Acrylics Tutorial

To cover all the techniques available to an acrylic painter in a short article would be next to impossible, but I can cover how to get yourself started, what tools you need, and talk a bit about various methods, styles, and techniques.

Modeling the Animal Figure

As with the human figure, every animal species has its own unique proportions. To achieve a credible finished work, it is important to study and measure the animal's features from all vantage points to avoid distortion in the sculpture.

Building An Armature

An armature is the support structure for your sculpture. There are many ways to create a good armature and the following is just one.

Clays by Sovae

A comparison on several different clays and their properties, harness, benifits, fire characteristics.

Sculpting With Character
Well, often, a beginner is very concerned with the technical aspects of making something follow proper anatomical proportions, etc, and this is enough to keep him or her occupied for the first couple of years of their craft.

Fantasy Film Fairy Wings 

Create Fairy wings from scratch using wire, fantasy film, 3D Lacquer, Gem Tech Glue, Glitter and more....

Polymer Clay Conditioning & Blending

Once clay is properly conditioned, a
process that reactivates the plasticizers in the clay then it will stay in a usable state for quite a while. All that's needed later is to cut off the amount you need to use, roll it in your hands until it's warmed up a bit and you're ready to sculpt!!

Sculpting Realistic Skin Texture

Skins can have many textures and lines based upon the creature you are sculpting. This tutorial will help you get started creating realistic skins.

Making Feather Wings

mulberry paper in the color of wings you're making, 20 ga wire, 16 ga wire, Liquid polymer- Sculpey TLS or Fimo Gel, Tacky or Gem Tac white glue, Fabri-Tac glue, thin cord or yarn, wire cutters, paint brush, scissors, Pin feathers, hackle or saddle feathers, marabou feathers all in the color you select, You can mix colors too for an entirely different look 

Polymer Clay Testing 101

If you work with polymers, you know we are always on a quest for the perfect clay to meet our needs. I have been working with polymers for almost 20 years now and have tried nearly every brand available. Before I will commit a brand to my artwork, I do extensive bake and strength testing on that clay. This page is dedicated to showing you the process of those tests.

Skin Tone Pallet: (caucasian)

Most people who paint the figure have their own unique pallet. Usually it's a pallet that has evolved over years and is always in flux, but everyone must start somewhere. One of the greatest hurdles to overcome when getting into painting is selecting your pallet. This tutorial is perfect for anyone just getting into figure painting,

Organza Wing Tutorial

These are just the basics and there are many more decorations or wires that you can add to make yours prettier. I like this method because the wings are very lightweight and as you can see it does not effect my dolls balance and she can still stand unaided.

Selecting Your Clay

Confronted with an array of competing brands, all of whom keep adding new product lines, the sculptor has a job to do just to decide which to use. With that in mind, here are my observations about some of the most popular brands on the market:

Step by step of  Pencil Tutorial

Sanford Turquoise Lead Holder with 2B lead
.5 mechanical pencil with 2B lead, .3 mechanical pencil with HB lead (anything softer breaks too easily), a rubber eraser, a Sakura mechanical eraser, tissue paper for smearing, Canson bristol board. The size for this particular piece was 7x11 inches.

Mermaid Angelina Film Fins

Angelina Film (or some other film that can be backed), Pliers, Fibrotic Glue, Wire (the more bendable you want your fin to be, the more thin the wire must be, but do not over do it...), Soldering gun, Iron, Scissors, And a sculpted mermaid of course

Sculpture Photography by Sovae

Photography has an extensive history, which incorporates many roles, the most relevant to us of which are documentation and art form. When one takes a photo of a sculpture, is the image a documentation of a sculpture, or is it a work of art in and of itself? In either case, there is one thing it most certainly is not- and that is an actual sculpture.

Watercolor Walkthrough

I hesitate to call this a "tutorial" because it's not a description of techniques or definitive method precisely. It's more of a revealing of my personal process as I work on a painting. And in actuality, my method of working is usually much more haphazard than how you see it depicted in these pages. I've attempted to rein back to put some semblance of order to this.

Fantasy Film, Angelina Fibres, Scissors, 2 different pincers (you can see them on the picture below),Glue, Glitter, Wire, Soldering Gun

Creating a Miniature Forest for Indoor Photography

Well, she IS next to a pond. that's part of her setting.  But is that really deep in the woods where she's laying? Ah, no....and now you know my little secret! This is my setup for winter time photos, when the gardens are buried under several feet of snow.

Sculpting Simple Feet

This foot is a little more simplified than the process I use on my work, but it's a good place to start. The tools I use are simple, a #2 filbert or "cat's tongue" paintbrush- using both the bristles and the handle, and my new favorite tool, a #11 disposable scalpel.  I also use different size darning needles baked into clay.

Wire fairy crowns

So, now you need those lose ends. Put the crown on the fairy's head and twist them tightly around her head. You can put them below her hair or not, as you wish. Just like in the first crown tut, you can decide to bead it all around. Just remember to leave those ends in order to complete the crown.

Packing Tutorial

Good wrapping and packing is a must, there is no question about that. But it is also important to use good quality clay and bake that clay properly so you are sure it is fully cured. A strong armature is also a must. Polymers were never intended for large creations without good, strong armatures to support them.

Sculpting Hands Tutorial

The following images will be a step by step process of creating hands in polymer clay.  There will be a brief description to accompany the photos, but really the images show the steps pretty well.  These hands are a
simplified version, you can add as much detail as you wish or as much as your sculpt dictates.

Proportioning the Human Figure

We always struggle to "get the proportions right". The illustrations below will help you translate the human form to fit the scale you are working in. For centuries artists have divided and subdivided the human form, each seeking to improve their understanding of the body's particular proportions and to enhance their art.

Mold Making Tutorial

A good clean mold is a sculptor's best friend. If you are a sculptor and plan to make money as a sculptor then you need to learn how to create molds. When you have the ability to create molds, you have the ability to create multiple copies of your creations.

The Unicorn Tutorial

First, a little about tools. Your most valuable and important tools are your hands, but for particular areas and detail work, you sometimes need additional tools. Tools are highly individual, and one artist's tools might be completely useless to another artist, so collect only the tools you think you will use as opposed to gigantic sets of generic tools.

Tools of the Trade

Detailing tools can be as simple or complicated, as inexpensive or expensive as you decide. You can even make your own! I use a wide variety, ranging from dental hand tools, commercially available wax detailing tools, and many I've made myself. If you intend to do your work on the small scale, these are the tools I recommend you have to start with.