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"Melt My Heart" Penguin
Part Two By Laure Estep Dawndove |
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Step Five:
Cut your ball of body blue in half. Set one half aside for the head and wings. Shape the other half into a fat ball. Put your fingers on either side of the top and pinch and roll your fingers lightly to form a plump pear shape. Press the fat side down gently on your work surface to be sure it is balanced and will stand. |
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Step Six:
Pinch the center bottom back of the pear until you pull out a small tail. Smooth and pat the back so it is rounded, not smooshed. Pull the tail into a small point. |
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Step Seven:
Curl the tail up into a "c" shape and tilt it slightly up off the work surface. Set the body aside and do the work with the rest of the dark blue first. |
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Step Eight:
Roll your blue clay into a ball and cut into thirds. Set aside 2/3 of the ball for the head. Use the other third for the wings. Roll into a ball. Cut in half. Roll each piece into a ball and flatten it into a flat teardrop shape. Pinch and roll one end of each wing to elongate it. Leave one end thicker and rounder to meet the body at the shoulder. Stretch to about 1" long and 1/4" thick. Shape the second wing to match. |
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Step Nine:
Roll the reserved 2/3, into a ball. Break a toothpick in half. Blunt side down, press the toothpick halfway down into the body. Slide the head onto the pick to meet the neck. The ball should smoosh slightly and that's fine. Perfectly round isn't attractive or as easy to blend with the neck. |
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Step Ten:
Create a neck by using a toothpick or needle tool to roll up and down at the neck pulling clay from the body up onto the head and from the head to the neck until they are blended. Your seam will be hidden by the scarf, so don't fuss with it too much, just enough to form a definite neck on a short plump body with a large round head. |
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Step Eleven:
We want big waddly feet, so take a ball of light blue mix 1/3" in diameter and halve it. Roll each half into a ball. Roll your finger off the ball to one side, pressing to flatten one side and pressing to flatten the bottom. On the fatter side, use your needle tool to press in 4 toes on the outer edge. Pinch from top to bottom to accentuate the spaces between the toes. Pinch, smooth and shape each toe into a flipper shape. Set aside and return to the main body |
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Step Twelve:
Make a ball 5/8" diameter from the white belly mix and roll it into an elongated pear shape. Pinch to thin the edges out some, leaving the belly center and plump. Stretch the smaller end of the pear a bit to form a neck. Press into onto the front of the body with the smaller end under the chin. Continue to lightly press and smooth the edges taking care not to smear the clay. Do so until the two colors meet smoothly. Be sure the white reaches the penguin's bottom so it will be the color that meets the feet. |
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Step Thirteen:
Cut a 1/4" ball of white mix in half. Place each semi-circle flat side down on the lower portion of the head for the cheeks. Have them close together, but not quite touching. As a rough placement guide, the outer edges of the circles should line up with the edge of the belly color. |
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Step Fourteen:
Flatten a 7/16" ball of the white mix with your fingers to an approximately 1/16" thick oval. Stretch and smooth it over the front of the head, over the cheeks. Be sure white touches white at the throat. Smooth and pat the seams like you did for the belly. |
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Step Fifteen:
The beak is made of a 3/16" ball of light blue mix. Press it flat with your fingers to about 1/16" thick. Pinch the circle into a diamond shape. Use your needle tool pressed against the center of the diamond to fold the two points together. Do not squish them together, leave a bit of space between the upper and lower beak. With the beak still on the needle, press the back side of it against the lower face between the cheek bumps. |
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Step Sixteen:
Use your needle tool or toothpick to pick up a seed bead. Press it sideways (with the needle through the holes running side to side rather than up and down) into the face just above the beak. Keep them close together but not touching. A bit wider space between the eyes or between the eyes and beak, adds a more innocent child-like expression, so experiment with your placement to choose what looks best to you. Stroke 2 smile lines on the outer side of each eye. Gently tilt the head to his left side. |
| Part One
Part Three |
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