Tutorials

I will be offering tutorials on this page.  As I create new tutorials, the one shown will be removed from my site without notice.  Please feel free to save this in your files for reference, but please direct others to this page and do not give it freely as your own work.  I love sharing what I learn with others and only ask that you respect my rights to my tutorials.  The first will be a tutorial on how I sculpted the brick wall for my vignette shown below.  To see more about the creation of my vignette, please visit my Work In Progress page.  I hope you'll enjoy it.

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Creating a Brick Wall from Polymer Clay

To create a brick wall, you'll need the following supplies:

Polymer Clay (I used Caucasian Flesh ProSculpt)

Solid Flat Surface Item for Sculpting and Baking

Aluminum Foil

Pasta Machine

Kitchen Rolling Pin (not to be used for food after used with polymer clay)

Freezer Paper (Depending on size you wish to create)

Johnston's 3-in-1 Sculpting Tool

Clay Cutter or Exacto Knife

Ruler (I used a 24" quilting ruler)

Two Small Artist's Paintbrushes

Paint (I used Genesis Oils with Glazing Gel and Paint Thinner)

Cosmetic Sponge

White Printer Paper

Heavy Books (Number of books will depend on size of sculpt)

In my example pictures, I'll be creating a brick floor rather than a wall, but the process will be the same for both.

To begin with, cover your solid surface item with a sheet of aluminum foil so it's ready to place your clay on.

Knead clay and form into a patty.  The amount of clay you'll be working with will depend upon the size of the area of brick you want to create.  Once you have your clay into a patty, run it through your pasta machine on the thickest setting.

If you plan on covering a large surface, you'll want to continue adding clay and running it through the pasta machine until you get the largest piece you need to cover your surface.  If you need it wider than the pasta machine will allow, you'll need to continue making strips of clay rolled through the pasta machine until you have enough to cover your surface.  When adding strips, be sure to trim the rough edges of the clay and overlap the strips of clay just slightly on your surface as shown in the pictures below.  You can trim off the length if you see it's too long for your project and then continue adding the strips.

After covering your surface with clay strips, place a piece of freezer paper on the top of your clay with the shiny side towards the clay.  This will help keep the clay from sticking to your rolling pin.  Lightly run your rolling pin over the surface pressing it only enough to blend the clay strips together.  The purpose of the rolling pin is to give your wall more uniformity and to join the seams.

Gently pull the wax paper off the clay. 

You may need to take your 3-in-1 tool and smooth the seams to blend them a little more or you can smooth with your thumb.

Once you have your surface covered and seams blended, using a ruler or straight edge, trim away the four sides to the size you want for your project.  When trimming, be sure to add just a slight bit to the measurements to allow for shrinkage of the clay once it's baked and cooled.  You may not encounter this problem if you're working on a small piece, but a large piece like my wall had an approximate 1/4" shrinkage.  My first wall measured 15" tall to give you an idea of how much you might want to add.

Next, place your ruler on the clay so you can mark your horizontal lines.  Depending on the scale you're working in, you'll want to continue marking the lines in the distance that is appropriate for your scale.  Use the fingernail tool on the end of your 3-in-1 tool to glide across the edge of the ruler sculpting in your lines.  Continue using this method until you've marked all your horizontal lines.

Once you have all the horizontal lines marked, turn your ruler or straight edge and mark all the vertical lines.  To do this, you'll want to use your sculpting tool and mark only every other row.  Then, move your ruler to the next horizontal row half the distance of the length of your bricks.  Begin marking every other row again by skipping the rows that were previously marked with vertical lines.

Continue alternating the rows you're marking until you have all your bricks marked.

After all the bricks are marked off, use the fingernail side of your tool to go back through and press the lines slightly deeper if you didn't get them deep enough during the marking.

Use a small artist paintbrush to smooth the grouting lines and the edges of the bricks.  I like to lightly rub my finger across the tops of the bricks to add some dimension.  If your clay is not completely smooth on the tops and edges of your bricks or if it has slight indentions here and there, that's fine.  It will add to the natural effect of the bricks.  You can also add a texture to them if you'd like a more rugged appearance.  I decided to try a little more texture so I wadded up a small piece of aluminum foil and lightly pressed it over all the bricks.

Once you have all your bricks sculpted to your liking, go back and check to make sure you have the correct measurements.  If not, trim your piece to the appropriate size again but be sure to go back in and make the grouting lines around the sides of your wall to give it a nice "brick corner" effect.

Next, bake your piece according to the directions of the manufacturer.  Remove the piece from the oven  while it's hot and place printer paper and heavy books on top of your "wall" while it's cooling.  Since the clay is approximately 1/4" thick and is a flat piece, it may possibly curl up around the edges each time it's baked so this step needs to be done after baking the paint as well in order to have a nice flat wall.

Once baked and cooled, paint your bricks in the color(s) of your choice.  Do not paint the grouting at this time.  I recommend using Genesis because of the natural effect you'll get in the finished bricks.  Acrylic paints may dry before you can make the finishing touches.  If using Genesis, heat set your painted bricks by baking according to the manufacturer's instructions for drying the paint, and again, place weight on top the piece while it's cooling.  When painting using Genesis, I mix my brick colors with Genesis Glazing Gel and also dilute with paint thinner. 

Paint the first color in the bricks of your choice to develop a pattern or just mix them up.  Remember, that whenever you paint a brick that is along the sides of the piece, you'll want to be sure to paint the side of that brick as well.

Paint the second color in the bricks you prefer.

Finish painting all the bricks in as many colors as you want.  This picture shows how the brick wall will look after all the bricks are painted.  Bake the piece to heat set the Genesis paints.

After your bricks have cooled, you're ready to paint the grouting in the color of your choice.  Using Genesis Oils without mixing in the Glazing Medium or paint thinner, paint all your grouting lines.  Be sure to paint the grouting around the sides of your clay.  If you get paint on top the edges of your bricks, that's fine.  We'll fix that in the next step.  If painting a large wall of bricks, you may want to paint a section and then proceed to the next step and continue to alternate this step with the following step until your grouting is completely painted.

Using a cosmetic sponge, lightly wipe off any excess paint that may have gotten on the tops of your bricks.  Be sure to do the same on the sides of the wall as well.  By doing so, you'll blend in some of the grouting color across the tops of your bricks giving them a more natural, toned down effect.  Again, if using Genesis, bake the piece to dry the paint and cool it with books weighting it down.

This is the finished brick wall after wiping down with the cosmetic sponge.  You can see how it tones down the bricks and gives it a more finished and realistic look.  Give your brick wall the final baking to set the Genesis Oils.

The piece is now ready to be attached to your wall or floor structure.  Apply glue to the surface your bricks will be adhered to.  I used wood glue, but you can use the glue of your choice.  Carefully lift your wall and place it on the glued surface.  If you have a large item, you'll notice a slight "flex" to your wall when lifting it.  Be careful not to break it.  Press down on the bricks to help them adhere to the glued surface.  Allow your glue to dry before picking up the item.  There you have it, a beautiful, original, hand sculpted brick wall or floor you can be proud of!

Be creative and make smooth bricks or use something to make them more rugged if you wish.  I would love to see some of your creations using my method and would love some feedback on what you think of my first tutorial.

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without express permission from Cindy Kelley of Southwood Creations.

 Photography courtesy of © Bob H Photography.