Wee Belle (b.27 May 2010)

Wee Belle

I've been making up so many wee dog commissions of late, I thought it might be interesting if I showed you some of the steps I take to create one of them. Each wee dog is very different, but some of the techniques used here I use for other breeds. I made Wee Belle back in May, so my techniques have evolved a bit since then - for example, I now create more defined legs, rather than just the impression of legs. I'll do another tutorial about a more recent wee dog soon (must remember to take photos!)

The real Belle

Wee Belle is a lovely wee Scottie dog I was asked to make by Eberth of Olinda Jewellery for his son, Tiago. Belle doesn't live with Tiago, but is an adopted dog, and so Eberth wanted a wee reminder of her for Tiago.

Stage 1 - the raw materials

So, let's start at the very beginning - which is a very good place to start :) Here are the basic materials - some Fimo white (classic), a smidge of beige Super Sculpey, a roller, a tissue blade, scalpel and clay shaper.

Stage 2 - creating the basic shape

Once I've conditioned the clay, I then created the basic dog shape, moulding by hand and getting a feel for the right proportions. Because polymer clay is quite stiff to work with, it was important to keep a light touch as far as possible so that the rounded shape of the head didn't get squashed.

Stage 3 - building up the face

I added the eyes next, and then built up the face using logs of white clay. I have also created the mouth by cutting out a shallow triangle with the scalpel, and lining the cavity with black clay before replacing the triangle. And of course she needs a shiny black nose, and those cute wee ears with pink bits inside!

Stage 4 - 'fluffing' the face

Once all the strands were in place, I used a scalpel to lightly 'fluff' up the strands to make them look more like fur. This was quite time-consuming - it's important to make sure all the strands are blended out, so the scalpel strokes have to be pretty close together, and I usually go over the strokes again to make sure they are well blended.

Stage 5 - 'fluffing' the body

Once the face was done, I then went over the rest of the body to create a fur effect. This took quite a lot time. Oh, and I forgot to mention that before I started this process, I added a short tail, which I strengthened using a wire armature.

Stage 5 continued

For all that Wee Belle was only about 5cm tall, there was quite a lot of clay to 'fluff'...

Stage 5 continued....again...

The finished Wee Belle...at last!

Once I'd finished Wee Belle, I cured her in my table top oven for 45 minutes at 130 degrees C. I didn't varnish Wee Belle, apart from her shiny black nose.

Et voila!

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