more sculpting tips

Have no fear...it takes time to get the hang of smoothing polymer clay. Some
tips....

If you like to garden like I do or just in general do 'stuff' around the
house... sometime 'rough hands' can cause problems.... I like to garden ..but
when I do..it messes up my smoothing of sculpts... so ages ago I started
'sanding' my fingers....I use those 'pink' gentle emery boards you can get at the
beauty supply..... I gently sand over each finger tips and then smooth on cream
.... works like a charm. I also use Rubbing Alcohol to smooth ...I use a
series of small soft brush...this helps to keep down finger prints and other
marks that get in the clay. I find too that in the summer...if I 'chill' my
finished head sculpt in the fridge and then lightly rub my sanded fingers over the
chilled sculpt...it helps smooth better as the clay is more firm. Try an
assortment of tools to smooth with...remember, metal like stainless steel does
not drag as badly over larger areas of clay like wood does... wood gathers oil
from the clay as you move it..and it tend to bunch of clay... unless you use a
smoothing solution with the wood. I like to use flat smooth agate stones for
smoothing larger areas. Try to sculpt on a stick instead of holding sculpt in
your hand...remember the more you handle the sculpt the more it will collect
marks.... The white specks could be from flaws in the clay to layering
clay..not sure which marks they are...could be several different types. You want to
check before baking to make sure that all specks, particles, possible air
pockets are removed.... do all smoothing before baking...so much easier....
Sometimes smoothing and final touches can take as long as the entire sculpt
can....

Be patient..it will pay off in the end...

Best,
Jodi
www.creagers.com

http://www.elvenwork.com/workbook.html

From The Art Room
of Annie Wahl
Baking Doll Parts

I use thick darning needles to stick up into the legs of my dolls before I bake the clay. I also put small pins into each finger that sticks out - or any digit that would appear vulnerable to breakage. Yes, the pin has to be bent to the shape of the finger. Just use a needle nose pliers to insert the pin and touch up the tip of the finger to hide the hole. I have a lot of good tips and points, but so does a porcupine-- more later. Find more information about Annie Wahl on the

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 10:07:54 -0700
From: "antalias" <antalias@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: How To Books

Dana:

http://www.norajean.com/Sculpt/RainingMen/AnatomyBookIndex.htm
This is the book I'd like to share with everyone who is interested in
sculpting and it is an anatomy book.

There's other sections of my site that focus on sculpting:

http://www.norajean.com/OnSiteDollsFigFace.htm
This is the older Dolls-Figures-Faces section of my site.

http://www.norajean.com/Sculpt/Index.htm
This section has a link to the index that deals with eyes alone.

http://www.norajean.com/MSAT/ClayArt/Swaps/Faces-NonSwap.htm
This is a section that only deals with sculpting the face and it has
input from the ClayMates as well as myself.

http://www.norajean.com/Rambles/pcVStc.htm
This is an overview of the difference with sculpting with polymer clay
and with earth clay or clay of one color. Pictures and other links
"flesh" out the theories on this page.

The MSATClayArt list has been focusing on sculpting as of late.
http://www.norajean.com/June-2003-Highlights.html
Check out the June 2003 Highlight page, we have men, women, full size,
mini size... sculpting of figures. You are all welcome to wander about
my site.

xoxo

NoraJean Gatine
Owner of MSATClayArt@yahoogroups.com

From: "Nooshin Hekmat" <lovescience77@hotmail.com>
Subject: Book

Here is a wonderful book that I recently bought from ebay, Sculpting dolls
in Cernit by Marleen Engeler. This can be purchased at 20.95 plus shipping
from this user in ebay :dollbooks
Wonderful book to teach how to sculpt basically

From: "Vickie Arentz" <vickiearentz@msn.com>
To: <Dollmakers@lists.dollmaking.org>
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:46:09 -0700
Subject: [Dollmakers] Smoothing clay

I like to lightly sand my pieces after baking. It may just be my way of
making use of all those soft sanding blocks left over from my manicurist days!
I use the fine white or dark gray sanding blocks you can buy at any beauty
supply store. After my clay pieces are oven cured, I sand them under a
dripping water faucet (keeps the dust particles from flying all over). Once
dry, the clay has a nice buffed look to it. Works like a charm on those arms
and legs that may have a small bump or dip in it. You can usually buff them
right out. But I'm one of those who, no matter how hard I try to get my clay
smooth I always end up with unwanted bumps, scratches or dips. Sanding works
for me and I suppose it's kind of a habit I've gotten into. I am finding that
as I get better I have to sand less & less.

Hi,
for anyone out there, working with la doll, here are some tips.
I always work in la doll, just like many dollmakers over here in Europe, we
tend to work with airdrying clay instead of polymere.
Here is how we paint it. Get yourself a very nice skinshade in acrylicpaint
Dilute it with water. Most of the time I take 1 part of paint and 1,5
parts of water, sometimes two parts of water. So now you have a very runny
paint.
You don't seal the clay. Start with your first coat of paint.... now this
looks horrible, you will see stripes, dark spots, light spots... don't fear.
The first coat will dry immediately, because it gets into the clay. Give
it a second coat. Doesn't like good either, lol... But take a piece of
cloth (when it's dry ) and rub over the clay. You do this to get rid of the
little hairs you might see after those two coats, they are the little fibers
in the clay.
Now give your doll 5 more coats of paint, yes, you're reading this correctly
7 coats of paint, to get an even shade, if the paint doesn't look even
after 7 coats you may want to add more coats of paint.
Remember, it's better to give the doll 9 coats of paint than to give it 2
coats...; the skintone will look very nice and even, just like porcelain.
After the last coat DO NOT TOUCH THE DOLL WITH YOUR FINGERS !!!!!!
Because of the skingrease, it will leave marks when adding the make-up !!!!

