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?