“I love seeing the unique personalities of my little beasties develop throughout the creative process. Paper clay allows the one-of-a-kind, handmade quality I desire to show through. It is an easily sculpted material, and so versatile because so many surface textures and decorations can be used. I never tire of experimenting and trying out new artistic applications for this air-dry clay!” – Katherine DuBose Fuerst
Project Details
Artist: Katherine DuBose Fuerst
Instructions: The instructions for this project can be found in the Fall 2018 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine.
Techniques included in this project: Sculpting with paper clay, creating an armature, shaping wire, stamping on paper clay, coloring paper clay with acrylic paints, creating faces from polymer clay.
Materials:
- Ruler
- Wire, 18-gauge (I used black wire.)
- Wire cutter
- Needle-nose pliers
- Aluminum foil
- Masking tape
- Paper clay, one 16-oz. package (I used Creative Paperclay®.)
- Spray bottle with water
- Assorted sculpting tools (I used pottery and clay tools along with some dental tools.)
- Decorative rubber stamp
- Paintbrush
- Polymer clay, to sculpt a face (I used Premo! Sculpey®.)
- Rubbing alcohol, 91%
- Sandpaper, medium and fine grit
- Emery board or nail file
- Drill and a 1/16″ bit
- Super Glue®
- Damp sponge
- Acrylic paint (I used Plaid® Folk Art® Premier Acrylics.)
- Acrylic extender or retarder (I used Golden® Artist Colors Retarder.)
- Cosmetic wedge
- Varnish (I used Liquitex® Matte and High Gloss Acrylic Varnishes.)
- Optional:
- Mirror
- Flexible silicone face press mold or pre-made face molds (I make my press molds with EasyMold® Silicone Putty by Castin’ Craft®.)