Paint the mouth, the nails, hold your pieces with a Kleenex.
Now get yourself some very good powdermake-up. Just some brown and red
tones. Powder the skin, and you'll get a very natural look. I use a fine
brush to add shadow on the eyelids, and your natural powder puff for the
face, body and hands.
When you have used glass eyes, take a bit of Kleenex, make it wet, and stick
it on the eyes. Now get a very good brand of matte varnish and spray the
doll about three times, again, very thin layers of varnish.
Now your doll is painted and sealed.
Want to see how it looks ? Just check out my website, almost all of the
dolls are made with la doll !!!!
Any more questions ? Just email me !

hugs,
Claudine

From: "Traveler in Thyme" <marcia@moment.net>
Subject: sculpting info

Now, I don't use any of the oven fired polymer clays----
besides being deadly allergic to all sorts of chemical smells,
I just never can get the plastic feeling clay to work right in my hands. My
work is mostly resculpting fashion dolls, not making babies, so my favourite
medium is MagicSculp.

http://www.magicsculp.com/
for their web site with tutorials

This is a two-part resin that sets up hard in 4 hours, too stiff to move in
about one hour (work fast!!), and is a creepy greeny grey that has to be
painted. BUT it is fine textured, very responsive, non toxic, easy to work
with, and sticks to the vinyl or wood or clay base doll. This is how we
add those fairy ears to Barbie!

Also, unlike Paperclay, Magic Sculp is permanent, waterproof, unbreakable,
and makes dolls you can really PLAY with. Originally developed to mend boat
hulls, it is totally weatherproof for outdoor sculptures. A wire armature
is helpful for durability, balls of aluminum foil work for padding the
armature, it's just a lot of fun to work with (except for the grey colour).

Here are some before and after shots of resculpted 16-inch Trent Osborn
dolls by Ashton Drake Gallery.
http://www.travelerinthyme.com/Dolls/Trent/
Some of them are anatomically correct (perhaps we'll get some baby dolls
after all, LOL).

I wish I were a good enough sculptor to make an original doll with jointed
body......shoulder plate dolls just don't sell to my clientele.

Thank you for all the info available on this list.
It is very interesting to read.

--Marcia Cash
Traveler in Thyme

Loved all the hints from Jane about using "Bounce." Am definitely
saving all that! But I have another use for you that is specifically doll
related. If you are making faery wings of sheer fabric that doesn't have
the weight to stay stiff and upright, use some Wonder Under and fuse it to a
couple of used and ironed Bounce sheets. Spray the whole thing with high
gloss acrylic spray. Then cut out and make your wings.

Cinnamon

Smoothing Polymer Clay:
Smmothing Super Sculpey:
Chuck's advice about mixing black or white polymer colors with the infamous
translucent pink super sculpey is sound advice. Mix small amounts by hand (after washing them) by the old coil and twist together technique until all color differences disappear. Some folks use a food processor to machine mix polymer clays. Others use the world famous "Atlas' stain steel pasta rolling mill to mix polymer clay colors. You can reclaim older drier polymer clay by mixing with newer softer clay to get rid of the dry and toughen up the overly mushy new clay. I 've been using pink super sculpey for almost 10 years now. The transluscent or transparant look to super sculpey PINK makes it very tricky to render uniform broad smooth surfaces just by looking at the sculpture until it is painted with primer or baked. It is essentail to have very good lighting conditions when sculpting to see what the heck you are doing to the clay surfaces, especially at the finish! One thing to do while sculpting is to vary the pressure of your touch when coming down to the finish line. This is essentail to getting smooth broad areas and good fine details. Save the faster heavy handed touch for the rough in stages. If you slow down a little, you'll be able to sense imperfections on broad surfaces with your touch better than your eyes! Slowly glide your finger tip and tools over these areas and you will sense depressions and raised areas.
A great tool aide for finishing clay stages are the line of art paint erasers which come in about 3 varying hardnesses of silicone-tipped mutli-shapes. My favorite eraser shapes are the conical shapes, but these shapes come in many scales and designs, so choose which you like the best. By using rolling and sliding tool motions and combos of roll/slide with these erasers, broad surfaces can be eased into more finished stages.
Check your body symmetry by placing thumb and fore finger on each side of the body to touch-sense differences in surfaces on left and right halves of the sculpture. Choose whixh side looks righter and match other side to the correct side.
Using a "rake" tool to clean up broad surfaces is a classic technique. Make a rake using a jeweler's saw blade into a loop, wire type, before smoothing.
You can make many wire loop tool shapes with wire and brass tubing and crimp the inserted wire at the brass inlet.
Another tip is to sand after baking! You cannot get away with without doing this step! I use 300 grit wet dry sand paper in sheet form. You will see the raised areas as lighter when sanded and depressions as the darker unsanded. My smoothing fluid after sanding, finishes everthing to perfection. Patience is the key to success. Never rush to get a sculpture baked! when you find yourself with that atitude, STOP WORKING! Come back to it LATER!
Wayne THE DANE Hansen figuredane@aol.com
www.waynethedane.bizland.com
www.waynethedane.bizland.com