If you’ve never had a look at one of Katherine Dewey‘s books, you’ve missed out. She is a wonderfully talented artist and her books are very clearly written and so precise you feel like you can accomplish the kind of sculpting that seems so successful these days. I’ve worked on a few figures but find that with two little girls something a little less time consuming and involved was needed.
I have to thank Katherine for her wonderful handmade sculpting tools. In the beginning of her book she has you sculpt a number of tools and the needle tool is my very favorite. Using her directions I’ve made a number of needle tools with polymer handles and fount them to be of great use while sculpting flowers and leaves, lace and mendi designs, imitating wood grain etc.
If you haven’t tried these kinds of tools for your self. Take a few different types of needles, some with rounded points and a few large sharp ones. They’ll all do different effects in the clay. To make them easier to hold, use some scrap clay and embed the needle in the end of a roll of clay. Once the needle’s eye is embedded in clay then roll a bit to center the needle (the same way you would if you were making a bead).
Give yourself at least the width of a pencil to work with, I’m a fan of something a little thicker so I make mine the size of those large crayons. Then cook according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Ta Da, new tool to sculpt with. For more on Katherine or to purchase her books, check out Elvenwork her webpage.
