Smiling Clay Face, Warm Color Palette

Sometimes it is fun to just make something. It doesn't have to do anything or mean something, it can just be something to do. Thats why I love making art. It's a great outlet and theres so much you can do with it. So I decided to make something colorful with clay and paint. I made a smiling face with a warm color palette and it was lots of fun to make! So heres how I did it!

Here's what you need:

Air-dry Clay (I use Crayola)

Clay Tools

Water

Acrylic Paint

Paint Brushes

Grab your clay, water and tools for this first part. Get a chunk of clay and flatten it out with your hands. Then you can use a rolling pin until It's flat. You can use some water to get rid of cracks and bumps. Next shape the clay so it looks more like a face. Now you're ready to add the facial features!

Get a little bit of clay and roll it into a circle. Next make a triangle shape, keep the bottom flat. Use some water to smooth it out. Then score the bottom of the nose and the section of the face where you're going to put the nose. Add some water then blend the two pieces together. Add some nostrils then adjust it. Onto the eyes!

You can either use your fingers or a clay tool to make indents for the eyes. Then use a little bit of clay to make eyelids and smooth them out. If you want you can add pupils but I decided not too. I had to mess with the eyes a little so they would be around the same size. It's still not perfect but I think it looks fine.

For this step you're going to roll out two pieces of clay. They will kind of look like worms or caterpillars. Place them however you want, the way you place them depends on which emotion you're trying to convey. I wanted mine to have a small smile so I made the top lip straight and the bottom curve. I also added some teeth which are pretty hard to see. I smoothed out the lips then moved to the next step.

Take two chunks of clay and roll them out. Score the bottoms of both pieces and place them above the eyes Get some water to help you blend them out. Next you can use a thiner tool to add little hairs for the eyebrows. You can also add wrinkles and details to the lips. Then I smoothed out some of the cracks and bumps. Now it's ready to dry!

Put your piece in a safe spot where it won't be damaged or messed with. You're going to want to periodically pick up the clay so it doesn't stick to the surface you're working on. Let it dry for 24 hours then grab your paint.

Grab your paints and brushes and make sure your piece is dry. I used a warm color palette but you can use whatever colors you want. I covered mine in a yellow base coat ( this doesn't have to be even it will get covered up later anyway). Then I used my oranges and reds to add little blotches and splats of paint and also added some details with the paint.

Put your piece back into its drying spot. I waited another 24 hours just to make sure it was completely dry but you can finish sooner(or later) if needed.

Now you can set up your piece. Chose a spot and lean it up against something. I wanted to hang mine on the wall but couldn't figure out a good way to do it, so I leaned mine up against some books on my bookshelf and made sure it was secure enough so it wouldn't fall over.

Overall I'm very happy with the result! Looking back I think it would have been fun to make multiple with different color schemes and emotions but I'll have to wait until I have more time to do that. It only took me around an hour to sculpt and around 30 minutes to paint it, but it involved lots of drying time. It was tons of fun to make and I'm glad I did it! I hope you make your own!