Mafumafu Chibi Figure

I made a sculpture as a gift for a friend out of airdry clay. I was on a time crunch so I don't have very many photos!

-airdryclay

-tinfoil

-Popsicle stick

-paint

I formed a blob smaller than the size of the body and head I wanted out of the tinfoil and added a wire for the neck, but I replaced it with a Popsicle stick later on because the one I used was too weak.

I covered the tinfoil in a layer of clay, mushing it to a fat teardrop shape for the body, and for the head to have protruding cheeks, smoothing with them water. While I was sculpting, the butt of my piece started getting squished because the body was too heavy, so I recommend making the layer of the butt thinner and have the tinfoil support the weight, not the clay. Though, the clay I was using was super soft so a harder clay might be able to handle it.

I set the head aside to work on the body. I made the legs out of fat logs with little feet, but I removed the feet later on because I didn't think they were cute. I made the arms out of long teardrop shapes, as the character I was sculpting wears a hoodie with puffy sleeves so I wanted the arms to get fatter near the hands.

I made the hood of the hoodie with a wide triangle shape, building on it with thin snakes of clay. It was super lumpy around this stage, so kept smoothing with water.

At this point I go back to the head to let the body dry a little. I made the hair out of tapered snakes or long triangles. I made the ears out of fat triangles, squishing the base a bit to make it have a 3D shape. I made the hair that sticks out by making a curved snake, letting it dry a little, and sticking it into the wet clay on the head. (this picture was after the next step, I don't have a picture of this step with just the head)

I set the head aside to dry. I added a tail, cuffs on the sleeves, made the pants puffy, added the drawstrings of the hoodie, and removed the feet. I smoothed everything with some water before letting it dry for a day, but I needed to get this done quickly, so I stuck it in an air-fryer on dehydrate for a while and let it sit next to a radiator overnight. (it is recommended to let it dry for multiple days)

I painted my figure with acrylics, and for smaller details I used a pen.

Now it's ready to be shipped off! It's super cute and I enjoyed the process! I want to make more figures for myself in the future!