Starry Night by Christi Friesen

Transcription

1 Starry Night by Christi Friesen As you may know, glitters and powders are a wonderful way to add additional color, texture and shading to your polymer clay creations. But there are other tricks you can do with them too like this! Van Gogh s Starry Night is one of the most well-know and replicated images in modern culture. And with good reason have you googled it lately? It s really wonderful. The stars are intense and seem to swirl with energy and sparkle. Sparkle. Hmmm, mica and glitter also sparkle yeah, I think you see where I m going with this! For This Project You Will Need: þ þ. polymer clay: Premo clay in Ultramarine Blue and Navy; and green scraps (any assortment of greens) þ þ. liquid clay: Translucent Liquid Sculpey þ þ. powders everything you need is in the SurfaceFX kits Super Hero, Metallicious and Making Waves (we ll be using a yellow mica powder, a pearl white mica micro flake, and blue glitters) þ þ. throw-away containers: three plastic bottle lids or similar small containers þ þ. tools & equiptment: sculpting tools (or toothpick), cutting blade, needle-nose tweezers (optional), paintbrush, clayconditioning machine, heat gun (optional) þ þ. work surface: Teflon sheet, tile or glass, oven, oven thermometer þ þ. Sculpey Satin Glaze þ þ. small piece (3 inches) of thick, uncoated wire (at least 16 gauge) for the stringing channel (optional) MAKING STARS Let s start with the yellow sparkly centers of the stars. To keep the mica and glitter right where we want them (you know they get all over), we ll use a small container to hold the paint we ll be making from the powder. I suggest you use something like those little throw-away plastic containers that food condiments come in, or the cap from a water bottle. To make the yellow paint, squirt some liquid clay (Translucent Liquid Sculpey ) into the container (the squirt should be about as big in size as a peanut). Carefully add a little mica powder. I m using the Zing yellow from my SuperHero SurfaceFX set (it s a verrrry intense yellow). By the way, all the powders and glitters I used for this project are from my SurfaceFX sets, because they are exactly the right colors. But you can substitute other mica powders and glitters if you want to. Now use a toothpick or tool to thoroughly mix the powder into the liquid. Since we ll be baking in between each color, you ll need a Teflon sheet, glazed ceramic tile or piece of glass to work on. (I used a small Teflon sheet, so easy to use!) This way the finished stars will peel off easily when we re all done. 1

2 Because glitter and powder will stick to any unbaked clay, it s important that we bake each color as we go along. Using a heat gun for about one minute will bake it enough to move on to the next step. Or you can have your oven on and preheated to 275º and just pop the Teflon/tile/glass piece with the stars in for about 4-5 minutes instead. Now use a tool or toothpick to draw starry night dots, swirls and swishes let loose with your inner impressionist! Try to make them as small as you can, but don t worry about precision - these actually look better when they are a little rough. Once the clay cools a bit, it s on to the next star color! In another cup, let s mix up the white shimmery part of the star I used the liquid clay with Reflex (a micro mica flake in pearly white yum! It s one of the colors in my Metallicious SurfaceFX set). Use the tool to spread a thin line of this paint all around the outside of the yellows. Before you go bake it, let s add a bit more of the Reflex flakes on top of the moist lines, to add more pop to the sparkle. Pick up flakes with a paintbrush and then tap the brush with a finger to flick the flakes onto the surface of the white lines. Since the yellow is already baked, very little of the flakes will stick to it, they ll just hang out on the white part. You can also add a flick or two of Glamour and Flash (also both from the Metallicious set) to keep a bit of the yellow glow in the white part. Don t overdo it! Now firm up this layer with the heat gun or oven. The final ring is blue, so use a new cup to mix up some shimmery blue! (I used Caribbean from the Making Waves SurfaceFX set and a little Crash from the SuperHeros set). Add this color around the outside of the stars. Then flick some more glitter on top (the Caribbean color will work great. So will Zowie from the SuperHeros set!) Heat gun/oven time firm it up! 2

