Transcripts
1. Part 1 Introduction: Hi there. My name is Chris. Do you know that you can
grow real crystals at home? We'll combine the world of polymer clay designer
toys with the magic of Borax crystals to create three unique tempura
inspired creatures. If you've ever wanted to
make art toys that look like food and shine like gems,
this class is for you. In this fun experimental class, you'll learn how to
sculpt three small toys with bold personalities. We will cover
everything from the sculpting and
painting process to safely handling borax and sealing your finished
toys for display. By the end of the
class, you'll have your own collectible trio and the skills to make more
in your own style.
2. Part 2 Materials and Tools: Here are the materials
we'll be using. Let's start with the
main material, the clay. We'll be using super
scalpi medium, which needs to be
baked in the oven to harden and become solid. Next, we'll also need
some strong glue to help secure pieces together. We'll also be using some
water based acrylic paints for adding color
to our creations. Next, we have some pipe
cleaners or DIY craft stems. I'll explain their
purpose as we go along. To grow the crystals, we'll be using borax. It's easy to find in the laundry section
of most local stores. Now let's take a look at the tools we'll be
using for this project. First up, we have a cutter. This will be super handy
for trimming the clay. A pencil will come in handy
during the painting process. We'll also use a dental carver, which is perfect for shaping tiny details. Then
we have a rage tool. This one's basically
a guitar string attached to a paint
brush handle. It's great for
smoothing surfaces. Of course, we'll also use some paint brushes for painting. A wooden spatula would also
be useful for shaping. This ball stylus
will be helpful for adding dents and deep
curves in the clay, perfect for shaping eye sockets or adding rounded
details with control. I also have this
rubber tip tool, great for shaping areas that are hard to reach with
my fat fingers. It's super handy for smoothing and nudging small
details into place. And finally, we have
a wooden roller perfect for blending
the clay together.
3. Part 3 Conditioning the Clay: Before we jump into sculpting, let's start by
conditioning our clay. This makes it
easier to work with and helps prevent
cracks later on. It's like giving
your clay a little warm up before the
real action begins. For this project, we're
using super sculpy medium. You'll usually get it
in a one pound block, just like this one right here. First, cut it into
smaller blocks. Next, run the small blocks
through a pasta machine. Mine's a bit large and industrial looking
kind of over the top, but a regular pasta machine
works just fine, too. If you don't have a pasta
machine, no worries. You can use a regular
wooden rolling pin like the kind used for baking. There we go. Our
clay is now soft, flat, and ready to use. It's way easier to work with this than the solid
brick we started with. If it's your first time
using this type of clay, try taking a small piece and squishing it in your hand
to get a feel for it. That's it for this part.
See you in the next one.
4. Part 4 Sculpting The Seal: Now that our clay is
soft and ready to use, take a generous portion
and begin compressing it. Your goal is to form it
into a smooth round sphere. Gradually add more clay until
you get the size you want. You can also roll the
clay on the table. It's a super easy way
to fuse everything together and get a nice
solid shape going. Alright, now that we've got
our little clay sphere, it's time to give it a makeover. Gently squish and shape
it into a long oval. Think of a tear
drop with one end, a bit pointier than the other. This is the shape we're aiming for chubby end for the face, pointy end for the
tail, simple as that. Now let's start
working on the face. For our first character, we're making an
adorable little seal. Get ready for maximum cuteness. Let's set that aside for now and grab a small
piece of clay. Roll it up into a
little oval shape. This time, both ends should be about the same size
like a mini football. Now, take that little oval and gently bend it
from the center. This little piece is going to
be the snout for our seal. Now, just slap it right
onto the chubby face. Don't be shy. I'll stick. Now we're going to
bring in some tools. I've got this ball stylus, and I'm using it to make a little dent where
the eyes will go. There you go. A gentle
tap is all it takes. Now, let's soften it up
a bit with our fingers. Just a little smoothing to
make it all blend nicely. Now grab some little
round pieces of clay and stick them
right in the eye dents. Those cute eyes are
coming to life. Next, grab a tiny sesame seed shaped piece of clay and
pop it above the ice. Yep, that's gonna be our
seal's cute little brow. Next, add a small round piece
of clay on the snout for the nose and shape it slightly triangular
for that perfect look. And just like that, our
seal's face is done. Let's set that aside for now, and we'll move on to
our next character. And
5. Part 5 Sculpting the Panda: Okay, let's jump right into the next character and get
this creativity flowing. Time to go back to basics with the teardrop shape for the body. We're using this for
all three characters. Now, let's size it up and make sure it's the
same as the first one. Got to keep things consistent. Alright, looks like
we're good to go. Let's keep rolling with this. Next up, we're making a panda. Time for those adorable
black and white vibes. Alright, stylus in hand. We're going in for the ice. But since we're making a panda, let's give it some
nice white dents. Got to make room for those
iconic panda peepers. Next up the snout. Like all great things,
it starts as a sphere. Just cut that little
ball in half, and we've got the perfect
shape to work with. Once again, just slap
it right onto the face. No need to overthink it. Alright, now let's whip up that tiny panda nose.
