How Do Push Molds Work?
First you fill one side of the mold, then the other side, and when you remove the doll, the course teaches you how to clean and smooth and pose the doll into position.
You receive your mold(s) and it comes with a colorful flyer
with links to the online courses that explain the entire process
using text and pictures. They also have video snippets that show
some of the techniques. You will see the camcorder graphic pictured below
in specific spots in the course. When you click on it, it will bring you to
a windows media video (sometimes you tube) and you will see
me demonstrating the various techniques.
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Here is a demonstration of the video snippets. If you click on the camcorder to the left, you can see my demonstration of how to mix and leach your clay to get a beautiful shade for dollmaking. The leaching makes the clay much more manageable, especially for beginners. |
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This is another one entitled "How to fill a Push Mold" |
The online course is in pdf format which means you can save it, print it in its entirety to create your own 70 page book, or you can print only the pages you want to have handy at your art table. Once you have created the doll using the push mold, you then pose the doll, following the online instructions, and then it is baked in your home oven for 15 minutes to an hour. When it cools, it is hard like plastic or ceramic. They are strong although as delicate as porcelain dolls. Polymer Clay Dollmaking is the new Green Ceramics!Making polymer clay dolls is the new craze in dollmaking. With everyone getting "greener" these days, just think about how much smaller your art footprint will be by using a home oven at about 265° as opposed to 1000° to 1800° in a ceramic kiln! With the depression -- uh hum, excuse me, I mean recession that is upon us, the dolls cost about $5.00 to make after your initial investment. You can make a doll in a day or a weekend, depending upon how much time you want to devote to each session of dollmaking. I form the dolls all in one piece in the mold, but I cut them apart to make them and manipulate them into their final pose. You will learn the whole process in the online course that comes with all of the molds. Instead of learning anatomy and sculpting from scratch, using push molds is like having training wheels on your bicycle. It's like learning to draw by tracing first. Once you make about 5 dolls, your own style (like handwriting) will begin to emerge. You will be learning scale and perspective from each project. |
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