First experience with clay
Most of us have made those heavy, clay ashtrays in kindergarten.
Most hated it.
But now is the chance to pick up clay modeling again.
And not by making more ashtrays, but by modeling those things you really
like. Of course, I don't know what you like, but I'll share some of my modeling experiences
with you to give you examples of what you can do.
Years ago, I started to make small models with clay that hardens on air.
It was really awkward to use because you had to wet it, knead it thoroughly, and then use
it quite fast before it dried out.
Inspiration
It was by a book from Ria Odijk, a Dutch lady who makes all kind of clay
dolls, ranging from historic figures to wizards and elves, that I really had my eyes opened and
knew what I wanted with clay, and how to do it.
In her book, she described a method for making a realistic modeled head,
hands and feet for dolls using polymer clay. The body was made of real materials,
using cloth, leather, feathers, etc. The dolls were almost 10 inch high.
A new method
Being a student at that time, I didn't want to spend too much clay on those models
and I wanted to make the body from clay too, so I make them a lot smaller, about 4 inch high.
Because I made the bodies of clay too, I had to develop my own method of making the clay
models and creating armatures so the figures would stay in shape.
On these pages I want to present this method.
© Copyright note. These pages are the work of the
author
(me, unless otherwise stated)
and are presented for private use only,
free of any compensation (although an e-mail once in a while is nice).
Every other use, like distributing these pages in whatever form, is prohibited without the
approval of the
author (me, unless otherwise stated).
Years ago, I started to make small models with clay that hardens on air. It was really awkward to use because you had to wet it, knead it thoroughly, and then use it quite fast before it dried out.
Inspiration
It was by a book from Ria Odijk, a Dutch lady who makes all kind of clay dolls, ranging from historic figures to wizards and elves, that I really had my eyes opened and knew what I wanted with clay, and how to do it.In her book, she described a method for making a realistic modeled head, hands and feet for dolls using polymer clay. The body was made of real materials, using cloth, leather, feathers, etc. The dolls were almost 10 inch high.
A new method
Being a student at that time, I didn't want to spend too much clay on those models
and I wanted to make the body from clay too, so I make them a lot smaller, about 4 inch high.
Because I made the bodies of clay too, I had to develop my own method of making the clay
models and creating armatures so the figures would stay in shape.
On these pages I want to present this method.
© Copyright note. These pages are the work of the author