The following sculptures are new, they took forever to make between drying, adding wet material, sculpting, drying, carving, and repeating that process over and over. The are available for sale on Etsy.com, while they last, they are one of a kinds. http://www.etsy.com/shop/clayworkman
The hand is made from Creative Paper Clay. Hand painted, as are the other two. For the paint I used what I had, which is very thin air brush paint, and only in primary colors, so I had to mix everything. It took awhile to get a smooth coat, not showing brush strokes. If you want to know how good of a sculptor you are; sculpt a hand. Plus the practice will help on doing other sculptures of the human form. The hand can look so wrong, so easily.
The Mermaid above I didn't want to paint at all. She looked good as white. She is sculpted with La Doll and the color and finish of La Doll is very nice. There was a little bleed through of some red from the box I used as a form for the rock she is laying upon. The red came through as a just a slight pink in her tail. That was ok, it was kinda cool looking. But later on some other blemishes showed up and I had to paint it. I'm sure the blemishes were my fault and not the fault with the clay. Since I had to paint her I wanted her to look kinda fishy and other-worldly. With the dark colors, she looks like she's in the moonlight, looking up at the moon or stars.
For this next sculpture I just wanted to make a quick, simple figurine. I did that, but I wasn't satisfied with simple, so I gave her a whip. Let me say here, this is a reflection of my sense of humor and not any preference. I think she looks like a simple figurine one would find from the 1950's, except for the whip. Judging by the people I work with, I know where most people's minds go upon seeing her holding a whip. But she could just be a lion tamer for all you know. I titled her "Lyin' Tamer" for a play on words. Or maybe she's virtuous and her prom date pissed her off. If you buy her, she can be whatever you want her to be. Here she is:
She is sculpted from Sculpey Air-dry Clay. I figured Sculpey would make a good clay that blends well. I was right. This is the easiest air-dry clay to sculpt I've come across, and dries harder. If you sand, you'll have to sand a little harder. It shrinks a bit when drying, and thin pieces can warp. I tried to make a base for the hand out of the Sculpey, didn't work. I used Creative Paper Clay for the base on the hand and it had less warp as it dried. I think I like Creative Paper Clay better. Creative Paper Clay is a little harder to work just because you have to smear in new material and shape it again. The Sculpey air-dry is cheaper too, but I didn't like the finish compared to Creative Paper Clay. I would leave Creative Paper Clay unpainted, I don't think Sculpey looks so great on it's own. Good points and bad points, like they all have.