Just follow along. It's an easy one, but it
adds major cuteness points. I'll be using my fancy rubber
tip tool to shape the nose, but if you don't
have one, no stress. A trusty cue tip will
totally do the trick. Now I'm grabbing a dental carver to give our panda a
happy little face. Just slide it along the clay, kind of like you're
drawing a smile. Next, make a flat oval shape and cut it right
down the middle. Those are going to be our
Panda's adorable ears. Then just stick each
half right on top of his head, one on each side. Mm, something's missing.
Yep, chubby cheeks. Let's add those in to crank
the cuteness up to Max. Just take a small piece of clay, pop it onto each cheek, and blend it in nice and smooth. I'm also using my rubber
tip tool to get into those tight spots that are
too narrow for my fingers, super handy for the
little details. Be patient with our panda. Sculpting isn't a race. It's all about taking your time, enjoying the squishiness
of the clay, and letting the cuteness
slowly come to life. Trust the process, and don't worry if it's not
perfect right away. Pandas wouldn't stress,
and neither should we. I also decided to
trim the ears a little and soften the
edges with my fingers, just to make them look a bit more natural and
blend in nicely. Boom, Panda complete. Now our seal isn't
lonely anymore. He's got a brand new panda body. Let's wrap up here and dive into the next character
in the next video. Can't wait to share it with you.
6. Part 6 Sculpting The Boar: Alright, now let's move on
to the third character. This time, we're making an
equally cute wild boar. Now that the body's ready, let's start with the
eye dense again. Same process as
before, in a new spot. Right away, let's bulk up those cheeks with
small pieces of clay. Now, let's bring out
the wooden roller to smooth out the added clay. There are tons of ways to get the same result
in sculpting, so I'm showing you
another fun method. Just gently press and
roll the edges like this. Now, let's bring
in the rake tool. It does exactly
what its name says. Rakes the surface of the clay, making everything
smooth and neat. Next, let's build
the bores snout, set that aside for now
and grab a piece of clay. Pinch the piece of clay
to flatten it a bit. Then use your thumb
and pointer finger to pinch the sides and
shape it into a triangle. Now, all we have to do
is trim it like this. Now, just slap it onto his face. Nice and snug. I decided to
give him some giggly ice, add a small strip of clay right in the center of the
dents we made earlier. Wild boar ears are pointy, so we'll start by
preparing a cone shaped the trim it down the center
to get that perfect shape. If you're having trouble coming up with character designs, try looking at
cartoon characters online or flipping through
some children's books. They're full of fun
and simple ideas. For the last step, let's
work on his tusks. This is where the real
wild boar vibes come in. Let's prepare a smaller
cone shape for the tusks. This time, make it a bit
pointier and thinner. Just stick it in and bend
it upwards like this. Give those tusks
some nice curve. Can't leave out the nostrils. I'll grab my dental
carver and press it into his snout to make sure he
can sniff around in style. I'll also add three lines on his forehead to give him
that bestie fur texture. Adds a little extra wildness. Alright, our characters
are all complete. See you in the next video.
7. Part 7 Baking: We're making tempura,
so let's give each of our characters some
crispy tempura flippers. Super quick, prepare two strips of clay and place one on top
of the other at one end. Easy peasy. And, of course, we'll attach them
to our characters. Just press them gently into place like they're ready to
take a dive into the fryer. Just repeat the same process for the other two characters. And here they are, our
completed character sculptures looking absolutely adorable. Now they're all set
and ready for baking. Time to turn these cuties into
solid little masterpieces. We'll bake them at 150 degrees Celsius for
about 10 minutes. After baking, make
sure to let them cool down completely before
taking them out of the oven. Up next, we're busting
out the paints. Time to give these little guys some color and personality.
8. Part 8 Painting: First things first,
we're going to prime them with
some gray primer. This helps the paint
stick better and gives us a smooth
base to work with. Spray from about a foot away, using a sweeping motion to
coat the sculpture evenly. Just a quick reminder,
make sure to wear a protective mask and do this in a well ventilated
area for safety. Let's start with Mr.
Seal right here. For him, we'll keep
it simple with just two colors,
black and white. Let's start by painting
his face white. No need to worry about the body, since it's going to be
covered with crystals anyway. I'll use a hair dryer to
speed up the drying process. Once it's completely dry, I'll add another coat of white to make sure it's nice and even. You can repeat this process
as many times as you want until you get that
smooth, even coverage. Next, I'll mix some black to get a light gray
color for his snout. This will give it
a nice contrast without being too harsh. Next, we're going for
pure black on his eyes. You got to make them pop
with that cute seal gaze. His nose is going to
be black, as well. And, of course, his tail
is going to be orange. Time for the final touch. Let's blast it with some clear varnish to seal it together. Now that Mr. Seal is all done, let's move on to the panda. Just like Mr. Seal will
paint his face white. I don't want to bore you
with the same process. So here's the panda all painted with white, looking
good already. The panda's eyes are
going to be a bit tricky. So let's mark the outline with a pencil first to make
sure we get it right. The panda's eyes will be
nice and bulgy at the top, and then taper as they
go down just like this. Alright, with the outline ready, let's fill in those eyes. And here's our panda, all painted and varnished, looking shiny and ready to go. Let's set the panda aside for now and dive into the wild boar. But, Mr. Fans, we'll use this light earth color
for a natural look. I mix the same color with
a bit of white to lighten it up and add some contrast
to his snout and ears. Next up, let's paint his fans white to really
make them stand out. And just like the first two,
his eyes will be black. There you go, guys.
