Tori's Tip - Watercolor Painting Pointers

Last month I showed you a flower image burned into Creative Paperclay® modeling material.  This month I'm going to show you how I colored it with watercolor paint and give you some pointers on using watercolor paints on dry clay.

This is the piece I started with - the dry piece of clay was sanded smooth before I burned the image into it.

My first pointer is to make some extra pieces of flat clay to use for experiments and practice.  Try painting a wash on a section of clay that hasn't been sanded, then try it with various levels of sanding up to a smooth finish.  The paint will be absorbed quickly into the un-sanded clay, which will make it more difficult to create a smooth wash.  I like a smooth, but not polished, clay finish for painting on, but it is somewhat a matter of personal preference.

This is the first wash of color -

The second pointer is to wet the area, apply a wash of paint, then spread the paint with the brush.

In this case, it is easier to keep the watercolor in the areas I want it to be in, since the burned image lines are impressed in the clay.

Here a couple of additional layers of paint have been added.

The next pointer is - let the watercolor dry before the next layer of paint is applied, and don't let the clay get too wet, or you may end up brushing the paint off instead of putting it on.

Now the final paint layers & washes have been added.

The tip for this final step is - use the warning in the last step to create highlights or paint a lighter color.

I "erased" some areas that I thought were too dark by lifting the paint off with a wet brush.  I decided the leaves also needed more contrast, so I lifted some paint off of a few areas and then added a light yellow/green wash on those areas.

Thanks for joining me here again!  As always, play, experiment, and have fun!

Tori

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Tori's Tip - Cross-over Crafts

I've been creating art and crafting crafts for a long time, and have a wide variety of tools and materials in the studio.  Sometimes I'll see a tool that I haven't used for a while and think...."What new thing can I use this for?" or "I wonder if I can use this with clay?" 

So....want to know if you can use a wood burning tool on Creative Paperclay® modeling material?  The answer is "Yes!".  Here is an example using only one tip on a flat dry sheet of clay.  I am already imaging more possibilities for using this on curved surfaces, etc.  I love the way this turned out, all sort of muted, kind of sepia color with rich texture in the clay, nice to look at and nice to feel!  I'm also thinking it might make some lovely pieces with watercolor washes added over the design.

 My tip is (no surprise here) go ahead and try it!  Of course you will want to use every safety precaution - for example, even though this clay is non-toxic, I do not know if the fumes from burning it are.  And even though I think the risk is probably minimal since there is so little smoke or fumes created while wood burning, I created this in a well ventilated area with a fan blowing any smoke away from the piece.

What crafts did you do growing up?  Dig out those old tools and see what you can come up with for more fun with clay!

Thanks for joining me here again!  As always, play, experiment, and have fun!

Tori

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Fairy Tale Cottage from Off-the-shelf Paper Maché Box

Hi Friends, this month I'm going to show you how I turned this little paper maché box into a cottage and something more - It was created for the Southern Arizona Miniature Enthusiasts club to use as a raffle ticket holder for the dollhouse they are going to raffle off at the miniatures show in October.

Here is how the box started out -

Open all around, both sides were the same, and the box was flat on the back.

I made some sketches of things I might change.  From my perspective, the first things that had to go were the gable/dormer things at an odd slant.

The straight lines wouldn't fit with my plan either, so once I had things sketched out, I started cutting up the box and adding cardboard and card stock to create the shapes I wanted.

  

Maybe not surprisingly, I got a little crazy with the windows - or it was just that this type of material isn't easy to cut smoothly.  But thankfully, these things were easy to fix up with some extra card stock.

I wanted something a little different on this side of the house - I'll be filling in the side windows on the bottom

When I was finished cutting everything up, I created a cardboard liner for the box - to help keep it stable and prevent warping when the wet clay was added, and also to provide a back piece that I could attach pictures and plastic to for filling in the window openings and sculpting the door.

I then added a thin layer of clay over the entire box, but of course cut in around the box top so I could get it open.  

Once that layer dried, I carved the details in to the door.  This step needed to be done before sculpting the branches around the door with fresh clay.

Before moving on to the heavier layer and sculpting, I created a foil barrier between the top and bottom of the box.  This allowed me to sculpt both pieces at the same time and have them match perfectly!

I added additional clay for the details, and for texturing the walls, etc.  The mushroom over the front door was sculpted separately and then added after it dried.

Originally, the club planned to have me paint a sign on the flat back of the house, but I later thought that a frame might be a better option so the sign could be changed if the house was used for a different raffle at another time.  The back of the box was large enough for a 5 x 7 frame, so I built up around the glass with wood then added clay over that.

