Clay Dragon Sculpture
Tina Motley of Cary, N.C., an animal lover, was looking for something different to do with clay.
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When Tina Motley was in school for interior design, she decided to take a pottery class as well. She loved the class and the medium of clay but was bored by making bowls and plates. To remedy this, she tried a little experimentation with an elephant sculpture, as animals of all kinds have always inspired her. In this project, Tina makes a clay dragon sculpture.
Materials and Tools:
clay
rolling pin
cup of very wet clay (slip)
fork
needle tool
board to make it on
hair dryer
glazes
paint brushes
kiln
Artist Note: Have a good idea of how big or small you want your creature before you start. You can make it any size that works for your kiln.
Steps:
1. Flatten out some clay with a rolling pin and trace out two circles for the bottoms of the feet.
2. Roll a thick coil of clay and flatten with a rolling pin. These are your slab/walls of the dragon's body. They shouldn't be any wider than 2 inches, so it is easier to work with.
3. Dip the fork in the slip cup and score each slab layer before attaching it. Usually the foot is just one layer that goes all the way around, so that it looks like a cup. Then add a piece of clay to close in the front part of the foot. You will still have a hole to put the next layers for the legs. If it is a big dragon, you can give him long legs.
4. The tops of the legs should be scored together. Spread the legs apart so they can stand on their own. The legs need to dry a bit and be leather hard. You can give it time to dry on its own, or use a hair dryer if you want to continue working. If you can't finish it in one sitting, you should put plastic around it, so it won't become to dry to work with.
5. The tail is an elongated triangle rolled into a cone. Hold it up to the body and make sure it is long enough to act as a third support for the body.
6. You are ready to make the body! Add a slab all the way around both legs. You can give your dragon a little belly, but he/she needs to get smaller as you work your way to the shoulders. Use the hair dryer to help stiffen the clay to keep its shape as needed.
7. Attach a coiled slab to start the arms at each shoulder. Remember you will add scales, so the arms won't look as skinny as they do now. The rest of the arms can either be made from small slabs or you can use a fat coil and put an airway through it with a long paint brush handle.
8. The toes are just four balls of clay scored to the front of each foot. The fingers are elongated balls attached to the hands. Use your finger or a tool to push an indentation where a claw will go in each digit. The claws are made by rolling a small coil and then rolling it more on the end to make a point. I sometimes attach the hands to the body for support.
9. The dragon gets smaller at the neck and larger for the head. Make walls for the back and sides of the head. The neck and back of the head should be leather hard before adding the snout. The snout is made from layers that are sideways instead of building upwards. You might have to dry each layer a little so the snout won't collapse. Close it off at the end. Don't cut the mouth until the snout is stiff and can hold up on its own.
10. Push indentations where the eyes should go with your fingers. Flatten a circle for the eye and place in the socket. Make a small circle for the pupil and take a paint brush handle and push it through the middle. You can place the pupil so that it looks directly at you or off to the side. The eyelids are made from small coils that overlap the eye a little.
11. When the snout is leather hard, cut an opening for the mouth. Open it enough so you can put teeth in. The teeth are made just like the claws. Make nostril holes with the paintbrush handle.
12. The tail is still unattached at this point because you want to scale it first. You can roll several small balls of clay in your hand at once as long as they don't squish into each other. Start at the tip of the tail and push the scale with your fingertip so that the top of the scale is pushed into the body and the bottom edge looks rounded. Overlap the next scale you just attached. The scales gradually get bigger as you work towards the body. Stop scaling a couple of inches before the end so you can attach the tail to the body. Make an airway from the body to the tail. The dragon's tail is the third support, so make sure he is balanced well.
13. The stomach has a different kind of scale. Cut small slabs in shorter lengths for the base of the stomach. They overlap and gradually get longer in the middle of the stomach and shorter at the top.
14. Put tiny scales around the toes and gradually get bigger as you work up the body. The fingers are also done in small scales that get bigger at the arms and smaller as you work up to the head.
15. It is up to you if you choose to scale the whole face or leave the snout exposed. You can also add horns, ears, wings or spines on the dragon's back.
16. Your dragon has to be COMPLETELY dry before you SLOWLY bisque fire it at cone 04.
17. Glaze your scaly friend (or fiend) however you want and glaze fire to cone 06 if your clay is low fire.
Website: www.tinamotley.com
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