These are a selection of tools I use most frequently, and I may or may not use all of them. Tools are a funny thing, and a very personal choice. Some work for me some don't, and some of the stupidest things can become a tools, although I would highly suggest anything you use for polymer or apoxie you not use for any other purpose, except for things like cleaning out your fingernails, getting that piece of sculpey out from between the keys of your keyboard, and other things, but don't use them for food preparation. Once a sculpting tool, always a sculpting tool.
 
The first set of tools are clay shapers. They have rubber tips and are great for apoxie especially, because if the apoxie dries on you merely bend the rubber tip and it will pop off. I use these a lot, especially the smaller ones.
 

 
You can buy these from any place that sells painting or sculpting supplies. They are also sold as paint shapers, but they work excellently for clay as well. Here are a few links for sources of clay shapers.
 
http://www.dickblick.com/categories/modelingtools/
http://polymerclayexpress.com/tools2.html
http://sculpt.com/catalog_98/CLAYTOOLS/claytoolsindex.htm
 
You can find just about any of the tools I have listed here either at one of the above links and through other sources as well. I have bought several of these types of tools at Michaels art and craft supply.
 
The following are ribbon tools, some of which I ordered on line and some which I picked up at Michaels.
 

 
The following are wooden sculpting tools which I bought at Michaels. They are pretty cheap but fairly good quality for the price.
 

 
These are just miscellaneous tools I use quite often.
 

 
This is the airbrush I use.
 

 
This is a pretty high dollar airbrush, and using an airbrush really isn't a necessity. You can brush your sculpts with a pretty good outcome. I did it up until this past spring, so it is possible and can be done well.
 
That's it for right now, I will be posting materials later on either today or tomorrow.
 
Cheers,
Julie

This is a list of basic materials I use for most of my critters. There will always be something else I end up throwing into the mix, but these are the basics, and I will be sure to mention anything I use along the way that isn't listed here.
 
These are the clays I use most:
 

 
The apoxie (for those of you who don't know about it) is a two part clay that cures on it's own. It is infinitely harder and stronger than polymer clays, so I use it quite a bit to give the sculpt strength and for parts that would otherwise be too fragile and thin to use polymers for. There are two different types of two part clays that I know of and have used, one is Magic Sculpt, and the other is Aves Apoxie Sculpt. There are a few differences, but the main ones are that Aves is supposed to be non-toxic, whereas Magic Sculpt isn't. The Aves is what I normally use, mainly because I can get it easier, but just because it is non-toxic doesn't mean it is inert. I do have a mild allergy to it, but if I am careful, I don't have any problems with it.
 
Contrary to popular belief, apoxies are NOT air dry clays. It could cure underwater or in a vacuum in the complete absence of air. It's a chemical curing clay, which means the two parts, when mixed equally start a chemical reaction that causes it to start setting up. Generally you have between one and four hours to get your sculpting done before it sets up, depending on the temperatures where you are using it. The colder it is, the longer it takes to set up, the hotter, the quicker it will get hard. For this reason, you don't want to mix large quantities of it at one time, or you are liable to end up with a chunk of rock hard apoxie that you can only make fake rocks out of.
 
The polymer clays are a box of Super Sculpey, and one 2 oz. block each of black and white Premo! clay. Most of you will already know about polymer clays, but since I want this tutorial to help out even those who have no sculpting experience whatsoever, bear with me while I explain the concept of polymers.
 
Polymer clays are low heat cured clays, which means you don't need a high dollar kiln to fire it. You only need an oven. Some people use toaster ovens, some use convection ovens and some use plain old kicthen stove/oven combos. Polymer clays cure at low temperatures. The manufacturers say (usually) 15 minutes for each 1/4 inch of clay at 275 degress F. With the larger sculpts I do, I normally lower the temperatures and bake a lot longer. This tends to keep larger sculpts with thick layers from cracking, and yes it *does* cure completely. You probably won't hear many dollmakers say that though, but if you are using translucent clays that aren't going to be painted, you wouldn't want to bake that long anyway, or you would end up with a discolored sculpt. In this case though, the entire sculpt will be painted, so it doesn't really matter.
 
Polymer clays do not set up until they are heated so they can be sculpted and re-sculpted indefinitely. However, they will start to set up at fairly low temperatures if they are left in that kind of environment for long. Keep polymers in an area where the temps will be comfortable. Even at 90 degrees F, clay will start to get dried out and hard. Keep it at room temperature (about 60-75 F) and you'll be able to keep it a LONG time.
 
On to solvents.
 

 
These are the ones I use most often, and I will be using all of them in this project.
 
Oops, I just realized I have TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey) in with the solvents, and it should have been in with the clays. TLS is used in some situations, but I will get into that later, but it would be a good idea to have some on hand.
 
The other solvents are:
 
Turpenoid-a turpentine substitute. It is low in odor, but is similar to mineral spirits. Don't mistake this for mineral oil. Mineral spirits is a paint thinner. I just recently started using turpenoid, and love it. It is strong enough to soften the clay, but not so aggressive that it wipes out all of your hard earned details. Turpenoid can be found in some hardware stores, but I get mine through DickBlick. You don't need much, it goes a LONG way.
 
