Welcome to today’s daily kōrero!
It doesn’t have to be me making the thread, first in first served. If you are here on a day and there’s no daily thread, feel free to create it!
Anyway, it’s just a chance to talk about your day, what you have planned, what you have done, etc.
So how’s it going?
today I make a dragon for a child’s birthday gift, and then I’m going to see Renfield tonight. Should be a better day. Yesterday was long and exhausting, and earlier in the week I had a run in with someone I’ve been avoiding for years which was kind of the emotional equivalent of a faceplant while running.
What does making s dragon entail?
So I make them out of polymer clay. There’s different ways of colouring polymer clay but I prefer to mix the solid colour clay to get the colours I want. So that, first.
Then I sculpt the body, add eyes (glass ones) horns, tail, wings, etc. Usually I slip a little bit of wire the into the wings to make them less prone to damage.
I add embellishments like iridescent pigments or hotfix gems. Sometimes I give them a little treasure to hold.
Once everything is done and I’ve finalised the pose, I bake them (polymer clay hardens at a fairly low temperature). Occasionally I need to brace them for baking because the clay softens slightly before it hardens - so their head or wings might slump without a brace.
And then, dragon.
Oh it’s you! I love your work! Thanks for taking the time to explain how you do it, that’s so cool. How long does it take to make one?
Thanks!
It generally takes between half an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the level of detail, accessories, and if I’m making parts with a gradient or something.
Oh that’s pretty quick, I was expecting longer to be honest. I guess you’ve got lots of experience so you’d be pretty quick.
It helps that they’re small and relatively simple. If I was doing posed stuff on an armature it’d take way longer. Likewise if I was painting them instead of using colored clays.