All three characters are painted and looking awesome. So how's your crew coming along? Be sure to submit
it as a project. I seriously can't wait to see your adorable creations. Sure.
9. Part 9 Growing the crystals: All right, here's the plan. We'll mix up our borax
solution on hot water if our characters in and then let the crystals
grow overnight. First, let's go ahead and attach the pipe
cleaner to our seal. For this part, we'll
need, of course, a pipe cleaner and some strong
glue to keep it in place. Let's go ahead and glaze
the seal's body with glue. Then take the strip and wrap it around the body like this. Oh. Keep adding more strips until the whole body
is fully covered. Just leave a space for
one strip right in the middle and at the end
before the tail starts. I'll show you why in a bit. Once it's all covered, just grab your scissors and
snip the strip off. Remember that little gap
we left in the middle? That's where the
handle strip goes, so we can hang our seal like a fancy tea bag in
the borax broom. We'll also add
another handle strip just before the tail
for extra support. Our characters will be hung
just slightly bent like this, so they fit perfectly in
the container we're using. Now, just repeat the process for the other two
characters as well. Let's get them all ready
for their crystal glow up. Let me show you how they should be positioned in the container, just so you get an idea. We'll attach them to a stick. In this case, I'm using a ruler. It needs to be something flat so they won't roll around
while submerged. It's important that the item doesn't touch the sides
of the container, so the crystals can
grow effectively. That's why it needs to be hung. Alright, now that
everything's ready, let's get started on
making our borax solution. For this part, we'll
need our container, some borax and hot water. First, fill your
container with hot water. About 70% full
should do the drick. Next, just add the
borax and stir it until it completely dissolves
into the hot water. Keep adding more
borax and stirring. The water should start
looking cloudy at this point. That's exactly what we want. The goal is to add borax until the water can't hold
any more borax. You'll know the water's
fully loaded when you see some ex powder starting
to settle at the bottom. Next up, let's add some color. I'm using a mix of yellow and orange water based
acrylic paint. But if it's easier for you, regular food coloring
works just fine, too. All right, time
for a little swim. Let's dip our adorable
character into the solution. I'll secure it with some clippers to keep
it from floating. Then we'll cover it to
slow down the cooling. Doesn't need to be
fancy. Just place a sheet of foil on top. Now we'll let science do it. We'll leave the crystals
to grow overnight. When borax is dissolved
in hot water, the water molecules break
down the borax into its ions, sodium and boat ions. The hot water can hold more
borax than cold water, which is why we use hot water. As the solution cools, it becomes super saturated, meaning it contains more borax than the water can
actually dissolve. This causes the
borax to come out of the solution and crystallize, forming solid borax crystals on the surface of
your character. That's it for this part.
See you in the next one.
10. Part 10 Crystal growing result: Morning, everyone. After 14 hours of
waiting, here we are. I'm super excited
to see the results. Alright, it's time to pull it up and see what kind of
magic we've grown. Look at those chunky crystals. They look super cool. The
crystals are done growing. Now let's cut them loose. Some crystals grew in spots
we didn't really want, but no worries, they
chip off easily, since there's no fuzzy pipe
cleaner for them to cling to. I did the same process
with the other characters, and I'll show you the results, how everything comes together, and the final reveal
in the next video.
11. Part 11 Assemply and final shots: And there you have it. Our
characters are now complete. Let's check them out one by one. Aren't those crystals awesome? Told you they were
super easy to grow. For some reason, the crystals came out smaller on the top. But hey, we learned something. If you want bigger crystals
in a certain area, just tilt your piece in
that direction when d. So which one of these little
guys is your favourite? Is it the cute it. Alright, time to set
them up for some photos. I've got this Japanese
style wooden plate ready. Perfect for showing them off. I'll just arrange them on top, making sure those tempura
tails are showing, so it's clear they're
crispy little cuties. Let's add a bit of garnish
for that nice green contrast. Makes everything
look extra tasty. Okay. And finally, a little
dish of soy sauce to complete the look because what's tempura without it, right? And that's a wrap. We sculpted, we painted, we grew crystals, and now we have our
adorable tempura themed characters all plated
up and ready to shine. And I hope you had as much fun following along as
I did making them. If you gave this a try, don't forget to share
your creations. I'd love to see what you made. Thanks for joining
me on this class. Stay creative and keep
making cool stuff.
Cristopher Dino
