Super Sculpey - Tumblr Posts
I can't imagine where the inspiration came from for this one.
Super Sculpey, ~25 min.
I think this is the first time I've freaked myself out with my own sculpture. I mean, I'm pretty proud of the little guy, but I definitely did not like seeing him in my kitchen. Ick.
In other news, I want to write love letters to Super Sculpey. This stuff is AMAZING. It never dries, it doesn't flake, it's easy to mold, and it even smells nice. Swooooon. Expect a lot more pinkish-beige sculptures in the future.
Super Sculpey, ~45 min.
Dayna came to visit today, so we went to see Inception (SO GOOD) and Toy Story 3. Since she's the one who gave me my starter clay and actually knows what she's doing, I asked if she wanted to sculpt with me when we got home and she very politely agreed. I made this little alien guy from Toy Story. Dayna decided to just wing it, and she made this totally awesome dragon.
Did I just say "totally awesome dragon?" Yikes.
Toy Story alien: Super Sculpey, ~70 min.
Dayna's dragon: Marblex, ~70 min.
Suuuuuuuper lazy today, obviously. If you couldn't tell by the lack of detail, you can always tell by the circus theme (my workspace is in my living room, which has a circus theme--lazy day means looking around the room for something to copy).
So, hey: Tent!
Super Sculpey, ~30 min.
Three bees today, taking advantage of the lovely weather outside today. Tried Sculpey III for the first time and found it a little tough to mold, although the fact that it was firm enough to hold its shape was nice. Tried out a few different styles, too. Unsurprisingly, the Play-Doh bee (yellow and blue) looks terrible and wanted to fall apart, but it was really helpful to make more or less the same shape in three different media right after each other. If for no other reason than to reaffirm my undying love for Super Sculpey (<3!).
Play-Doh (yellow and blue), Super Sculpey (pink), and Sculpey III (black), ~50 min.
In my grand, library-stalking adventure last weekend, I picked up a half a dozen books on sculpting. Some of them were weighty tomes by old masters on modeling the figure in clay, but one of them was Sculpting Mythical Creatures out of Polymer Clay by Dinko and Boris Tilov. Just look at that cover! I started here because this book is the shortest, honestly. And how can you pass up a book with the subtitle "Make a Gnome, Pixie, Halfling, Fairy, Mermaid, Gorgon, Vampire, Griffin, Sphinx, Unicorn, Centaur, Leviathan, and Dragon!" I mean, if you can read that out loud without laughing, you win. That's hilarious.
So then I made this gnome!
Super Sculpey, ~35 min.
Tonight, I had dinner with my friend Rhonda and her housemates Eric and Adam. We made (ok, Rhonda made) homemade squash ravioli, and as I was rolling out the dough in the pasta press, all I could think of was clay. I now officially have a problem.
Anyway, Adam requested "a slug rodeo," so here it is. While trying to set up the shot, I had one of those moments where I could see myself from outside my body: all alone, at 12:30 at night, lassoing a fake snail with some clay rope and sewing thread. Sigh.
Also: It is really hard to set up an action shot with slugs.
By the way, if you'd like to request something, too, there's a page for that right here: http://cariturley.tumblr.com/ask
Super Sculpey, ~40 min.
Another test model from the big book of polymer mythical creatures. The sample image looks completely different, but I like my little guy much better. Sadly, he didn't photograph so well (part of that was waiting too long and missing the best light, part of it is those ridiculous arms), but he's still pretty cute.
Super Sculpey, 18 min.
Dayna came over again and we took a 20-minute break from our cookie-dough-and-Gilmore-Girls marathon to make Gumby and Pokey, because we figured it was just one step above making a snowman and a snake.
(Dayna whined a lot about how bad her horse was, but I think he's cute.)
Gumby, Super Sculpey and Sculpey III, ~20 min.
Today was an exercise in good intentions gone awry. I tried to get this one done early in time to catch the light, and in the process of transporting everything across the street I dropped my camera, my tools, the figure itself, and my palette (the latter of which shattered), and after all that I didn't even get the shot I wanted. Oh well.
I was going for "mermaid being blown out of her aquarium/bowl by a strong wind." What, you're saying that doesn't translate?
Super Sculpey, ~60 min.
