New Sculpt in Progress...Veronica's tail tips

Here's sneak peak at how I got Veronica into this tricky-to-sculpt position:

Had to resculpt a bit at this point and add more to her thighs, and thin her calves a bit....

"Glass" eyes tutorial/videos in the works....

From here:

To here:

It's going to be awesome!  I love the lifelike feel they give!  The commissioned mermaid had eyes just like these (see last post).

New Merbaby on its way and Posable Baby Tutorial

Today I spent working on another little merbaby.  She's just getting started. I took this picture to help me see her symmetry better.  I've got some work to do!

I finished a little tutorial on how to create a posable baby doll.  I can't wait for winter time so I can find more of these cute, furry gloves to turn into baby bodies!

Baby Mermaid and Tail Comparison

I used the Angelina Film for this little cutie...in need of hair. I think this was "butterfly blue."

And Fantasy Film for my lady mermaid. The Angelina seemed to darken much more and went black in a few areas where the heat gun got a bit hot. The Fantasy Film hasn't done this. It stays more pastel, but I've never seen it blacken or burn. Both are cool effects, depending what you are after.

Chest Progress

These pics are actually in opposite order. Picasa has been tricky for uploading but the easiest I've found so far. So scroll down to the bottom. I started with a ball of clay cut in half (to ensure even sizing) and then work the clay in with my wooden tool.

A foot takes form (Kyle)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baking Kyle

I bake my sculpts over a bed of stuff (Polyfill) and am sure to support their bends and extended limbs with more fluff. I'm still shopping for a convection oven I like well enough to use for all my sculpts. In the meantime, I use a home oven, and bake the sculpts in this roasting pan. It minimizes the amount of chemicals that get into the oven itself.

Here is a shot of Kyle before and after he is sanded. In the second picture, he is still wet from the wet sand paper I use.  I start with 320 grit and work my way to 1000 or so.  I have up to 1500 left over from when I used to make jewelry and barrettes.  I usually don't make my sculpt THAT slick...they'd be glass-like.  But, one pack of this paper lasts forever!

Notice how he's pretty lumpy in the above pictures.  I always sand.  Polymer clay expands a bit when it is baked so no matter how smooth your sculpt it, the clay will come out a little uneven, due to the way it expands. 

Tutorial: Sculpting Kyle's Legs

I've finished sculpting the top half of Kyle and I've heat set him with a heat gun, to just bake the top a bit. His tummy is still soft clay, for blending into his leg clay. I've handled his armature so much, I'll need to rewrap that leg.

He's got a nice face and dimpled chin.

Notice I just gave him a partial butt to begin with. Here I'm just adding on more pancakes of clay.

I keep the clay I've run through the pasta machine in sheets wrapped in Glad Wrap.

I fill out both legs at once. Notice he's missing a butt.

A thick pancake will take care of that.

Filling in this gap with a small pancake.

Smoothing out another butt cheek. I use my wooden tool first, then smooth with my fingers.

Ta-da!

Filling in the legs.

I add a fake foot to get keep my proportions right.

Notice how he's missing his muscles above the knee.

Good quads give a leg a manly look.

It's normal for the sculpts to be pretty lumpy at this state. I'll smooth him well just before baking and then sand him a bit, but he'll be mostly smooth already.

Keeping his lower half under wraps as he waits for more attention tomorrow.