This week’s dragon definitely was out of my comfort zone…
… as you can probably tell from the results.
Bleah.
I’m definitely sticking to three-dimensional art from now on.
But, it was a fun project and I learned a lot.
To learn why I’m making a dragon every week check out this post on Errol, dragon #1, for the details.
As I’ve mentioned I’m participating in the Polymer Clay Adventure this year and want to put the classes to good use. This week’s class was by Suzanne Ivester. She’s the Polymer Chef in Polymer Cafe magazine and is also well known for her polymer painting technique, which is what she taught.
Because of the detail in my composition, I would call mine more “polymer clay marquetry” than “polymer clay painting.” All those bits & pieces on the castle took forever, but I’m pleased with how it came out.
The dragon, I’m not so thrilled with, although I really do like the patterning I figured out how to do discovered by mistake. 🙂
I was using a blade to shave off bits of the dark lines on the wings and accidentally shaved into the purple part of the wings. Voila, cool texture!
My favorite part of the process was making the blends, like for the sky and the mountains.
Also, Suzanne had a great technique for adding an overall canvas-like texture. I didn’t have the tool she used, but found a vinyl placemat that worked pretty well. 🙂
If you’d like to keep up with my dragon creations this year, I’ve made a Thursday’s Dragon Pinterest board just for them.
Happy creating!
Painting with clay?? Cool!
It IS cool. And Suzanne is a great teacher.
This is just beautiful!!! I love it, and I’m very gratified that you found my PCAdventure class so inspiring. I wouldn’t have thought of the word “marquetry,” but that does describe the process very well. The shaved areas of the dragon are fantastic! This is such a fun way to create unexpected effects. Now I go to look at your other dragons. Maybe you can inspire me to do some sculpture.
Thank you, Suzanne. 🙂