This Blog is Moving!

I'm moving my blog to whohungthemoon.com I hope you'll continue to follow, we haven't finished the moon yet!

Thanks!!

Sculpting the Moon

Okay, I forgot to mention it last time, but I'm sure you're way ahead of me and you thought of it yourself: you need to put eyelids on the other eye! Did you do that? If not go ahead and to that, same way as below. Oh, but do look at the eye on the other side so that they relate to each other. They don't have to match exactly (ours don't), but they do have to relate. Our moon probably won't be viewed straight on very much. In fact he'll look a bit funny from that angle, but we still want his eyes to relate. Trust me.

Now that that's done, we'll move on to the chin. Pinch off a chin-sized hunk of clay, and begin to shape it with your fingers. Again, it's sort of a C shape. Put it against your moon to see how it's going to fit and adjust accordingly. When you are happy (or close enough to happy) with it, wet the chin area with your finger and press the chin in place. Smooth the outer edges with your fingers. You'll probably be fine using just your fingers for this step; no details to worry about.

The Moon Continues

It's been awhile, but part of the fun of working with Creative Paperclay is that we can come back to it at any time (even years later!) and just pick it up and go on, so lets do it!

It's time for eyelids, upper and lower. We want a wide, C shape, not very thick, for the upper lid. Shape the clay, try it out to see how it fits. You can always cut some away with your X-Acto knife if you have too much. When you're happy with the shape wet the area above the eye with your finger and press the eyelid onto the moon. Use your fingers and tools to smooth the clay and shape it on the eyeball. You want a clean edge on the eye, check you own eyes in a mirror for reference.

Take a smaller piece of clay for the lower lid. The lower lid has a bit of a curve, but it's generally not as pronounced as the upper lid. Keep the clay thin, if it's too thick your moon will have puffy eyes. Again, once you have the clay in a shape you like, wet the area on the moon with your finger, place the clay and smooth it with your tools and fingers. Smooth out the edges of the clay as much as possible so you don't have to fight them later.

The moon has eyelids!

Who Sculpted the Moon (new eyes pictures)

Who Sculpted the Moon? (new eyes)

Now it's time to put the eyes in their proper place.

Take a piece of clay out of the bag. Since you're going to need two eyes you can sculpt both eyes at the same time if you want, but do remember that you'll have to be careful not to squish one while working on the other when you put them on the moon. It is easier to get them the same size if you do the eyeballs together though. Do it one of two ways (I suggest trying both and seeing which is most comfortable for you). You can make a football of the proper size and carefully cut it in half with your X-Acto knive, or you can take two pieces of clay the same size and shape them into flat backed football shapes. There, pretty simple, isn't it?

Decide where the eyes should go. Look at the moon both from the sides and from the front to be sure of where to put the eyes. Mark it with a pencil if it's easier to keep track of the placement that way. Using your finger wet the area on one side and place the eye on the moon, making sure that the angle of the eye is confortable. Smooth the edges with your fingers and/or your tools. Repeat with the other eye on the other side!

Let the eyes dry!

Who Sculpted the Moon? III

One of the many things I love about working with Creative Paperclay is how forgiving it is. If I'm not happy with something I can change it at any time, even after it's dry.

The eyes are in the wrong place and they need to be fixed! I just use a sharp X-Acto blade and laying the knife as flat as possible against the moon, carefully cut the eyes off the moon.

Voila! No more problems with the eyes!

Who Sculpted the Moon's Nose?

Now, the nose!

Pull a hunk of clay out of the bag. It's going to take a little practice to be able to gauge how much clay you'll need to make a nose for whatever size face you're working on, but not to worry, you can always add or subtract to, or from, whatever you have pulled out! Use your hands to begin shaping your clay into a nose. It's going to be triangular shaped, flat backed, very thin at the top. Again, look at your nose in a mirror if that helps.

Use your finger to wet the nose area on the moon and press the nose onto the space. Smooth out the edges with your fingers. Use your tools to put detail into the nostrils and the flesh around the nostrils.

Who Sculpted the Moon's Nose?

Okay, the nose is done, we'll let it dry!

BUT. Do you see the problem with the eyes? They're not in the right place; too low and at an odd angle. They're sitting where the cheek should be! I'm adding the picture with the odd cropping, it's more obvious in this one. In the next post I'll show you how easy it will be to fix them (the magic of working with Creative Paperclay!).

Who Sculpted the Moon?

Hey!

I'm working on a 15" hanging crescent moon, with a face, want to come along?

It's Creative Paperclay over a Styrofoam base. I cut a large circle of Styrofoam into a crescent shape and covered it with a thin coat of clay. I've already put flat-back egg shapes on each side of the crescent in the area where the eyes will be (in fact, these will later become the eyes!).

Oh, by the way, if you haven't worked with Creative Paperclay before you have to keep it in an air tight container. It starts to dry immediately. I use a zip-top baggie; a quart size one holds a pound of clay perfectly. Also when you are adding clay to clay, or clay to any surface for that matter, you must wet the clay (or the surface) first. If it's clay just dampen it, too much water will give the clay a mealy texture.

