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A Different Twist on Hand-Tinted Photos
Design by syndee holt
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Can
you believe this started as a digital photo?
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Here is the
original photo.
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This is the perfect
marriage of my favorite hobbies- photography, computers and polymer
clay! I'm just surprised it took me so long to figure this combination
out!
Materials:
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Beige Sculpey Premo
one 2 oz., conditioned and ready to use
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A copied transfer
made according to the directions below.
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Rubbing alcohol (small
amount)
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Cotton balls
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Clay dedicated pasta
machine or something to make the clay flat
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Exacto or Sculpey
Clay Blade
| 1. I have a digital camera, so most
of my images begin as digital photos. You could scan your images
into the computer, or select images from the web. |
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2. Once I decide on the image, I open one of my photo software
programs (I have 4, but they all have their uses and they all
have different effects). I select the effects list and then the
effect listed as sketch, drawing or charcoal, depending on which
effect looks best with my image. |
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3. If you wish, flip the
image left to right, as the transfer process will create a "mirror
image" of the original photo.
4. I print the converted
image out. I usually place 3-4 images on a sheet of paper, so the
images are about 3x5 inches.
5. Since I have an Inkjet
printer and it doesn't transfer well, I take my sheets of images to
a copier and copy the images, again manipulating the exposure (if
I can). SOME COPIERS WORK BETTER THAN OTHERS DO - EXPERIMENT WITH
THIS!
6. Now the fun begins. I
make a sheet of the beige clay about 1/8 inch thick (wide open on
my pasta machine).
| 7. Trim the transfer to about ¼
inch around the image and place the transfer face down on the
clay and soak the back of it with alcohol, using a cotton ball.
Soak the entire piece of transfer paper for better adhesion. |
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8. I rub out any visible
air bubbles with my finger or the back of an old tablespoon.
9. Allow the alcohol to
completely evaporate (about 3-4 minutes, depending on the conditions
of the room).
| 10. Resoak the transfer with the
alcohol and let set for about 15-30 seconds |
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11. Begin lifting the corner
of the transfer, watching carefully for any areas that didn't transfer
fully. If you see such an area, lay the transfer back down and bray
the area with the back of your spoon or your fingernail.
12. Once the paper is completely
removed, you can wipe the entire image with alcohol to help remove
any remaining traces of paper.
| 13. Trim the clay to the desired
size and bake according to your package directions. |
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14.
Once the clay is cooled I get to color!!! I don't use highly sharpened
leads on my pencils - dull round works quite nicely on the clay. You
can smooth and blend the colors with your finger or a cotton swab.
| 15. Layer the color on slowly, this
is the fun part remember. Layer color upon color for a really
rich effect. See how I used the pencil strokes in the background
of the green? |
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16.
The edges of the piece can be finished with either a black Sharpie
pen, Rub-n-Buff or acrylic paint.
17. I don't often seal the
surface of my finished piece, but if I think I need to, I use a little
Future Floor Wax mixed with water and brush it quickly across the
surface. Don't keep brushing or you can smear some of your heavier
colors. Allow to dry and you are done!
Questions? www.sculpey.com
or syndeeh@gateway.net
Since
I tend to only shade the shadow areas of a face, my favorite shadow
flesh toned Derwent pencils are Chocolate, Venetian Red, Copper Beech
and Terracotta. I use both the Derwent Artist and the Derwent Watercolor
pencils. Other soft-lead pencils will work too, but I prefer the Derwent
for the shadow flesh tones particularly.
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