©Diane Stafford DipRSA FEBRUARY 2008

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How to make A Paper Clay Worm or Snailby Diane Stafford

February 2008

Steps:1. Make the Body2. Make the ‘horns’3. Make eyes & nose4. Attach5. Create Mouth6. Paint eyes7. Dry8. Seal

Equipment:1. Kids (optional)2. Plastic Paper Clay3. small pot of water 4. or paperclay slip5. pointed object**6. clean work area7. Poster/acrylic paints8. varnish

** a needle or similar toscratch & attach.

see content re: pressedeyes & to create mouth.

Here’s a cheeky chappy that the kids will enjoy making.

I’d love to take the credit for him, but this particular one is not one that I made myself, although the worms and snails my kids and I have made are very similar.

This snail has actually had his top half dipped in glaze, wiped off his nose and eye surrounds and white glaze added to his inner eyes, before firing in a kiln.

For this HOW

TO MAKE, if you

have a kiln, then you can fire him, if not you can leave him to air dry, then seal.

FIRST:

Decide whether you want to make a worm or a snail.

If you want to make a worm you don’t need to make the ‘horns’ (the curly bit on top of the head).

©Diane Stafford DipRSA FEBRUARY 2008

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NEXTDecide whether you want your worm or snail to be wandering freely or whether you want him standing on steadier ground.

To make a stand, take a small ball of clay and flatten it with the palm of your hand, or use a rolling pin or bottle to roll out to shape, making it at least 3/4 of an inch thick.

Point to remember, paperclay is very light and a stand needs to be long and wide enough so that the weight of the body doesn’t tip the whole thing over.

To Make The BODYFor both a snail or worm:

Roll out a piece of dough into a sausage shape about an inch and a half thick - or bigger if you want a giant one - and make that long enough to be able to fold/shape his body into an ‘S’ bend.

You should shape the body into the ‘U’ before it dries, you may require a drop of water to fix the touching parts.

Holding the body gently but firmly, tap the body on a firm surface to create a flattened base are for your worm/snail to be able to stand upright.

If you have made a stand for him, refer to the assembling instructions to attach.

AFTER YOU HAVE MADE THE BODY

For a snail only, make a long thin sausage, to scale, so it balances the size of the snail’s body

Bend the sausage length into a U shape, curling the ends in and over to resemble the picture.

If the paper clay is reasonably moist and ‘plastic’, the ends will stick together without any problem, if it’s a little on the dry side, just moisten the ends with a little bit of water.

Try not to press them too hard in case you flatten them.

Put to one side until ready to assemble all the features.

Create the facial features

For the OUTER Eyes and Nose, roll out THREE small balls of paper clay about the same size. Put to one side.

For the INNER eyes, roll out TWO smaller balls of paper clay. Put to one side.

AttachingYou should now have the body, base if you have one, all the facial features and snail horns if you are making a snail, ready and waiting to be assembled.

The body should be in it’s “S” shape and be able to stand steadily.

Attaching:

For clay pieces to stick together and stay together there needs to be a secure bond created.

This is where the magic of paper clay comes in. Because paper clay has cellulose fibers in it, from the paper obviously, and when you follow the cross hatching technique, explained below, the combination of water, clay and hollow fibers creates an interconnected bond, adding security to the connecting parts.

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©Diane Stafford DipRSA FEBRUARY 2008

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Cross Hatching Technique:

note: please supervise very young children, perhaps use a plastic knife.

Cross hatching : diagram

Take a pin or needle, or for kids a plastic knife, and scratch ‘cross hatches’ into eg: the head, just where the body part is going to be attached, and ALSO on the body part being attached, only at the point of attachment.

Take a drop of water or a little paperclay slip and drop it onto the cross hatched area of the body.

To make paperclay slip, just put a little paperclay into a jar or dish, add a little water so that it is like think cream, not too stiff, not too runny.

If your paperclay is reasonably plastic you may only need to add slip on one cross hatched area, but if it’s on the dry side, add the water or slip to both cross hatched parts.

Take the body part and fix it in place on the body.

POSITIONING

1. First position the ‘horns’ for the snail if you are making the snail.

2. decide the best place for the outer eyes. To fix these, do the cross hatching and slip fixing, place the outer eyes in position and take the blunt and of a small pencil or similar round object or tool and press the ball of clay, to flatten and indent is slightly,

look at the photo to copy the style/finished look. You won’t need to press too hard if your clay is still quite soft.

3. Next add the inner eyes, firstly, flatten the small balls of clay and attach onto the outer eye. I like to take the sharp end of a pencil and press that into the center to create the look of the pupil, but you don’t have to.

4. Now add the nose, following the same process to attach it to the head.

5. Make the mouth - you can use the end of an old spoon or anything that you find that is suitable to make the mouth as you want it.

6. Attach the body to the base if you have made one.

Finishing off

If needed, smooth over with a damp sponge to remove finger marks.

With acrylic or poster paint, paint the eye details. Leave the whole piece to dry out thoroughly if you are not firing it.

Finish with a coat of yacht varnish or other suitable household varnish, can or spray - follow health & safety instructions.

You can use PVA glue to seal if you prefer but will not be as long lasting.

Yacht varnish is recommended if he’s going to be placed in the garden, and don’t miss a spot to avoid moisture re-wetting the clay.

Or Fire in your kiln and glaze if required.

Assembling Partscross hatching & attaching

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©Diane Stafford DipRSA FEBRUARY 2008

Diane Stafford

What can I do with this document?

copyright notice

This guide has been written for your reference and personal use, which hopefully will inspire you to try out the many positive benefits of paper clay as a creative medium. you may print a copy for your own use and forward on to friends, provided you do not change the document in any way.

All content and images have protected copyrights of their respective owners and may not be used or copied in whole or in part without their expressed written permission. diane stafford

photo credit: Vaclav Skrivanek

Artist Bio:

Diane Stafford DipRSA

Mainly self taught

Art Foundation

Studied at Chester Art Collegespecialising in ceramics

Distinction Life Drawing

A part time artist, using Acrylic, pastel and mixed media as well as paper clay, working from her home

studio. She has exhibited and sold in the UK and Spain. A collection of her work can be seen in Chester, 2008.

Diane rarely undertakes commissions now as she prefers to indulge in the creative and experimental

process rather than work prescriptively.

Even the ‘moderately famous’ have purchased her work, but she is not telling us who!

Plexsimp Ltd

Art Hobby

co.uk

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Don’t forget you are not trying to make the exact same worm/snail as the picture, that is purely a guide to help you.

You really want to get your own personality into what you create, so let yours and your kids imaginations go wild.

Perhaps you want to make a grumpy snail or your worm might have really big eyes, or you might want to turn it into a really scary imaginary creature, maybe give it some spiky hair or even fangs???? Whatever you create, have fun.

Diane

Another in the Art Hobby Crafts Seriesof free how to make guides