There are two ways of sculpting the face (or anything for that matter),; you can sculpt one feature at a time, allowing for drying time before adding the next feature; or you can sculpt wet into wet with no drying time between features. There are pros and cons to both methods. The former gives you more control, but it takes longer of course. The latter is more spontaneous, but it is so easy to "mess up" what one has done when one is working on top of wet clay. For this moon we're going to sculpt a feature and allow it to dry before adding another. Since it's two-sided there is too much opportunity to "mess up" what we've already sculpted.

First take out a hunk of clay (reseal the baggie) and start to shape it into an upper lip. If you haven't done much sculpting keep a mirror handy and use yourself as a model. See how your upper lip is shaped. Not just the lip, but from your mouth to your nose, the whole section.

Figure where the lip should go. It's okay to draw the layout of the face on the moon with a pencil if it helps, it won't show when we're done. Dip your finger in water and wet the area where the upper lip is going to go. Press the lip onto the moon and smooth the upper and side edges. Use a tool to shape expression into the lip.

For sculpting I prefer antique manicure tools that I find at antique stores and flea markets. But one can also find good sculpting tools in the clay aisle at Michaels (and other craft stores) or on-line from Dick Blick. You can also get some wonderful handmade tools, for a reasonable price on etsy at http://www.amcreatures.etsy.com/

Now, take another hunk of clay, shape it into a bottom lip. This should include the lip and the face under the lip down to where it meets with the chin. The lower lip will have to follow the shape of the upper lip. Wet the space under the upper lip with your finger and press the lower lip onto the moon, smooth the edges down.

Use your tool to shape the expression. You can change the expression a lot at this stage, but be careful not to overwork it, you'll never get a natural expression if you overwork the mouth. Again, it helps to have a mirror handy so you can check your own lips for expression.

Prop your moon up so it can dry without smashing any of the hard work you've done!

Who sculpted the Moon? (More pictures)

More to follow!

Creative Paperclay

It's my favorite medium for sculpting.

Why Creative Paperclay you ask?

What's not to like?

It's easy to work with - It air dries, no kiln, no oven needed.

It's forgiving - You can change what you've done even after it dries, just cut off the part you don't like, wet the area you're going to add new clay to and start over!

It's versatile - It can be sculpted into faces, hands, rocks, walls. It can be draped for cloth. I've made figures ranging in size from 1.5" to 4.5' tall.

But most of all, for me, it's the surface when it's dry; it's just like paper (as the name implies?). I can draw on it with pencil, or paint it with watercolor or acrylic. It can take a wash or heavy coverage with paint, or the white clay can stand on it's own.

I love it. If you haven't tried it I highly recommend it.

Hello to the morning

First thing in the morning, when the light is soft and the house is quiet, I take my coffee into the studio. I sit and look at what I did the day before and think about what direction today should take. No extra light. No extra sound. It's bliss.

So many ideas, so little time....

Time is going way too fast these days. Is any one else feeling this way?

I have so many ideas and so much I want to do, but before I know it the day is over and I haven't gotten as much done as I had planned in the morning. About a year ago I got a "real" job; this seriously cuts down on my studio time, which, in turn (naturally),cuts down what I'm able to accomplish - BUT, it doesn't affect what I WANT to accomplish!

Here's a partial list:

1. Teach again. - Long ago I taught portrait & pastel workshops. I miss teaching, but now I'd like to teach sculpting and mixed media. Specifically sculpting in Ceative Paperclay, more people should learn how to use it!
2. Learn how to teach on-line. - This intrigues me.
3. Do an art show this fall. - It's been too long!
4. Build a body of work - for said show and for a gallery show.
5. Publish some work. - (Had some work published over 10 years ago, nothing recently).


I am working towards some of these goals and have made some progress, I'll post more about them soon.

Those of you who are also struggling to balance studio time with a full-time job and family obligations, how do you doing? Any tips? What comes first for you?

What to do today.

It's a gray, cold (for Florida) morning and I'm looking at the stuff on and around the work table in my studio. I'm not sure what I want to do today; not feeling ambitious.

There are some bits and pieces that were unearthed during the studio overhaul that could turn into something interesting, perhaps today is the day to start looking at them. Or it could be the day to read a good book.......

An Outing!

My friend Cindy and I went to the Mount Dora Arts Festival today. It's been years since I've been to an art fair as an attendee, not an exhibitor. What fun!

It was a beautiful day, although if I had had a booth set up I would have been a bit concerned about the wind. BUT, the sun played hide and seek with the clouds and kept the temperature from climbing too high. The crowds were incredible, it was hard to get through the streets. I don't know if people were buying anything, but it was nice to see so many people out enjoying art and the day. It made me long to do a show again and I plan to jury for one for this fall.

I haven't exhibited in an art fair since 2008, when I did the American Craft Council show in Atlanta and Mainsail in St Petersburg, Florida. Both are wonderful shows, but my sales just didn't cover expenses for either venue and I had to make the decision to get a "real" job. Never an easy choice to make, but sometimes it's necessary. In the past I have found that these times can be a time of growth and change in my art work and I look forward to seeing where this time will take me.

Today confirmed that I do want to do a show this year. I miss the sights, sounds and, yes the smells (who doesn't like the smell of kettle corn?) of an art show.