A place to encourage the creativity of artistic minds of all ages. Offering Ideas, Inspiration and Instruction and sharing the work of others who inspire me!
Thanks to my recent computer crashes, I am unable to post anything consistently. Even right now I type this praying my computer won't croak before I am done :o) Forgive me if it is too short on details. I don't want to take to long, just incase. Meet ARTEE The Sea Turtle!
Artee took about three weeks to make. He was adopted by our dear young friend. We wanted to give him a special gift. Here is in his full fashion grade eight graduation ensemble.
I know I keep changing my polymer clay segment titles, makes searching for it confusing. But I have a new title I like to hopefully, I will stick with POLYMER CLAY UNPLUGGED. On that note here is Part 2 of Howard the Turtle, Unplugged - the video.
Making Howard was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot and hope that you will try creating a critter for fun. If you haven't already :o) It never has to be "realistic." Have fun with all you make.
Creating should never be a chore or torturous. It relaxes me and brings a smile to my heart. However, I would be lying if I said every step of the way has been one big "Woo Hoo!" moment. As you can imagine the frustration did increase when I just couldn't get his shell to fit right no matter how many times and days I spent carving and reshaping things. But, it was all turned into a great learning experience and making a second shell was easier because I already knew how now.
So my "oops!" moments turned into Woo Hoo moments!
And making your characters fun or cartoon like, takes the pressure off worrying about realism. It did help me to at least look at photos of real turtles. I wanted him believable but not photo realistic. He is
supposed to make you smile.
Even if you plan on creating something to be a certain way and it doesn't go the way you planned, always problem solve. Make the best of every "mistake." In fact don't even consider them mistakes. Because if you modify whatever it is, to work out in a different way, it is no longer a mistake or flawed. It becomes just the way you wanted it to be!
I would love to hear from you if you have created character from polymer clay, or if you have ideas, questions, thoughts or feedback! Just write them in the comments below or down below the YouTube channel video.
Creating HeArtfully
For the past 4-5 weeks, I have been working on my first Turtle, that is meant to be a Doo-Dad Holder or trinket box.Click here to see the first article when I first introduced him and here for the second article when he was a work in progress. He didn't become Howard until I decided that the sea turtle I started out making for a young friend's special event, just wasn't turning out how I wanted it to be. So when my husband expressed his enjoyment of my turtle thus far, calling him "Howard the Turtle." I decided I would make him just for my Hunny Bunny. That meant turning him from sea to a land or four legged turtle. Turns out his friend use to call him Howard the Turtle and Howard was a puppet turtle character on an old 50-60s kid show called RAZZLE DAZZLE on our national television station called the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). It was really neat to discover that he was an actual character! Click The image below or here to see The Video I just completed on mt YouTube channel all about Howard's early beginnings :o)
Lessons Learned...
Howard has gone through a lot, I mean a lot! You will see more when I get part two of Howard's video done. I can tell you that it took about two weeks of trying to perfect his shell, to be a lid for the Art Safety is always important. doo-dad box part... no matter how much I carved away from his shell and his cheek, I could not get his shell to fit under his cheek. Yes, you can easily carve away baked polymer clay. If you are young, don't use sharp craft knives on your own.
So my BIGGEST lesson learned, I should have made his neck longer or left his head straight, no looking back. I know he wouldn't have looked so cute looking straight ahead right?! Or make sure the shell stays thin enough to fit.
Needless to say, I had to recreate a brand new shell and it doesn't look like an oval real turtle shell. He has a heart like shell. But hey, this is HeArtfully creating, so that is appropriate!
I tried to add magnets but, I will share more in part two next week.
Finishing Touches
Acrylic paint was used to change his green mouth and tongue to pink. As well, to add some depth, I painted indigo over the places where there were crevasses like his shell. Then using a damp rag or wipe, I rubbed off the paint, leaving some in the deepest parts.Instead of a glossy varnish, I sanded Howard's head and other areas somewhat. Always use water and varying grits of wet/dry sand paper. Dry sanding is too dangerous because you can breathe in the particles. Then I put Renaissance Wax, let it dry for fifteen or so minutes and I rubbed him down with a piece of cotton denim type cloth.
Polymer clay is definitely, my newest favourite medium! Making my first critter or creature has been such a great adventure, Wanting to show you guys all the stages he went through, and make a video with the steps from the beginning to the end. Hundreds of photos were taken, edited and compiled in the video below. No, I didn't capture every exact step but, I have given hopefully enough information to help inspire someone out here to create their own critter or figurine.
So please enjoy and if you have any questions, thoughts or ideas, please leave them in the comments area below.
I took a tonne of photos to document the stages. Wanting to inspire others interested in all things creative, this is part one of two - all about Howard's creation. He is about the size of a hand, my adult female hand, that is!
Comments? Thoughts? Ideas? Insight? or Questions ! Subscribe to stay posted. LIKE! SHARE! SUBSCRIBE! HeArtfully Creating! Anita
You met Howard last week. Click here to see. As with most of my polymer clay adventures, it takes weeks some times to complete anything. Believe it or not, this guy is about to get his fourth "face lift." What do I mean? Well, look at this face and then when I post the next article, you will see the change. It is so important to me, to make him as perfect as possible.
My husband just learned that turtles are reptiles. I got to say, "I told you so!" They can live under water, that is what makes them NOT amphibians, like he thought. Did I know that? The reptile part, yes. The reason why. Nope!
Since We Last Met...
Hope you are a wee inspired to create or at least something here makes you smile!I also have been carving pieces away with a sharp craft knife. Be very careful. Cooked clay carves easily. It is a tad addictive!
Here is how Howie is looking as of now.
Howard the Turtle in progress. Made using polymer clay, with black onyx eyes and liquid clay. By me, Anita Berglund
Decided to change him from a Sea Turtle to the authentic turtle from CBC's Razzle Dazzle kids show in the early 60s. There are his stubby legs.
I've only Just begun....
I layered multiple sheets of clay to create a mokume-gane cane stack to cover Howard's shells.
sliced and ready to be used....
Howard needs a shell!
Liquid clay, silicone shaper and sharp blades to slice the mokume-gane cane. Used cover the pre-baked shell.
Howard the Turtle in progress. Made using polymer clay, with black onyx eyes and liquid clay. By me, Anita Berglund
Howard the Turtle in progress. Made using polymer clay, with black onyx eyes and liquid clay. By me, Anita Berglund
Baking his shell...
Oven Temperature Matters!
I foolishly baked Howard's shell at 375 fahrenheit instead of the required 275F! Oops! All the dark brown parts below are scorched and crispy. I am surprised, I didn't smell the fumes or see smoke. Thankfully, it was on a 30 minute timer. Mental note, ALWAYS double check your temperature before baking polymer clay!
All scorched at 375 Fahrenheit!!
All scorched at 375 Fahrenheit!!
I also have been carving pieces away with a sharp craft knife. Be very careful. Cooked clay carves easily. It is a tad addictive!
Let Cool Completely!
I made the mistake of fiddling with Howard's toes while he was still hot from the oven and OOPS! I lost a toe :0(
