Creative Spark – Polymer Clay Techniques – Sculpting

Posted by Pepe Newton on 6/21/10   |   Categorized as For Buyers

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Before I began making jewelry seriously I had come across polymer clay only once or twice.  As a kid I played about a bit with it I guess, its great fun – a bit like plasticine but when you bake it in the oven it hardens and is really tough. You might have heard the brand names Fimo, Premo or Sculpey? That’s polymer clay. I work a little with this stuff now and then to make beads and sculpted critters but there are so many different techniques that produce wonderful results I wanted to share some great works of art that can be found on etsy and explain some of the the techniques in a series of Sparky articles.

Here goes – number 1 is simple sculpting.  Just like clay, you can work polymer clay into all manner of weird, wild and even wooly things…

Miniatures are my favorites.  This one is a fabulous illustration of how glaze can be used on polymer clay to a create beautiful finish after baking.

Peach Pie - Preparation table

Peach Pie - Preparation table

Cutting out shapes and shmooshing them together is a very helpful method when creating polymer sculptures, and you can simply sand away any thumbprints after baking.  But the lovely softness of the surface of this work takes a lot of careful smoothing, a very important step that many polymer artists forget!

lovely and cute deer in the forest

lovely and cute deer in the forest

If you can sculpt with clay you can sculpt with polymer – how cute are these guys?!

custom your pet cake topper and keep it forever, by patysclay

custom your pet cake topper and keep it forever, by patysclay

In this piece you can see how polymer can be made to look like virtually any other medium – even metal, all you need is a bit of imagination (and an oven).

Mechanical Birdie v.2.0 - Fully Customizable - Freestanding Industrial Steampunk Bird

Mechanical Birdie v.2.0 - Fully Customizable - Freestanding Industrial Steampunk Bird

These just make me hungry.

Candy and Chocolate - Handmade Dollhouse Miniature

Candy and Chocolate - Handmade Dollhouse Miniature

and these are really clever!

ANY 6-Letter word in ASL Your Choice

ANY 6-Letter word in ASL Your Choice


Next week I’ll be showing you some of the amazing effects of combining various colored polymer clays. Please feel free to post a comment or share a link to your own sculpted polymer creations.


  • http://speranzajewelry.com Speranza Jewelry

    This is a great post, and I love the examples you've shown. Question for you: What is the safest glaze or sealer for use with jewelry, since it will be worn on the skin.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/ejorpin ejorpin

    Fantastic finds – I especially love the mechanical bird and the peach pie prep table. It's really quite amazing what can be produced from something that's often viewed as 'just' a kids toy. Totally opened up my eyes, anyway…Perhaps you can kick start a polymer clay resurgence, similar to the way that 'nanna' crafts are super hip now!

  • pepe

    Hi, in answer to your question I only use the custom branded glazes by Sculpey, that way I can be sure it will be the best thing for their product. It may be a little expensive but at least you know it will last.

    Cheers,
    Pepe

  • pepe

    lol, thanks! wait 'til you see teh stuff i have prepared for next week!!

  • http://www.brendasalzano.com brenda salzano

    I love that first photo, very well done, and you are right, the sanding and making sure the thumb prints should be off is something we forget sometimes. Course for me, age 60, I cannot see the thumbprints anyway! LOL, but others can. Love your post!

  • http://indigoflameworks.etsy.com Indigo Flameworks

    What a great article…makes me want to start sculpting!!! Very inspirational!!

  • http://www.monsterkookies.com Kimberly Hart

    Personally, I use good old Varathane. (I'm the one who made the Mechanical Bird shown in this article) You gotta make sure it is the gloss finish and make sure it is the waterbased formula, as well. Varathane uses IPN technology (interpenetrating polymer networks) so it really sticks to the polymer clay nicely. And it won't irritate the skin. AND it is way cheaper than Sculpey glaze but works much better – Sculpey glazes tend to get gloopy. You can get a nice big 1L tin of Varathane for around $20.00. :)

  • http://www.handmadespark.com/blog/creative-spark-polymer-clay-techniques-color/ Creative Spark – Polymer Clay Techniques – Color | Handmade Spark

    [...] my last article on polymer clay I talked about sculpting – of course there so many other things you can do with polymer clay. In this second article [...]

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