I say Gryphon and you say Griffin

Back again with a Step by Step blog for you all today. :)

I am working hard on building my inventory up for the Dragon Con Art Show in September. Last Dragon Con cleaned me out so I will have a whole bunch of new pieces this year. 

So here is one of my gallery pieces, a Gryphon (Griffin) and I am super excited about it because this is the first one of these I have made on this scale(over 3 inches) before.  

As always, I started with the general shape I wanted, used glass beads for the eyes and began to sculpt small details into the face and torso. I wanted this Gryphon to look sort of like a parakeet so I kept his beak short.

Also I wanted my gryphon to have feline-like back legs and bird-like front legs. So I made his little clawed feet and began to build then up with hair. Giving him a puffy chest.

Time to add some color to our guy. I normally start with colored polymer clay but since I wasn't sure what color I wanted when I started, I had to use white. It didn't take me long to figure out his color scheme though. Since he was already very parakeet-esque I went with blue and white.

Now to add some ears, because a gryphon without ears is just a bird with a lion butt. LOL  

(Fun Fact: Back when the crest or suit of arms was just an animal head, the gryphon would often be mistaken for a bird or eagle head so it was then always depicted with ears to clear up any confusion.)

Now usually I am diligent about photographing my steps but with this piece I got super excited and neglected to take pictures of my process of making the wings for this guy. No worries, my phoenix I did last year is happy to help with an explanation collage. :)

Traditionally gryphons only have one set of wings but our guy needs to be special so he gets two! I couldn't decide which position I wanted , open or folded, so I went with both. That is one of the great things about fantasy creatures, you can make them look however you want, your imagination is the limit. :)  

I like my gryphons to be very cat-like aswell so this little one is going to get a nice fluffy tail to finish him off.

He is all sculpted, now we can paint small details to our sculpture.

Our Little Gryphon is ready for his Art Show debut.
This sculpture will be available in September at the Dragon Con Art Show.  

Hope you enjoyed my step by step blog.
Check out my social media sites for more of my artwork. :) 

Thanks for reading!

~Caralyn 

Look and See Her, How She Sparkles!

Getting started on my larger sculpture inventory. I have a big sci-fi/fantasy convention coming up in the beginning of September that I vend at every year. Some of you probably already know about Dragon Con. It is my largest show each year and I need plenty of merchandise for it. So I am working on my pieces for the gallery in the Dragon Con Art Show.
I like to start with an uncomplicated sculpture to help motivate and loosen up my creative muscles. I usually begin with a fairy or fae creature and I try to keep the details to a minimum, no complex outfits, accessories or appendages.
I like to start with the face/head of my sculptures. The face is the most important part of the sculpture, in my opinion. The face can determine the attitude for the entire piece.
First you roll the polymer clay into a ball and form the ball into a head shape.

Then eyes are inserted into the clay ball. I like to use glass beads to make the pupils for my eyes. For this sculpture I chose Pink eyes.

Whoa man, what was in that drink? LOL 

Next I form the eye lids and build up the cheeks of my sculpture's face.

A tiny ball of clay is placed in the center of the face, just below the eyes. Then it is formed into a little nose.

Another teeny clay ball is placed below the nose and shaped into a mouth.

Since this fairy sculpture is going to be a Unicorn Fae(Fairy), I twisted some white clay together to form a fun horn and attached it to her forehead.

And an oval of clay pinched in the middle makes some nice horse ears to finish the look.

Now to work on her body. This piece will be attached to a frame so I only need to sculpt half a torso.
I start with a rounded rectangle and smooth out two tear drop shapes on the chest and a triangle just below, around a wire frame.

I work on the upper arms and shoulders next.

Why Hello there good lookin.

Let's make some arms and hands now. Start with a clay rod and form a wrist.

Cut the fingers into the tip and smooth them out, making sure to cut them to the right length.

Even though her hands will be folded together, I still always sculpt the underside of the hands.

Bend the fingers into the position you desire and attach them and the arms to the torso.

Her hands and neck are the last to be sculpted and then she is baked for half the allotted time.

Attach her to the the frame and bake again. Since Polymer clay cooks at such a low temperature, I have never had issues with my frames burning.
Once she is baked, small details are painted on. I like to brush pastels on for the pink hues in her skin and I use acrylics for the tiny details.

Now this little bald beauty needs some hair.
I separate doll hair into small batches and glue each patch into place on her head. And now she is complete!

Unicorn Fae framed Sculpture. 

I hope you enjoyed this Step-by-Step blog. Here is another post you might like.
Don't Fawn Over Her too much.
Thanks for reading,
~Caralyn