How to Make a Puzzle Portrait

Hello everyone! My name is Cinnamon Willis and I am going to show you how I created this puzzle. I chose to create another piece with Alphie the Robot from one of my childhood toys. He is a reoccurring theme in some of my lighter work, but you can paint whatever you'd like for this project!

Supplies:

• Creative Paperclay®
• Wax paper or plastic wrap
• Plastic knife or Kemper straight needle
• Exacto knife
• Acrylic paint
• Sanding paper

Start by flattening out your clay. I flattened out the clay by hand but you can use a rolling pin or something similar to get it more uniform.

The next few steps need to be done while the clay is still moist! Cut the ends off of your puzzle to create a rectangle or whatever shape you decide on your puzzle being. I am using a Kemper straight needle but you can use anything you have in  your home such a a plastic knife or even a bobby pin!

I googled jigsaw puzzles online to make sure that I was creating the correct pattern for my puzzle. A bobby pin or Kemper needle would suffice for creating these shapes. Make sure that you dig deep enough when you are creating the lines on these pieces. It can be a bit difficult to separate the pieces after the clay dries without breaking them. Set the piece aside to dry.

After the puzzle dries, you may need to go back and weed out the pieces with an exacto knife. This is what it looked like after drying.

I am cleaning up some of the edges that needed to be better separated. Take your time on this part so that you don't cut into the side of the puzzle that shouldn't be cut.

This is what the pieces looked like after trimming them out.

Take your sanding paper and smooth out the rough edges. I am using a 400 grit paper here.

When you are happy with the amount of smoothness that you get from sanding, plot out your sketch with pencil to prepare to paint. Put the pieces really close together to get the best drawing that you possibly can

Start painting your pieces with acrylic paint. Make sure to paint the top as well as the sides of the puzzle. It makes a big difference when you look at the piece from the top. The white edges will distract from the picture.

Here's to another piece added to my Alphie collection!

Thank you all once again for stopping by, and I hope that you enjoyed today's tutorial! You can find Creative Paperclay® at the following retailers Creative Paperclay® Online Store, Michael's, Amazon, Joann's.

See more of my work at Melandolly.com, catch updates on 

my Instagram page and here is a link to my shop!