Polymer Clay Lion Fountain With Resin or Hot Glue

Hello!

I'm back again with another sculpting project!
This is actually very simple to make, and turned out looking awesome!

The design for the resin fountain was kind of Narnian inspired. I have always loved that series and have made a few other Narnian inspired creations.

Don't have any resin?
No problem! I will show you how to make this fountain with hot glue too! Hot glue is a lot more adorable and easier to get your hands on. It also works very well for making little clay fountains!

Let's get started!

• Polymer clay of your choice >>> This is what I am using

• Sculpting tools >>> These are some that I use

• Acrilic paints

• Paint brushes

• Small container of water (To rinse your brush)

For the resin

• Resin The resin I am using is "Amazing Clear Cast Resin" You can get this here

• Disposable rubber gloves

• Tooth pick

• Hot water in a bowl (optional)

• A small container you can throw away

• Hot glue gun with hot glue

Let's start by rolling out your clay but leave it kind of thick so it will be less brittle once baked.

Then cut out a rectangle shape and cut the corners off on one side. It should look like the 3rd pic above.

Now cut a thin strip of clay and wrap it around the bottom of the rectangle, and gently blend the sides in.Then roll out another sheet of clay and cut to shape, and gently blend in, again.I then cut another long thin strip to go around the top of your fountain.
This is the body of your fountain!

I also then drew a brick pattern on the bottom of the fountain, and textured it with an old toothbrush.
Then I added a strip of clay around the rim of the bottom of the fountain. Also, I drew a brick pattern and textured with the toothbrush.
I wanted it to have an old look so I took one of my tools and put cracks in the brick where I thought it looked good. I also did the brick texture on the edge around the top of the fountain, and textured the back of the fountain.

Then for a bit of design, I added some random shapes and stacked them on the top of the fountain, and once again, textured them.

I decided to add a lions face to mine, you don't have to. It just felt very Narnian like and that was what I was going for.

To start the mouth of the lion, I took 2 U shapes of clay and placed them towards the top of the fountain. Make sure there is plenty of room so you can get the resin in the mouth.
I then added a forehead and got to work on the mane.

The way that I usually make a lion's mane, is that I take a ball of clay, roll one end to a point, and cut. Then I just position the hair wherever I like.
Just keep doing this until you are happy with the mane. Also don't forget to add little ears by making little balls and pressing them on the sides of the lions head.
Then add the facial details, like eyes nose and mouth, and your done with the face.

I for some reason thought it was a good idea to put green clay as the ivy even though I knew I had to paint over it. It was pretty pointless, but at least you can see it in the picture better than if it wasn't green!
Anyway, I just put little snakes of the green clay and put them here and there and textured them with one of my tools.

Now you can bake this according to your package instructions!

Time for one of my favorite parts...Painting!
Start by painting the whole thing black.
I then dry brushed dark grey all over the fountain then went in with a lighter grey and dry brushed again.

Dry brushing is where you go over a darker color with a lighter color when there is barely any paint on the brush. This leaves the dark paint in the crevices and the lighter color on top.

Also once you are finished painting the grey on, why not go in with a nice dark green and paint over the ivy.

If you don't have resin, just skip this step and go on to step number 7. That is where I show you how to do this with hot glue.

I felt that this step was too long, so I put it in 2 parts.

To prepare your piece for resin, I just painted a piece of wire white and glued it in the mouth of the lion. Next I took a small bit of plastic wrap and carefully wrapped it around the wire.
If you are concerned that the resin will leak out the side of your fountain, just put a small piece of masking tape and it should be good to go!
Your piece is now ready for resin!


I just recently got into using epoxy resin for some of my art projects, so I am still a beginner. If you have any pointers on how I can use resin better, please say so in the comments so I can better myself.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT COMES WITH YOUR RESIN. THIS IS JUST WHAT WORKS BEST FOR MINE.

One more thing, please put rubber gloves on and make sure you lay something down to catch drips. I have done it without, but somehow it manages to get everywhere, and it does NOT come off clothes or furniture.

To prepare the resin, put your resin container in sandwich bags to soak in hot water for around 15 minutes. This helps to reduce bubbles and makes it easier to mix.

Next pour equal amounts of resin into your mixing cup. It's really important to get equal amounts because if they are even slightly off they won't mix properly and will cure too fast or, it will just never cure, depending on which parts you add too much of.

Then you can start mixing. Mix your resin until you do not see any more swirls. I found that it helps to keep the bottom of your mixing container in the hot water bowl while you mix your resin to reduce bubbles, and helps it mix easier. Also to reduce bubbles, it helps a TON to stir very slowly

Once your resin is all stured up, carefully pour the resin at the top of the fountain, letting the resin fall down the wire. Then pour the rest in the bottom pool part until it is almost to the top.

I then came back every hour for about 4 hours with a toothpick to shape the water coming out the fountain just to make sure it would stay. This isn't nessasary if you have UV resin, if you have UV resin then you can cure it so much faster.

Just for a bit more moving water action, I took some white paint and dabbed some bubbles on with my brush.
Add any other details you like and your done!

If you don't have any resin, but still want to make a fountain, you can use hot glue!

The only thing that I don't like about hot glue is the water at the bottom of the fountain. Once the water made from hot glue cools, it turns a murky translucent white. Which isn't ideal for water, but it still looks ok. On the plus side, it cures a LOT faster, and the water fall holds better.

So to make this fountain, it is basically the same way I did the resin.
But, this is how I did it...
I glued a wire at the top of the fountain let it dry, and started to put the hot glue on.
Once your glue gun is all warmed up, start at the top of the wire and put the glue all the way down it. Then fill the bottom with glue. If you want, you can take your toothpick and mess with the glue before it drys to get the water fall the way you want.

And that's it!

Pretty simple and lots of fun!

That's it! Your all done!

You can put it on your desk as a nice decor, or turn it into a magnet! Whatever you want!
I hope you had as much fun making this as I did!

If there is anything that you see that you would like to leave a helpful tip on, I would be very happy to hear your info!
Thank you so much for reading!

Take care and God bless you!

Bye!