Friday, June 22, 2018

How to Create an Artdoll Bust with Creative Paperclay®



Hello everyone! My name is Cinnamon Willis and I am going to show you all how to create an Artdoll bust using Creative Paperclay®.

Supplies
  • Chicken/poultry Wire
  • Thin wire
  • Pliers
  • Scissors
  • Creative Paperclay®
  • Newspaper
  • Masking tape
  • Sand paper
  • Wool
  • Acrylic paint
  • Sealer, Varnish
  • Fabric
  • Needle and thread
  • Aleene's Tacky glue


Start with a sheet of chicken wire, cut it down to the size you would need it to be for the head, neck and shoulders for your piece. Start shaping it with your hands and pliers, be careful not to poke yourself. I usually take the ragged ends of the chicken wire and fold them into each other. Take the lose wire and weave it if needed to fasten the ends of the chicken wire together.


Take your masking tape and wrap it around the piece completely. You could paint a layer of gesso on top of the tape so that the clay could adhere better to it, or you could cover it with a layer of newspaper with paper mache paste as I have done here. The paste could be as simple as water mixed with flour if you take that route.


Which ever way you decide to go, make sure that the piece is dry before you start adding the clay to it.




Start adding clay to the base. Once the piece is dry, you could begin working on the details such as the face shape and features. This can be done by adding a drop of water onto the places that you would like to add clay to and blending the new clay into it. Don’t worry about getting things perfect when working with moist paper clay, most of the sculpting is done when it is dry.

Allow the piece to dry for roughly 30 hours depending on how thick the layer of clay is. This can also be sped up with a toaster oven set to approximately 200- 220 degrees. Make sure to check on it every twenty minutes to ensure it doesn’t get burned.


Use an exacto knife to carve out features and sand the details until you are satisfied with them. This takes a few attempts of building up with the clay and taking it away to get things right or close to how you would like them. When I am happy with the piece, I use a 400 grit sandpaper to get the piece smooth.


When you are done with sanding, you can paint your piece. I use acrylic paint, soft pastels, and sometimes colored pencils for the details.


When I am done with this process I use a sealant to protect the paint job. I like the results I get from the Winsor and Newton Matt varnish, as you can see, it gives the doll a nice satin finish.


At this stage I add the hair. I like to use wool since the strands are thin and don't look like spaghetti in proportion to the size of my dolls. You can use hair from the hair shop as well, but keep the thickness of the strands in mind, and figure out what is right for you. I use Aleene's Tacky glue to attach the hair to the piece.

When you are done with the hair, you can now make an outfit out of fabric for the piece and adorn as you would like.

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope that you enjoyed today's tutorial! You can find Creative Paperclay® at the below listed retailers.


2 comments:

Cindy said...

Wow! I am very impressed! That bust is awesome and so creative. You make it look so easy that I do believe I'm going to try this out soon. Thank you

LaLa said...

This is a very interesting approach for a bust sculpt! I always love getting to see how others put things together. She is so smart looking!