Creating your own plasticine character is a fun and rewarding way to explore animation and sculpture. Whether you're a budding stop motion animator or just feeling creative, here's a simple guide to help you bring a colorful clay character to life.
Start with a basic idea. Is your character an animal, an alien, a monster or perhaps more human like? Sketch some designs from the front and side. Keep the shapes simple, big heads, stubby arms, and bold features work great and are much easier to sculpt.
With your character designed, it's now time to sculpt. Look at your design and break it down into simple shapes. Typically a ball for the head, a cylinder for the body, and "sausages" for the limbs work well. Your design, like mine might require different shapes. My design is better suited for a cylinder shape to be used for both the head and body.
Rough out the overall shape by pressing together the shapes. Smooth the joints with your fingers or a sculpting tool. Now add the detail using smaller bits of plasticine. Keep it simple by again breaking down your design into simple shapes. Balls for eyes, balls for teeth and a squashed "sausage" for the tongue works well for my design.
Refine with sculpting tools like the ones that we offer. For a simple design like mine, refining won't take long, but your design my be more detailed. Take your time to get it right.
Once finished, photograph your creation and share it. Perhaps send it to us so we can share it too. We love to see what our customers are doing.
If you are looking to animate with your plasticine creations, you might consider adding a simple wire armature using some of our 2mm Animation Wire.
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