How to Start A Sculpture, Doll Portrait Sculpting P1: Ideas, Polymer Clay Tools, Head Armature, Bake

Ever wonder how to start a sculpture in polymer clay? This is the first lesson in my doll portrait sculpting series. I cover inspiration, polymer clay tools, head armature, and I touch on how to bake polymer clay. I'm teaching how to sculpt a realistic polymer clay mermaid and I've got so much info to share I had to break it up into a series of tutorials.

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Doll Portrait Sculpting Series

Part 1: Start Sculpting
   • How to Start A Sculpture, Doll Portrait Sc...  

Part 2: How to Sculpt the Nose
   • How to Sculpt the Nose, Doll Portrait Scul...  

Part 3: How to Sculpt the Mouth
   • How to Sculpt the Mouth, Doll Portrait Scu...  

Part 4: How to Sculpt the Eyes
   • How to Sculpt the Eyes, Doll Portrait Scul...  

Michael is a model and an amazing make-up artist (oh, and, she just happens to be a mermaid as well).    / @michaelbarcusgray  

Time Stamps for your convenience!
How to Start a Sculpture:
0:21 Step 1: Sculpture ideas & inspiration
1:18 Step 2: Sketch it out
2:48 Step 3: Polymer clay tools & materials
4:16 Step 4: Start your doll sculpture with the part that's most inspiring to you, like the head.
4:47 What I don't do
5:14 Two method for the doll head armature
5:22 Method one (for the head armature)
6:06 Method two (for the head armature)
9:15 How to bake polymer clay... just a few tips :)

Step 1: Inspiration!
Of course you won't start sculpting unless you're inspired. This video is full of inspiring thoughts that will spark your imagination and creativity.

Step 2: Sketch it Out
You've got to get your ideas out on paper. You need to decide on proportions as well as some art concepts such as the movement of the shapes you'll be sculpting. As well as the colors and the pose, and more. There's no reason portrait sculpture should be plain. Why not make your subject into a mythical creature? What mood are you conveying? Think through the story your telling.

Step 3: Get out your Tools and Materials
I cover the tools that I use when I sculpt the head of a polymer clay doll. You don't actually need that many tools. You might want the following list of tools and materials though:
X-acto knife
a long blade
a wooden tool
a few different sized of ball tools
two types of rubber tipped tools
polymer clay (I like ProSculpt)
sand paper
liquid clay (depending on what head armature you go with)
tin foil
clay softener (I use Orange Goop)

Step 4:
Realistic dolls can be overwhelming to start, so start on the Part that's most Inspiring. For me, that would be the head. Once you're done with the head, you're going to want to get the body done as well. I have two methods to building the head armature.

Method 1:
Basically just wrap a layer of clay around a skull-shaped tin foil ball and bake it. Make sure the face is flat so you can add clay to sculpt into the face. Now you've got a firm foundation to sculpt on.

Method 2:
The second method is a bit more complicated so you may just need to watch it instead of reading about it. I sculpt the face on a sculpting board and then bake the face. Then I bake a ball of clay for the cranium. I join them together with some liquid clay and raw polymer clay, and bake. I do that process a few times until I have a head.

Finally I touch on how to bake polymer clay. I show you my oven dedicated to polymer clay baking and I go over oven temperatures and baking times.

Thanks for watching!

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