3 Once it s cooled down, you can use a broad, soft brush to sweep away the excess mica and glitter. MAKING THE BACKGROUND Now let s make a background for the stars to sparkle from. Let s mix up some color for a dark night sky background. I used Premo Ultramarine Blue and Navy and added some Reflex flakes to the mix so the glittery star-like effect will come out in the blend. Blending the clay (and mica flakes) to create the mix will also condition the clay (something needed when working with polymer clay). Just roll or press the clays flat, then run this through the clay-conditioning machine (set to the widest setting). Or you can use a roller. One little mixing trick: you can rip and layer your flattened clay into a little stack and then cut through it with your blade to reveal interesting patterns. Make slices of the pattern, press them together like tiles and run that through the clay-conditioning machine for a more exciting mix! Once you have the colors the way you like them, roll it through your clay-conditioning machine at the second thickest setting to make a flat sheet. Use your cutting blade to cut the sheet of clay into the background shape you want. I m making a focal bead (but you can make a brooch or a wall piece, if you prefer), and I thought a tall, narrow rectangle would be nice. The clay already had an interesting shape at the top, so I left it as it was. In Van Gogh s painting, there are trees in the foreground just nice shapes that give a perspective to the sky. I thought I d follow in his footsteps and add tree shapes to my clay piece, too. I used an interesting mix of green clay for the trees stuff that was lying around on my studio table. Form some green clay into small triangles and press several into place at the bottom of the background. The trees can go off the end, because you can use your cutting blade to slice the end straight again, if you like. With a sculpting tool (this is one of my favorites, the Wow, It s Awesome tool), press in some branchy/leavey texture simple strokes will give the impression of trees (I think Vincent would approve). 3

4 If any of the strokes get onto the background, smooth them away keep the texture in the trees where it belongs! ADDING THE STARS TO THE SKY To add the stars, first peel them off the Teflon sheet (or glass or tile). Using needle-nose tweezers makes this easy. Now put a little liquid clay onto the background where the first star will go. (You need liquid clay to attach the baked stars to the raw clay, so it will stick!) Position the stars, and press them in place. Wipe away any excess liquid clay. ADD POWDER TO THE TREES As you know, mica powder can also be brushed onto the surface of raw clay to add color and shine. So a little green on the trees will give them some zing! (I used Kapow from the SuperHeros set.) And don t overdo it, just a dusting! If mica gets where you don t want it, use some clear tape to lift it off. BAKING Once you like everything, it s time to bake the piece. Polymer clay will only harden in the oven at the proper temperature and for the proper time. So preheat your oven to 275ºF (130ºC) if you re using Premo. If you re using another brand of clay, follow the manufacturers instructions. Use an oven thermometer to make sure the internal temperature is accurate! Polymer does sometimes smell when baking, so use proper ventilation. You can also bake the piece inside an oven-roasting bag (rolled and secured with a clip) to keep the fumes inside. You can bake the piece on its work surface - the Teflon sheet, glass or tile, or on a piece of stiff paper! Bake for minutes (more is better) and then let it cool completely. 4

5 ADDING FINDINGS You can add a brooch backing or a bail to the back with jewelry glue or epoxy glue. You can add a hook for hanging in the same way. If you want to add a channel to string it into a necklace, lay a piece of thick, uncoated metal onto the upper part of the back. Add some liquid clay above and below the wire. Roll out a small bit of the background clay into a thin sheet, and cut it into a rectangle about as wide as the piece. Lay it over the wire and liquid clay. Press if firmly into the liquid clay to attach. (I had a left-over star, so I added that too, just for fun.) Now you ll need to bake it again to fuse the new clay to the old. You ll only need to bake for about 20minutes. Lay it face up so that you won t leave any marks on the front from the tile/glass/ Teflon! Use fingers (or pliers) to twist and remove the wire. It may be a little stubborn in coming out, so be patient. Don t you think this would be a good piece to wear to a museum show? As you may know, glitters and powders are a wonderful way to add additional color, texture and shading to your polymer clay creations. But there are other tricks you can do with them too like this! Resources SurfaceFX, Teflon work sheet, sculpting tools (including the Wow, It s Awesome tool), clay products: 5