 'hair and make-up'. I plan to complete these steps this weekend and unveil the final photos in my Newsletter early next week.
In the meantime, she Needs A Name!! Are you up for the challenge? See details for the contest in my last blog
HERE
Sculpting Santa's Sexy Elf - COMPLETE
Due to a volleyball injury, my elf sculpture got postponed for about a week. But last night, after dozens of sculpting hours, I FINALLY FINISHED!! well, the sculpting anyway. She now sits patiently on my table awaiting her 'tan' (baking) followed by 'hair and make-up'
Tomorrow's blog will give you a quick run-through from where I left off last time, all the way to the pre-baking stages.
But for now I want to share with you my newest brainstorm
NAME THE ELF CONTEST
(Teaser Photo)
The concept is simple. Every magical creature deserves a proper name. Can YOU pick the right one?
The Rules are fairly simple:
1 - Come up with the 'perfect' name
2 - Add a sentence or two explaining your reasoning/thought process
3 - SHARE THIS POST (this is a must) on your social network including Facebook, Twitter, Stumble or others
4 - Post the above as a comment below (include your social media 'announcement' link
Winner will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to my ArtFire Shop
Your chosen name will be the elf’s official name to be printed on her Birth Certificate of Authenticity’
Winner will be announced in my Newsletter when the final photos will be unveiled. (about a week or so)
If you haven’t signed up yet do so HERE
Facebook Users: Tag me HERE
Twitter Users: Mention me HERE