Isopropyl Alcohol-This is just plain old rubbing alcohol. I use it to firm up the clay after using the turpenoid. You'll see more later.
 
Sculpey Clay Softener-I use this when I make very fine detail. It is less agressive than the turpenoid so I can use it after I make my major detail, and start putting in the finishing touches.
 
Apoxie safety solvent-I use water for the most part to smooth the apoxie, but when joining uncured apoxie to cured apoxie, this helps make a smoother transition between the two. Not necessary, but very useful.
 
Next are some of the miscellaneous materials I use.
 

 
Here we have armature wire, wire mesh, FW Artist inks for painting, wedge shaped makeup sponges, and floral tape. I sometimes use other things like masking tape as well, but if I do I'll make a note of it.
 
The size of armature wires I use most are 14 gauge, 20 gauge, and 28 gauge galvanized wire. You can pick these up at just about any hardware store.
 
The makeup sponges I use ALL the time, both in sculpting, and painting. They are a must have in my book, and they are cheap and easy to get. Check any health and beauty sections of your local st

Originally posted by Eirewolf:
 
I'd love to see a carousel beastie, or any kind of horned and/or winged beastie. I loved your unibeast, and the dragon you made for your sister. Do something that is fun for you! I personally don't care if it takes a while; I'm in it for the long haul! Very Happy
_________________
~~Erin~~
www.EirewolfCreations.com

Before I get started, I'd like to make some things absolutely clear. I'm not a professional artist in the sense that I went to art school or am some kind of expert. I'm not an expert, and I never went to art school. I'm basically self taught, but I have been sculpting for several years full time for the most part. I also make a living at it, so in that sense I am not an amateur. I'm simply someone that has learned a hell of a lot from other tutorials and a whole lot of trial and error.
 
For about 5 months out of the year I do other work, and don't do much sculpting at all, but for the rest of the year, I sculpt full time, and I mean 8-14 hours a day. I'm obscessive about it. Before I started sculpting I worked for years as a 2D artist doing portraits and other art, however I MUCH prefer sculpture to flat art.
 
I work intuitively, that is to say, I don't plan everything out first, do 2D drawings, or rough drafts. I just get an idea in mind, and start plugging away at it. If you want instructions on doing it other ways, like working from drawings, I can't help you. I like working with polymer clays for this reason. I can try it out, and if I don't like it I can change things until it "feels" right.
 
There are a couple of things I can't really teach you, nor will I attempt to. These are basic anatomy and most importantly, patience.
 
In order to make convincing sculptures of even mythological or conceptual creatures, you need to know the basics of animal anatomy. You don't need to learn the name of every muscle and bone in the body, but you do need to get a concept of the way muscles and bones work. Otherwise you are going to end up with something that just doesn't look right. You can learn a lot by simply researching them yourself on the internet. Do an image search for different animals, not just dragons. There are a lot of dragon images out there, but you can learn more about anatomy by researching dogs, cats, reptiles, horses and other common animals. Skin textures and scales too are important. Look for snakes, iguanas, lizards, and even realtively hairless mammals like elephants, rhinos and hippos. They have great skin textures you can learn from. If you don't learn about muscles and they way they react to each other, it's difficult to come up with natural looking critters. If you don't they will simply look like they are bumpy or worse, flat. You can change the lengths of muscles and bones, add new appendages, or just about any changes, but it needs to look like it COULD work.
 
Patience is something else I can't teach you, so if you are looking to crank something out in an hour, expect it to look like it's been cranked out in an hour. It takes me anywhere from 40 to 100 hours to do a sculpt. I've tried making them quicker, but they don't turn out as well. Even if I do a bust here, I will more than likely end up putting at least 40 hours into it, probably more if I am stopping to take photos along the way. It's too easy to try and rush a sculpt along but it will end up looking rushed. Speed comes with experience, but it can also slow you down. The more you learn, the more detail you WANT to put in. There is a definite learning curve with sculpting, and sometimes the curve seems to get longer before you reach the other side.
 
What I hope to impart with this tutorial is techniques, and different tips that have helped me, that I have either learned from other sources, or have just stumbled upon through trial and error. Basically things I wish I had known when I first started out.
 
My hopes are that you won't just take away with you the steps to make one of my creatures. I'd much rather you went away from this tut when it is complete with the knowledge of how to do some of the different techniques, and come up with something that is in whole YOUR work, in YOUR style. Once you learn those techniques, you can run with it and create your own fantasy critters!

Originally posted by bmayes:
 
At last, a chance to see how to work with these materials. Tuts are a big job...........so a big Arrow Thanks To You Julie.
Cams list has been slow so I may have missed your posts

Originally posted by bmayes:
 
Hey, Julie Julie. It is great talkin to ya!
Good at Bronze yes, but need to learn a lot about sculpting in polymer....and painting it and finishing and and and. I know this info will be a HUGE help to me. I need to know a lot more about techniques used for and on polymers.

Originally posted by bmayes:
 
Deal!!! You is da best!