Photographing Your Clay Creations

Taking professional-looking photographs of small-scale objects can often be a challenge. I think the key is having good lighting and a plain background. Of course, a deluxe camera would be nice but it's not necessary. The photo above of some 3 inch tall clay snowmen was taken with a moderately-priced Kodak digital camera that I've had for a few years (7.1 megapixels). I think the photo came out pretty good for an amateur photographer! ;-)

I'm no expert, but this is what I did when I took the photo of the 2 snowmen above.

Think Outside the Box

On a wild and stormy night.......

You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night. You pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for the bus:

1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect man (or) woman you have been dreaming about.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car?

Think before you continue reading. This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application.

You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first; or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back. However, you may never be able to find your perfect dream lover again.

The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer.

He simply answered: "I would give the car keys to my old friend, and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the woman of my dreams."

Never forget to "Think Outside of the Box."   

Tips for Storing Your Air Dry Clay

I often get asked "How can I store my unused air-dry clay so that it doesn't dry out?"

One of the pros of air-dry clay is that it air dries.  No need to bake!
One of the cons...is that it air dries!  Long-term storage is always a problem.  
Any exposure to light and air will start drying the clay.  Some brands start drying faster than others, especially some of the polymer-based clays such as Model Magic and Cloud Clay. 

I've had pretty good luck with the vacuum bag storage systems.  These storage bags are made for food storage but work great for clay!!   

Free Cutting Tool Ideas

Minmie1412 shares with us her ideas for making your own cutting tools for crafting with clay.   Leaf cutter and heart shape shown in this video.

More 'make yourself' cutting tool ideas in previous post
http://newclaynews.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-make-your-own-clay-cutters.html

Color Mixing Exercises

Clay Art by Maggie Maggio (Smashing Color)

On Saturday we posted a little Introduction to the Color Wheel which just covered the basics for all types of artists.   Today we talk about clay in particular.    Many pre-colored air-dry clays may be mixed as shown in the following exercises or you can use what your learn from them to create your own recipes for pre-tinting non-colored clays and cold porcelain.

Detailed information about color and the color wheel is offered by Maggie Maggio at Smashing Color.    Maggie's tutorials and exercises are designed for polymer clay but are useful to air-dry clay artists also. 

Her Clay Color Scales are shown in the 3 videos below.