Polymer clay workshop part II

Second and last day of the polymer clay workshop by Lina and Akram (Mobius Design Studio at House 53) at the Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood (formerly known as Bastakiya), a part of SIKKA 2013 program. Got there with no mistake this time! I was rushing to the venue because I left home late in an attempt to finish an article for submission before heading out. But that was not to be. Got there a little past 2:00pm and luckily, people were just starting to arrive. 

(Read Part I here)

Lina showing how to sand and color the pieces.

We got our now-baked pieces back and got introduced to the numbering system of sandpaper: the higher the number the finer it is. After cutting up pieces of sandpaper 600, Lina distributed them and we started sanding.  

Getting ready for sanding!

"I have a black nose. Teeheehee!" says the Grand Witch, who was suddenly in a black mood.

Lucky me, I need my witch's head wrinkly so I did not really have to make her very smooth. Still, I got into its nooks and crannies to remove excess clay and to round off sharp edges. 

Lina brushing the piece with water in preparation for sanding.

After the tedious job of sanding was the fun part of painting. And in this process they showed us the first step which was priming with white spray paint. We used a white enamel paint from Ace (which, according to Akram was the wrong kind, it should say primer on it and you have a choice of white and gray. He suggested gray for my piece).

Using spray paints take practice. You need the proper distance and aim (hence my furrowed brows because I seem to be getting it all wrong). Needless to say, my first layer was uneven.

Spray painting against the wind was not fun. Half the paint went somewhere else...
Ooops, I hope not on those paintings behind me. 

Loving the white look. Maybe I can just keep it this way... 

Even with just the white paint on, this piece looks fab.

Just hanging out with her buds... for drying or cooling.

Yubaba is shaping up really well. There's no mistaking that humongous hair!

And on to painting we go! They were not able to bring the airbrush with them, something went wrong with the nozzle or tube, so that was disappointing. But we had brushes and Derwent acrylics to work with and all was good.

Everybody busy with their own work.

One problem I always have is the evidence of brush strokes which becomes less after a few layers of paint. Their solution to this was to use thin coats of acrylic paints. Dilute the paint first with water before applying. I've never tried this with clay works (except when applying blushes). I usually attack with thick layers. Doing it with thin layers seem to work like painting on paper or canvas. Quite logical come to think of it, I've read that before - think of painting sculptures like 3D canvasses.

First, I layered with yellow but the brush I used had blue on it which I did not notice so it became slightly green - a happy accident, witches should be green right? Then a slight tint of orange (but still more yellow). Then I started putting on the warm colors, flesh tones, orange, then added greens and blues in corners and the eyelids.

My downfall: impatience. Even before the layers were dry, I put on new ones. So the white enamel would show up in some places which I had to cover up. Anyway, eventually, I was done. And here she is:

"You may remove your shoes! You may remove your wigs!", said the Grand Witch.

(And yes, that lopsided head is intentional. I maintain, everything here is intentional. Hehe.)

Yey! Another Ria in the group! Young Ria made three pieces during these last two days.
Her first piece is that beautiful lady on the right (my right, or left!) with those gorgeous eyelashes. 

Guess who? One look at that mustache and you know it's good ol' Charlie.
That black and white really worked well with this piece done by Ria's brother. 

Preeti decided to make a bust of Buddha. Instead of doing a one-color piece like most Buddha statues,
she decided to put colors on it. I love the neutral and brown shades she blended on the eyelids.

Ayosh (Preeti's son) and his Russel creation - both looking pretty sharp!

Look at this adorable artist (she's just six years old!) and her just as adorable floral piece.
That would look good on any mantelpiece. This shows how wide the world of
polymer clay can be – you can create anything and everything (well, almost). 

All lined up and ready to show. 

We left them all at House 53 where they will join all the other artworks done by other workshop participants. Turns out there's a gathering or a feast on the 24th - everybody can come and view the exhibit and then we can take home our pieces after. Sounds fun!