How to create a hollow Creative Paperclay® art doll
June 2017 Tip By Gloriann Irizarry
#artbygloricom
Wow, it is almost summer!
Weather is finally warming up, birds are chirping, and kids are playing outside. In this June tip I will include the way I make my art dolls hollow so that they are lighter and can be attached to the painted canvas to be easier displayed. I love making these girls: they are so much fun to make and they look great inside shadow boxes. Here is the process I came up with to make it a lot easier to remove all the inside armature without destroying the piece. It is easy to do so if you follow my instructions.
And if you DO like this post, feel free to share it with all your friends!
Materials
Heavy Duty Aluminum foil
Paper Scotch Tape
I like to use heavy duty aluminum foil because it is a lot stronger and thus easier to manipulate to create a strong armature for working on your art doll.
Find a shape that you want to use as the base for your figure and lightly shape and recreate it by manipulating the aluminum foil.
You can use your hands, hammers or the tape to hold the shape in place.
Make sure to move the piece around and that it lays flat - this will help you be able to create a even surface so you can later easier add your sculpture to the canvas.
Turn the piece over and create a string with the scotch tape so you can later attach a pen, pencil, or chopstick (something strong to assist you in pulling the final piece away from the armature).
Grab another sheet of aluminum foil.
Lay it flat over the already sculpted aluminum foil armature.
Press around the armature very lightly.
Work all the corners and edges so they are clean with the flat surface of the table.
Now you can roll a clay sheet to a 1/4 thickness and wrap it around the armature.
Make sure you press the clay all around the armature to make it lay flat, then set it aside to dry. I recommend you let it dry overnight or set it in the oven at very low heat for an hour or two depending on the size and thickness your sculpt.
This is how the back of the piece will look once the clay is laid over your foil armature:
Once the piece is dry, attach the pen or stick of your choice to help you remove the main armature core from your piece.
The image above shows how your figure will look like once the core is removed. Go ahead and carefully pull the aluminum foil away. Now it is normal that you may find a damp soft spot under this foil layer so be very careful when removing it.
This is how the final dry Creative Paperclay® hollow piece should look.
I hope you have enjoyed this article. If you find it helpful, feel free to share it!
Sincerely
Gloriann Irizarry
Social media @artbygloricom #artbygloricom
this is very cool!!... I love these art dolls!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I love making them they are so much fun
DeleteWow - great tip. I wish I could make art dolls like this!
ReplyDelete