How to Sculpt a
Polymer Clay Baby

Page 13

In this section we learn how to finish off OOAK polymer clay baby.

STEP 61: Slowly work your way up from the bottom of the head to the front, adding Liquid Fimo and pressing the hair into it in the direction of the hair growth. Try to imitate the volume of hair that your photo reference has. If you need to have thinner hair, simply press less hair into the gel. Try not to worry too much if there are some fly away hairs. The gel is very sticky and it is bound to happen. Just try to keep most of it as tidy as possible. This can be helped by not manipulating the hair too much once it's placed.

STEP 62: When you start reaching the front of the head/ the hairline, apply the hair more finely. Try to only attach the back part of the hair section with the gel and leave the rest of the hair to fall down over the forehead naturally.

STEP 63: Now we look at the eyelashes. Spread a thin line of Liquid Fimo in between the top and bottom eyelids with a very small spotter paint brush or with a pin. Then, with a pair of sharp tweezers, place some short pieces of Mohair onto the gel and position. Press in with a pin or the tweezers until they're securely in place. Do the same with both eyes. Once all the hair has been applied, bake the whole doll again (to the manufacturers instructions on the bottle of Liquid Fimo). Allow to cool and touch all the areas of hair. If there are any sections that are at all sticky, put it back into the oven, or preferably finish it off with a heat gun. BE CAREFUL with the heat gun however, it's very easy to scorch the polymer clay. Keep the heat gun a fair distance away from the sculpture and keep sweeping it over the area so that the heat isn't concentrated in one area for too long. Allow to cool and test again. Everything should be well baked in and there should be no raw Liquid Fimo left.

STEP 64: Final touches of your polymer clay baby happen now! Water down some paint (in my case, Burnt Umber Paint, as this is the closest colour to the hair I used). Gently blush the head of the baby the same as you blushed the body, going straight over the hair. This will make the hair "pop" and give a hint that there is complete coverage, without making the hair look too thick. Take this process slowly and don't go overboard. The thicker you make the hair look, the older the baby will look.Now you can finish off with the eyebrows. Dip a tiny spotter paintbrush (preferably a very soft hair brush) into the watered down paint. Draw a couple small, fine lines onto a tissue to get rid of excess paint, and carefully paint a little fine line for the eyebrow. Remember that baby's eyebrows are usually barely visible, so don't get carried away with this part.Trim the fly-away hairs on the baby's head with some manicure scissors to tidy it up, and you're done!

All finished! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you created a polymer clay baby using this tutorial I would love to see photos! Simply use the form below to submit your pictures. Your submission will have it's own webpage on this website.

How to Sculpt a Polymer Clay Baby PAGE 12