The Tentacles Multiply

 As you saw in my last post, I started playing around with tentacles.  Of course, these squirmy extensions have to be attached to something.

My first idea was to build a base that would hold a vase or glass orb, with the tentacles reaching up and grasping it, pulling it down towards the base, which would be sculpted as a cephalopod's beak.  Sorry for the photos, these were work in progress pictures I quickly snapped for some friends with my phone camera, of all things.

The more I worked with the clay and the design, the more I realized that this might not work out for this project.  There are several reasons: I am attempting to use Super Sculpey for the first time to test it's integrity and strength in this type of a sculpture.  That being said, this nude/translucent color is not going to remain for this project.  I plan to paint the sculpture multiple times and really get some detail into the tentacles and suckers. That cannot happen with a vase in place.  The vase would need to be baked with the sculpture, then very meticulously painted around, if at all. 

Another issue is that SS gets very soft the longer you work with it.  My tentacles kept falling down or bending in directions that I did not want, despite the armature supports.  So, the vase did play an important role, holding the sculpture in place while I worked with it in stages.  This issue was quickly resolved when I baked it.

Check back to see it baked and painted!  And see what my next plans for this piece will be...

Sneak Peek

So, I have been working on this project for the past couple of months.  It has evolved multiple times already and I still have not decided completely what direction it is going in.  

In the meantime, I will be posting status pictures as I work on this project..tonight: tentacles!

Another Shopping Trip!

So, I got one of those daily deal emails, offering $40 dollars of supplies at Jerry's Artarama, for only $19.  After much deliberation, I decided that it was a great deal and that it would be worth it.

I love Jerry's.  It's the only local place that I have been able to find large blocks of Premo, along with my very favorite mica powders.  They just expanded their collection of colors recently too, so I never know what I'm going to find when I go into the store!

On this trip, my boyfriend and I decided to split the cost of the daily deal. Out of pocket, we ended up spending only $22 total for the above items. 

I, of course, grabbed the 1lb block of white Premo clay.  I also was able to pickup some brand new Pearl-Ex mica powders.  I cannot wait to try these out, so please stay tuned for new pieces coming soon!

 My boyfriend paints miniatures, so he was able to pick up these beautiful liquid acrylics. (Shh, don't tell him, but I'm going to be snatching a bottle of this for one of my upcoming projects to see how it works) ;)

On the day we went, Jerry's was also running a 20% off on all of their open brushes and paints, so he was able to pick up the above brushes too.  He is very rough with his brushes, so it was a great deal for some really nice ones.

I'm always on the hunt for a good deal.  Locally, Jerry's has fabulous prices and the quality/variety of their products are amazing.  When a daily deal is thrown in, it was definitely the deal of this week!