Santa Gnome Ornament

Hi I'm Susie Krichbaum of Art by Susie K and new design team member at Creative Paperclay®.  Join me every 2nd Friday starting November 11th, 2019 for tutorials, tips and tricks using Creative Paperclay®   and    DelightTM air dry modeling compound to create the fun and unique.

A little bit about me: I'm located in sunny  SW Florida and in my studio is where I spend most of my days. I create peculiar characters that tell a story - from the oddly sweet to the peacefully zen.  I pull inspiration from me Irish Roots, the allure of nature, fascination with strange tales and a love for Halloween.  I have been published several times in Art Doll Magazine and Prim Magazine and have exhibited my art at Spirits in Sanford Art Show in Orlando, FL, Hauntizaar Halloween Art show in St. Petersburg, FL and Heart of Halloween Art Show in Cumming, GA.  

I have been using Creative Paperclay® modeling compound since 2009 and it’s become my favorite clay to use.  For this tutorial I am using both Creative Paperclay®   and    DelightTM air dry modeling compound to create this almost feather light Christmas ornament.  I hope you enjoy browsing the pictures and have fun creating your own unique Santa Gnome.    Just for kicks I included a fast motion video at the bottom of the page, one of the sculpting process and one of the painting and embellishing process.   Sometimes it’s fun to watch the hands work (even though I go out of frame a few times, but I’ll get better at that). 

Supplies:

Creative Paperclay® and DelightTM air dry modeling compound  (I used both / option to use one or the other is fine)

18 Gauge wire (I buy at a hardware store like Home Depot)

Foil

Masking tape

Small cup of water

Paper towels

Tools for cutting the wire

Clay tools (optional)  fingers work very well

rolling pin or large dowel, smooth bottle etc

Lace or doily

 White and red paint

Antique medium

Varnish or sealant  (here I'm using a brush on so it stays sticky for the glitter)

Red glitter

Clear glitter

Small piece of garland or ribbon

The most import thing on the list is to have fun and make it your own, add your own twist and see what you come up with. 

  Creating the Armature

Cut a piece of 18 gauge wire about 20" long and make a soft fold or loop joining the two ends together.  Start to twist the wires about 6" from the top. 

You end up with a little fish with the body roughly 5" long.  Everyone will have slightly different measurements.  No Gnome is the Same :)

Pull off about a 10" sheet of foil and start to form it to fit in the middle of your "fish" shape

Setting inside the wire and keeping it to about 1" wide from front to back.   Using the armature gives strength to the piece as well as helping you use less clay and have a lighter piece.  

Secure the foil in place with masking tape.  Tape also give the clay something to hang onto during the modeling process.

Now you look like you've created a bug with long antennas, here in Florida it's the making of the worst kind of bug we have, la cockroach!!

Adding the Clay

I started with the Creative Paperclay® air dry modeling compound.  Taking ball about the size of a ping pong ball and started rolling it out on a flat clean surface.  Flattening to about 1/4" thickness.  Pull the flat pancake of clay off the surface and lay it back down, dip fingers in some water and get the top surface damp. I prefer not to over wet the clay.  If you see a lot of cracks then adding more water is a good idea.  Working with clay too wet or too dry makes me a sad gal.   

Start to wrap your clay around the masking taped area of your piece.  Trim off the extra and with wet fingers work the clay into a nice smooth piece.  

Marking and making a small indention where I want the nose to be.  Also placing a line just above the nose to mark how far the hat will come down.   The is when I start to use the DelightTM air dry clay.  I model right over the first layer of clay that serves as a sturdy base.  

Wet the area where you want the nose to go and place a small ball of clay in place.  You can go any size you want, his nose is his only form of expression so you can be creative here.  

Roll out some logs of DelightTM clay to start to form the beard.  I started the beard from the line where the hat will meet all the way down to the bottom of the piece.  Have fun with the design here, I gave him a wavy beard, but a straight beard you work just as well.  

Starting to swirl like an ice cream cone.

I decided to leave the back plain for a signature or maybe dating the Christmas year or a simple Christmas message.

Adding some texture to the beard. Use a sharp point, even a straight pin or tooth pick will work well. Adding texture is an important step in making your piece pop with details.  We will be adding a stain to the entire piece and this is when you will really see some definition take place.  

  More clay and texture for the hat

The hat needs some life.  So Adding a generous 1/4" thick piece of DelightTM clay to the hat only. I cut one edge of the pancake in a straight line to form the bottom edge of the hat.  Wet one side of the clay and place the straight edge of the clay where the line was drawn just above the nose and beard lines.  

Wrap the clay around the hat area and trim off the excess.  

Yay!  more texture.  I am using a doily here to press in some interesting impressions onto the clay.  This is a fun technique to use and super easy.   Do as much or as little as you want.  

There he is all ready to dry overnight.  In the morning he will get a good ole' sanding and paint job.  

Sand, paint, glaze and embellish

Using a fine grit sand paper start to gently smooth out the rough areas, but don't sand away all the texture details.  Use a damp cloth to remove the clay dust.

Using gesso or a white full body acrylic paint, coat the entire piece with paint and let dry.  Don't forget to paint the nose.  I used a flesh tone mixed with red. 

Start by painting the hat.  I used red, but any color will do.  The paint extended right to the bottom edge.  We will be adding a little white trim after it dries.  

After all the paint has dried it's time to add some antique medium.  I start by doing this in sections, starting with the beard or white section start to quickly cover the with the medium and be ready to start wiping it off with a damp cloth or paper towel. 

Using the paper towel to remove 99% of the medium, but allowing it to sink into the texture and around the bottom of the hat like a shadow.

I also use Q tips to get into the small spaces.

Repeat the antiquing for the hat.  

Allow everything to dry before adding a glaze.   I used a brush on glaze so it would remain tacky to allow glitter to stick.  

I started with the hat and glazed only the red.  This way I can shake some red glitter on the hat and it won't get stuck in the beard or white fur around the hat.  

Tadaa!  Little red sparkle hat and I couldn't resist adding a touch of glitter to the nose.  

Repeat for the beard and hat fur and add white glitter.  Loop the wire in an attractive way and cut off any excess.    

Add a sprig of holly or tinsel.  Personalize by painting the date, name etc on the hat.  Make it your own and have fun with it. 
Click here to see the video for the sculpting process

Thank you all so very much for visiting and taking a look at this tutorial.  I hope to see you again in December.   

I invite you to visit my website and other social media platforms to see what I'm creating for the holidays.  

Happy Thanksgiving,

Susie Krichbaum

Contact: Susiewhc@gmail.com

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