Human life has always been associated with dolls. At the excavations of ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, archaeologists found figurines of dolls made of wood or clay. In the future, dolls began to be produced not only wooden and ceramic, but porcelain and textiles were also used. French fashion designers demonstrated new models of clothes with the help of dolls. They put luxurious outfits on small copies of a person and sent them to their clients. In the modern world, such material as polymer clay is very popular among puppet masters.
How to create an image of a doll
Any handmade polymer clay dolls will be unique. As a rule, no master can make an exact copy of a doll.
In order to come up with an image of a future masterpiece, you need to understand what kind of character it will be. Perhaps his prototype will be a character from a cartoon or a book, or maybe it will be the embodiment of the master's fantasy. In any case, consider the following:
- age and gender of character;
- size;
- pose;
- character;
- body proportions.
Required tools and materials
You can find a large selection of polymer clay in craft stores. This material for modeling is of two types. The first hardens under the influence of air. The second option needs to be fired and is much more suitable for beginners than the first. Such polymer clay can be baked in a conventional oven. In the future, when experience in making dolls from polymer clay appears, it is better to use self-hardening material. Unlike baked plastics, it can be sanded after hardening.
To create a polymer clay doll, you will need the following materials and tools:
- Craft wire.
- Styrofoam balls for the head.
- Aluminum foil.
- Polymer clay.
- Sandpaper of varying grits or a manicure block for polishing nails.
- Acrylic paints and pastel pencils.
- Acrylic lacquer for creative work (matte and glossy).
- Paint brushes.
- Sculpture tool set (very convenient to use dental tool).
- Glue.
- Scissors.
- Fabrics for clothes and body of the doll.
- Materials for a wig (synthetic or natural wefts, yarn, sheep or goat hair, floss or tow).
Tips for making a polymer clay doll
Before you start modeling, you need to properly prepare the workplace. Arrange tools and prepare materials. Polymer clay should be thoroughly kneaded with your hands, and if necessary, usewater. During breaks in work, it is better to clean the clay in cling film and a plastic bag to prevent it from drying out.
It is very important to keep your hands clean and wash off the remnants of dried material in time. The finished product must be dried properly. Drying time at room temperature depends on the thickness of the material and can last from several hours to several days.
Making a doll head
To make a beautiful polymer clay doll, the master usually begins his work by making the head. First of all, you need to draw a sketch or choose a suitable picture. While sculpting this part, it should be examined from different angles, and also periodically look at its mirror image in order to notice all the shortcomings in time. Be sure to remember the proportions. As a rule, the head is egg-shaped. The back of the head should be rounded, not flat. On the front should be: forehead, nose, cheeks, lips and chin.
On the prepared egg-shaped form, you need to mark a horizontal line at eye level, which will divide the face into two equal halves (top and bottom). For an even arrangement of the eyes, you need to lay an axial, vertical line through the nose (left and right parts of the face). The nose is made in the form of a triangle, and the mouth should be placed in the middle between the chin and the nose.
Sculpting steps
Next, you need to do the following:
- Wrap an ovoid or round shape with aluminum foamfoil.
- Prepare polymer clay and evenly cover the workpiece with it on all sides. The thickness of the material should be approximately 0.5cm.
- To sculpt the forehead, cheeks and chin, roll up small plastic balls and stick them on the places marked in advance. Smooth out the seams and shape them.
- To sculpt a nose, you need to take a cone-shaped piece of clay and attach it to the marked place. Form with your fingers, smooth the seams with a stack and give the nose the desired shape.
- From a piece of clay to make a flat element in the form of a rhombus to form lips. Stick it on your face. With the help of a stack, shape the lips, and then make the nostrils. For these purposes, it is very convenient to use a dental instrument with a ball at one end and a flat spatula at the other.
- Before sculpting the eyes, you need to make a place for the eye sockets with your fingers above the cheeks. Sculpt two flat circles of polymer clay and stick them on the eye sockets. Smooth out the seams and outline the eyelids.
- Stick the ears to the head. The location of the ears on the head is in the middle of the distance between the eyebrows and the tip of the nose. The shape of the ears can be made in the form of a spiral and a shell.
- Carefully inspect the head, smooth out all the bumps, and if everything suits, set the head aside to dry. Cracks may appear when the head dries and can be easily repaired with a solution of polymer clay and water.
How to make arms and legs
When making a doll on a wire frame, it is necessary to take into account the length of her arms and legs. BUTsculpting brushes with fingers can be especially difficult. This detail of a polymer clay doll is not suitable for beginner craftswomen, experience is needed. Therefore, for the first craft, arms and legs with primitive palms and feet will go.
Production technology
It is important to make sure that when sculpting you get the right hand and the left hand, you need to do them at the same time:
- Roll up a cylinder out of clay, which will be slightly longer in length than the hand visible from under the clothes.
- Shape a hand - it should have a narrowing towards the wrist. From a plastic circle, mold a palm and attach it to the hand.
- You can make a hand right away with a brush. To do this, you need a longer cylinder, at the end of which a palm is made. Using a stack, create fingers.
- Insert the hand wire from the body frame into the blank so that after drying, the clay handles can be put back in place.
- The legs are formed in the same way as the hands, while you need to consider what pose the doll will have.
When all the details of the polymer clay doll are ready and well dried, it is necessary to smooth out all the bumps with sandpaper and a manicure bar for polishing nails. Then you can start painting.
Assembling a polymer clay doll: a master class
All materials needed for assembly. You should prepare a wire frame, pick up fabrics and accessories for clothes, as well as plastic doll parts. After the parts of the polymer clay doll are ready, you can start connecting them.
Body frameyou can make it right away or assemble it from the parts of the head, arms and legs into which the wire is inserted. You can connect the parts of the frame to each other using chenille brushes. To give the body a shape, wrap the frame with synthetic winterizer, glue the ends to the polymer parts.
It's not difficult to make a costume for a polymer clay doll with your own hands. You don't even need to make a pattern for this. Clothing details can be cut directly on the doll and sewn to the frame:
- Cut out the sleeves of the dress from rectangular pieces of fabric and sew to the arms, fixing with glue at the junction of clay and synthetic winterizer.
- Beautifully wrap the neck and shoulders of the doll with braid, covering the frame of the torso.
- Put the craft on a piece of paper and outlining the outline of her body, design a dress.
- Sew the dress to the body of the doll and decorate it with braid and beads.
- Make shoes out of braid by wrapping around the feet and gluing them to the legs. Decorate with beads.
- Make a wig out of yarn and decorate with flowers on your head.
That's it! Your doll is ready.
