How to Create a Bas Relief Sculpture: Revisited

Hello everyone, Cinnamon here and I am going to show you how I created this relief sculpture portrait.

I've done this tutorial sometime last year for the piece on the left, but I wanted to revisit this project to push the details a bit further. It's always a good idea to be critical of your work and see where you can make improvements as an artist. 

Supplies:

• Creative Paperclay®
• Small hand roller or something to flatten out clay
• Exacto knife 
• Sand paper
• Wire bristle brush
• Saran wrap
• plastic knife

I chose to create my own silhouette from an image I found online in a computer illustrating program, you can make a sketch by hand if you want instead. This is a portrait from the project when I first did I last year. I chose to add some flowers to the neckline.

I took the silhouette and printed it out to the size that I wanted the portrait to be. Again, you can just do this by hand and not get on the computer to do this step if you choose. I put some saran wrap over the print so that the clay doesn't stick to the paper. This allows me to move my piece around and be able to check the progress without damaging the paper guide underneath.

I began to take my clay and started working on the shape over the portrait guide. You can use a plastic knife or anything that allows you to sculpt little details while the clay is still pliable. It's important to get your basic shape down at this point so that you don't have to do as much sanding and cutting into the clay later.

Keep building up the piece and focus on getting the profile to the point where you would like it to be.  

I used this ball point tool to add some texture to the hair by slightly pressing it into the clay

I knew that I wanted the piece to have a headband and a lot more details then the last one, so I kept building the pieces up as I went long and making adjustments as I go. 

 

Here I am experimenting with adding flowers to the base of the sculpt and I started experimenting with earrings to add to the piece. I also filled in some of the face like in the cheek area and around the forehead.

I was not happy with the hair at this point, I used this wire bristle brush to add some texture for a new hairstyle. 

I changed the hairstyle into dreadlocks to challenge myself since I've never sculpted them before. I used the wire brush here to give the type of texture that looked like real hair to me for the dreads. I set the piece aside to allow it to dry. I changed the earrings as well.

After the piece dried, I used a 1600 grit piece of sandpaper to get the piece to have a high gloss sheen to it. This is how she turned out.

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!

.  

Create a Faux Bronze Bust with Creative Paperclay ®

Hello everyone! My name is Cinnamon Willis and today's tutorial is going to show you all how to create a faux bronze bust using Creative Paperclay®. In honor of Black history month, I am going to introduce you to an African American sculptor who was part of the Harlem Renaissance named Augusta Savage. She was a notable sculptor, teacher and an activist that fought for equal rights in the arts for African Americans. Most of her work was done in clay or plaster and painted to look like it was a bronze sculpture since she couldn't actually afford to work in bronze. Her art was heavily documented, but the location of most of the pieces are unknown. Her most notable work is the bust above called Gamin which is also made of plaster and painted to look like bronze. In today's tutorial, I'll be working in a style that resembles Mrs. Savage's style more so then my own. I hope you enjoy and take time to look at some of Mrs. Savage's other incredible works.

Courtesy Federal Art Project, Photographic Division collection, 1935-1942. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Supplies:

• Chicken/poultry Wire
• Thin wire
• Pliers
• Scissors
• Creative Paperclay®
• Newspaper
• Masking tape
• Sand paper
• Acrylic paint
• Sealer, Varnish

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 chicken wire completely. You could paint a layer of gesso on top of the tape so that the clay could adhere better to it or just stick it on as I sometimes do. You may need to add a drop of water to the surface for the clay to grab hold to better.

Start adding your first layer of clay to the base. Once the piece is dry, which roughly takes 24 hours depending on the thickness of the clay, 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.

When working on a piece like this, I find it easier to build up the face in different intervals and allow each stage to dry before I continue. This allows me to work without worrying about me ruining a part of the doll or bust that isn't dry yet. As I always state in my tutorials, the drying process can 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! It's great for those who are impatient like me!

While sculpting this bust I began to realize that it more closely resembled a man's face than a boy's. Instead of the painter's cap that was on the original sculpture, I decided to go with the classic Kangol cap.

After building up this piece quite a bit with the clay, I sanded down the parts that I wanted to be smooth such as the face. I use different grits of regular sand paper that you can find in the hardware store to get the results shown above. 

I used Craft Smart's metallic brown to get the bust to look bronze. There are many other metallic brands that would give you the same results, this is just the brand that I had on hand. It took about 5 coats of paint to get the color to be even. If you want to take it a step further, you can do a wash with black paint over the piece to give it a worn look instead of this finish that I have.

Seal with varnish and you are done!

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 and be sure to catch updates on my Instagram page!

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.

Creative Paperclay® Online Store
Michael's
Amazon
Joann's

Jan Creative Paperclay Tip from Rachel Whetzel

One of my favorite ways to use Creative Paperclay®, is in my mixed media art work. You can use clay on projects and cover it with paper! I love using it to create dimension on canvases.

I've also used it on styrofoam heads to create custom shaped busts! 

Leave me a comment and let me know what you'll be using Creative Paperclay® for next! CLICK HERE to visit me at my "house" too!! Thank you so much for reading!! ~rachel

Don't MISS IT!! We're hosting a Valentine Link Party on Feb 8th!! 

Repurposing a Busted up Bust

Hello! It's Rachel Whetzel here. While I was on the Amazing Mold Putty design team, I created some decorations for my sister's wedding. When the wedding was over, she mentioned wishing she had a neat way to display her birdcage veil. That is when the idea for this bust was born.

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED:

• A junked out old styrofoam head/bust.
• Old book pages.
• Creative Paperclay® modeling material
• Glue (I used Elmer's)
• Craft Paints in brown, black and red (I used Folk Art)

I started my project with a junked out old styrofoam head I bought at a thrift store forever ago. It was very much worse for wear, but that won't matter for this project!

To create interest in the piece, and to make it more feminine, I used Creative Paperclay® to add hair and very slight facial features to the bust. I also changed the shape of the base by adding "shoulders" to the bottom.

Once the clay was dry, I didn't even bother sanding. (which for me is rare, because sandpaper and I LOVE us some Creative Paperclay®) Next, I glued torn bits of book pages over the whole piece. I use my fingers to apply the paper and glue. I have the most control this way, and I can work the paper most easily over the contours of the bust. To keep your fingers from sticking, keep the glue wet, and apply it liberally over the top of everything as you go.

The next step was to paint the bust. I used a wet rag, and some brown craft paint to "stain" the piece, and kept the hair area in thicker paint.

Once that was done, I added more dimension by shading the hairline with black paint, and adding just a TOUCH of red to her cheeks. I don't have my sister's veil, but she'll be able to add it similarly to the brooch I placed on the bust for the "final" picture. Now, my sister will be able to display a piece of her wedding in her house! I personally think she'd look adorable on a stack of old books inside a glass bell tower.

If you create something inspired by my project, please leave a comment with a link here, so I can come and visit to see! I would love for you to visit me at my "house" too!! Thank you so much for reading!! 

~rachel