To prevent warping or collapse, I left the original closed chimney in tact and sculpted around it.  Once it had a firm dry layer of clay, it was time to make the opening for the raffle tickets.

I cut off the top cardboard layer...

Then used a file to poke holes in each corner...

and had marks so I knew where to cut out the opening.

Once all of the clay was dry I painted it,  When that was dry, I made patterns from the cardboard inserts, then used the computer to created window inserts, and added those along with thin plastic to create the windows.

To finish the inside of the box opening and leave it smooth for all of those raffle tickets to slide in to, I photographed the sculpted/painted exterior, loaded the photos onto the computer, and used a graphics program to make a repeating pattern.  I printed that with archival ink on heavy paper, heat-set the printout, then lined the chimney with it.

Finished!

There may be a few little surprises tucked in here and there :)

Thanks for joining me here again!  As always, play, experiment, and have fun!

Tori

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Tori's Tip - Some Sculpting Pointers, and a "Sneak Peak" at next month's project

As you can see in the photo, I'm working on a little house.  Next month I'll be showing you how I converted an off-the-shelf paper maché house box into something a little more fun with Creative Paperclay® modeling material.  For now, I thought I would share some helpful tips for sculpting projects:

• Elevate your work to eye level or slightly below eye level
• Use a turntable - don't really need anything fancy, an old box and a "lazy Susan" or turntable (an inexpensive one generally used to hold small items in the cupboard) will work just as well as a commercial sculpting stand in most cases.  I've taped a piece of cardboard, which was covered with adhesive plastic wrap, to the top of the turntable to make the surface flat.
• Have adequate lighting
• Keep a container of water on hand to dip sculpting tools and fingers into while working with the clay
• Keep a spritzer or small spray bottle of water and plastic bags or plastic wrap on hand.  If you need to re-wet the clay while working on it,give it a light spritz.   If you need to stop working for a bit and don't want the clay to dry out yet, spritz the sculpture with water and place the plastic bag gently over it. 

Thanks for joining me here again!  As always, play, experiment, and have fun!

Tori

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Summer Sun Marble Run

Here's something to do with the kids on a hot summer day - make a marble run!  It's fun to make, and fun to use, very relaxing, and a good "tilt table" for fidgeters.  You can use my pattern or create your own, make a maze, or try writing out a name.

For this project you will need:

• Creative Paperclay® modeling material
• foam core, wood, or cardboard in the size and shape you want (my pattern calls for a 16" x 16" square)
• a marble
• pattern
• pencils
• tracing paper for transferring pattern
• stiff round brush; a stencil brush will work well
• rolling pin
• plastic wrap
• paint

If you are making your own pattern, you will also need

• dial calipers - OR circle gauge - OR toothpicks, tape, and a ruler
• paper large enough to draw out your pattern

If you are using my pattern, skip ahead to the pattern transfer picture.

If you are going to make your own pattern, first measure the size of your marble.  Use either the gauge, calipers, or toothpicks taped to a ruler lifted to the midway point of the marble as shown,

Write down that measurement, then tape two sharpened pencils to a scrap of cardboard so that they match that distance.  I'm using two different colored pencils in the photo so you can more clearly see how drawing the pattern works out.

Draw your pattern either freehand or over a sketch, using these two pencils as a guide to indicate how much room the marble will need.  Try to hold them straight up and down while drawing, to keep the lines the same distance apart.

This would be the first step for a maze - beginning, squiggly path, and end.

Add more lines, without crossing over any of the ones previously drawn

Once you are happy with your pattern, cut a piece of cardboard, foamcore or wood to the desired size.

Cover board with a thin layer of clay on both sides and on the edge; set aside to dry.  When the clay is dry, sand if necessary and then transfer the pattern you've chosen.

Roll clay out to about 1/8" thickness and cut into 1/2" wide strips.  If you have a strip of wood or cardboard in that thickness, you can use that as a guide.

Leave the strips in place and only work with one at a time, keeping the remainder under wraps so it will stay moist until needed.

Brush water a few inches along one of the pattern lines, then brush some water onto the edge of one strip of clay.  Apply that edge of the clay strip to the moistened pattern line by holding it in place then pushing down with your thumb and forefinger as shown.  Repeat this process a little bit at a time along your pattern line until you have about 6" applied then, using a wet brush, blend both sides of the clay onto the board.

Use your marble as a guide to make sure you have applied the clay walls properly.  Smooth clay with wet finger or sculpting tool to make a smooth path for the marble.

When you've finished adding clay to your pattern, allow the marble run to dry completely, then test it out, sand or add clay as necessary until the marble rolls smoothly, then paint as desired.

Thanks for joining me here again!  As always, play, experiment, and have fun!

Tori

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