Dawn M. Schiller - Elf, Witch and Fairy: Making Fantasy Characters in Polymer Clay

FaeMaker

Elf, Witch and Fairy

Making Fantasy Characters in Polymer Clay

by Dawn M. Schiller

www.impact-books.com

Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen

We darent go a-hunting for fear of little men;

Wee folk, good folk, trooping all together;

Green jacket, red cap, and white owls feather!

The Fairies by William Allingham

Dont you just love the smell of a new book? Its one of the best things in the World! A cup of tea, a new book and an old cat are a perfect day. Especially if theres fairies involved! For as long as I can remember, Ive been drawn to fairy tales and fantasy and the only thing better than reading about fairies is making them!

I first came to love the fae, an old English word for fairies, short for faerie, reading the Brothers Grimm. I had a book illustrated by a marvelous artist, Arthur Rackham, and I read it to pieces, poring over the pictures. The gnarled trees, equally gnarled old witches and odd little men fascinated me. Growing up in the Midwest, I was fortunate enough to live next to a small woods, and I would always look for the creatures from my book under leaves and old fallen logs. And I found them, at least in my imagination. At night before bed I would draw paper dolls or make pipe-cleaner dolls of the Little Folk I saw in the Woods.

In picking up this book, youve taken your first step in finding your way to the fae. Theyre hard to see these days, what with all the cold iron thats everywhere, but they are there if you know how to look. Turn your head sideways and tilt it a little and by the light of the first star to left there! See that Shadow? The fae are coming to watch you create.

Ill help you learn to sculpt fae that are a little quirky, occasionally cranky and definitely fun. Youll learn about making faces, hands and feet in polymer clay, making bodies that pose, and building a whole world of characters who are sure to make you smile. After youve gotten the hang of faemaking by creating the figures in this book, you can go off and explore faeries on your own, making even more fae friends.

Grab your sculpting stuff, crank up your imagination, and youll be a faemaker in no time!

Cheers!

D/Oddfae

My assistant Fetch is coming along on this adventure to give you little hints and bits of information that I may forget to mention. My studio has a whole tribe of these lil trollsthey hold my tools and keep me company. I dont know how Id get anything done without them!

An excuse to add to your stash! It seems like you need a lot to get started, but most items are really inexpensive and available at local stores. Many of the materials needed are probably already around your house or studio. And you may discover some new tools that no one ever considered before!

Keep in mind, anything you borrow from the kitchen or bathroom to use with polymer clay should not be put back, but kept to use only with clay. This is a dedicated tool.

To start, youll need a smooth work surface. You could use marble, Lucite, granite, ceramic tile, parchment paper, a plain sheet of glass (cover sharp edges with masking tape) or a glass cutting board. You can also tape a sheet of waxed paper to a table and work the clay on the waxed paper, changing the paper when it gets dirty. Raw clays will actually fuse with some types of plastic and can stain or damage wood; keep unbaked clay off of furniture.

Any handymans tools you can borrow from the garage, workshop or toolshed will come in handy. Complaints regarding purloined tools can be answered with the statement, One must suffer for ones art. Its just youre not the one doing the suffering!

Pretty much any fabric you find can be used to make fae; if you like it, your oddfae probably will, too. Dig through the remnant bin at the fabric shop, look in the closet for old clothes or check out thrift shops.

The really fun part about making fae is seeing something in a shop or in your stash and having that little lightbulb come onI know exactly who can use that!and youre off to make a new character.

Heres a selection of materials youll need for faemaking: rulers, craft glue, water cup, needle and thread, 20-gauge wire, glass beads and eyes, armature wire, fabric, glue gun, glue sticks, floral tape, paint brushes and knitting needles.

Basic

rolling pin or pasta machine

smooth work surface

Polymer Clay Colors

black

brown

flesh tone of your choice

gray

green

off-white

white

yellow

Acrylic paint

Burnt Umber

Terra Coral

Fabric

variety of fabrics in different colors and textures

Sculpting Tools

craft knife

manicure stick

needle tool

needle-nose pliers

sculpting tool (with square end and pointed end)

texture tool (homemade)

Other Supplies

aluminum foil

" (3mm) armature wire (approximately 12 gauge)

art fiber

artificial sinew

baby oil

baby wipes

beads, buttons, charms, feathers, glass ball or marble, ribbons, sticks, trims, etc.

boxwood dowel

cotton balls

fabric glue

feather pads (2)

" (12mm) floral tape or masking tape

floral wire (32 gauge)

hot glue gun and glue sticks

knitting needle for pressing fabric into hot glue

no. 4 filbert brush

nos. 3 and 8 round brushes

8mm (") onyx beads (2)

paper towels

polyfill for baking

quilt batting

raffia

sanding stick

scissors

small container of water for burnt fingers

2" 3" (51mm 76mm) Styrofoam egg

super glue

white craft glue

wire (20 gauge)

Optional Supplies

food processor

heat gun

Several companies manufacture polymer clay. The brands differ in plasticity, strength, translucence, curing temperature, and flexibility after baking, and each company has its own selection of colors. The clays described here, in no particular order, are the ones I am personally familiar with.

ProSculpt requires very little kneading and blends without showing seams. When cured, it becomes extremely hard and durable, with a translucent, fleshlike color.

Super Sculpey is available in a semi-opaque beige that is easy to condition right out of the package and holds detail extremely well. It is shatter- and chip-resistant after curing. Super Sculpey is also available in a firm gray color used in the movie industry.