Tonight I went to see The Wrath of Khan at Lucasfilm, and it was amazing. Not only had I never seen it (I KNOW), and not only was it at My Favorite Place Ever, there was a little trivia contest before the movie and I won! Kind of. They asked for the name of the no-win scenario, and I needed a minute for the name to come to me but I knew they'd give it to the first hand raised, so I jumped up anyway because I don't believe in a no-win scenario. And fortunately, the nice dudes next to me whispered "Kobayashi Maru!" so I shared my winnings with them: an insignia pin/USB drive (which I gave to them), a small bag of Star Trek monopoly pieces, custom made Star Trek pins, and (from what I can tell) a custom Star Trek shirt with everybody's favorite Vulcan in it. Best day ever? Yeah, I think so.
And then, even though I saw it coming, I cried when Spock died. So I did what any normal person would do: I went home and sculpted myself a pair of Vulcan ears in the bathroom with modeling clay.
As you can tell, the half-ear attempt came out a lot better than the full-ear experiment. Then again, I also spent about ten minutes on each side, so this is one of those things I'm going to revisit in a few months when I get better.
(KHAAAAAAAAAAN!)
Super Sculpey, ~10 min. per ear
Today: Buffy riding a unicorn.
This was another attempt from the big book of polymer mythical creatures. I used a wire armature for the first time, which meant I got to experience the joy of not realizing my proportions were off until 45 minutes worth of clay was stacked on top of it. Hence the awkward angle of the photo! He's really more giraffe than unicorn, as it turns out.
Super Sculpey, ~60 min.
Rhonda tells me "sloths are the new birds" (in reference to the hip animal du jour), so she requested that I make her a sloth. She did not specify that it be anorexic, nor that it only have fur on the right side of its body. I took those artistic liberties myself.
Super Sculpey, ~90 min.
Today, just a few miles down the street from my apartment in San Francisco, Judge Walker overturned Proposition 8. I'm a little teary-eyed thinking about how happy I am for all my friends here in California who will soon have the right to marry the people they love. So, because I was feeling all mushy and sentimental today, I made this little rose. (But I'm still me, so I photographed it like the cover of a trashy romance novel. Obviously.)
I know there's still a long road to travel until everyone in this country enjoys the same freedoms, but we got a little bit closer today. Feels pretty good.
Super Sculpey, ~40 min.
Since I'm getting ready to leave for a big trip on Monday, this little guy from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy seemed appropriate. This is Marvin from the most recent film adaptation. Trivia about Marvin: he's the inspiration for the name of a Radiohead song and he would never forget to bring a towel.
Actually, because of the aforementioned trip, he's probably the last figure you'll see from me for about three weeks. As soon as I get back, rest assured that they will continue! Don't panic.
Super Sculpey, ~60 min.
I'm back!!
I had to redeem myself after that atrocious head I made a few days ago, so I went with something I knew I could make and I think it turned out pretty nice. It doesn't hurt that my medium of choice is already the right color and consistency for an octopus, or that he's basically just eight snakes on top of an egg. Whatever! At least I'm not mortified by the most recent entry in my blog anymore. That counts for something.
You may have noticed that the posts aren't coming once a day anymore. Now that I'm back from summer vacation and working full-time at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, I can't promise a figure a day anymore. I'll post a minimum of one a week, but hopefully more often than that. Thanks for sticking with me!
Super Sculpey, ~90 min.
I call this one "Second Attempt at a Human Head: This Time (Please, Lord) Let My Friends Make Less Fun of Me."
Skulls are hard, you guys! I'm trying to get the fundamentals down so I can sculpt more realistic figures (you gotta know what's underneath first, right?), but people just got too many bones. I'll keep at it, though. Eventually I will be a skeleton-sculpting pro, which I guess will come in handy in my future career as either a medical supply stockist or a Hot Topic employee.
Super Sculpey, ~60 min.
For some reason, New Friend Rob was under the impression that I know what I'm doing and wanted to watch me sculpt today, so I subjected him to the ritual: Jurassic Park III in the background, running commentary under my breath, and eventually some kind of recognizable shape out of polymer clay. He made a couple of cute little figures (pictures forthcoming) and kindly refrained from commenting on my lobster.
Oh, and credit where credit's due: it was totally his idea to use dish soap to make it look like the water is boiling. My friends are so clever.
Super Sculpey, ~90 min.
There were three things John Watson loved in this world: a good pipe, Sherlock Holmes, and their bull-pup Gladstone.
Super Sculpey, ~30 min.