The Little Prince Figurine

My boyfriend is a huge admirer of the book "The Little Prince" by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry. One day we decided to make clay sculptures, just for the fun of it, and I decided I would make him a Little Prince figurine. He loved it so much that he placed it on his bedroom's shelf, displaying it as a book keeper.

It took me a week to make the figurine. I molded it on a Saturday, let it dry for the whole week, and painted it the next weekend.

I made the torso and legs as a whole body piece. The rest was made separately: arms, hands, cloak, lapels, belt, head, hair and flower. Then everything was attached using a technique I learned back in my pottery lessons, consisting in tracing diagonal lines and wetting generously both areas to be attached, after which both pieces should be connected carefully.

I flattened the Little Prince's "feet" and molded the cape to support the statue to remain standing. I also made a small hole on the figurine's upper right hand before setting it above a shelf, where it received enough air and sunlight to dry properly.

Normally clay figures should be baked, but since I don't have a pottery oven I simply let it dry naturally. After that I picked the right colors of acrylic paint (special for painting pottery) and proceeded to paint everything with small brushes. I also covered a toothpick with silver paint and stuck it in the figurine's right hand hole. I finally let the Little Prince dry for a couple more days.

Jack Skellington Piggy Bank

A friend once asked me to paint a piggy bank for a charity project hosted by the company were she worked. You see, that company (ARS DDB) conducts a yearly auction during Christmas called "Navidarte", which works as a fundraiser for the Children's Orthopedic Hospital. ARS hands out plain ceramic piggy banks to national artists and company employees, who commit themselves to paint, embelish and fix the pigs however they wish. Every year people go online on this web page, where they can see the piggies, choose their favorite and bid on it in favor of donating to the kid's hospital.

The piece they hand out is a smooth, cute, clay baked pig; a basic figure good enough to work on it from a basic perspective (such as simply painting it) or taking it to a next level by adding elaborate parts and details.

After mentally going through some options and consulting with my friend, I decided to make a classic Jack Skellington piggy bank.

Here's a brief step-by-step:

1. Since I didn't need to mold the piece, I simply proceeded to draw the guide lines with a pencil: Facial features, body parts and suit stripes.
2. Following that same order I painted the face, legs and tail white, while the rest of the pig got black paint. I gave it a couple of coats to make the colors stronger.
3. With a tiny brush I painted the eyes, fingers and other facial features. Then I let it dry for a day.
4. To make Jack's signature pinstripe suit, I carefully retraced all the fine suit lines with a white colored pencil.
5. I carefully covered the pig with a generous coat of white glue, which would make it shinier while protecting the paint job.
6. For a finishing touch, I made Jack's iconic bat tie cutting it out of sturdy cardboard and painting it black. I then attached it below the pig's chin with thin, super sticky, double-sided tape.

So there you have it! My finished Jack Skellington piggy bank. A true bone daddy.

How To Make Your Own Spongebob's Pineapple Home

Spongebob's pineapple definitely portrays a unique and funny home choice. Now you can have your own with this make-your-own pineapple mini tutorial! 

These are the materials you will need to make this awesome piece:

-Pottery clay

-Water

-A balloon

-Pottery tools (A toothpick and a knife will do just fine)

-A sponge
-Paintbrushes

-Paint:

   +Green for the leaves

   +Yellow for the pineapple

   +Light blue for the windows, chimney & door

   +Orange for the details

Here's a small step-by-step with supporting images of the process:

1. Inflate the balloon just above the minimum capacity and build the pineapple's body around it. Make sure to make the bottom flat.
2. Carve out the two circles for the windows and a smaller lateral circle to insert the chimney.
3. Make the outer door and window frames molding thin clay rolls (about half a centimeter thick). Attach them to the body by making small markings with the toothpick on the areas to put together, wet them a little and stick the parts to the body. (You can also make the whole door with the helm instead of just the arch).
4. Make another roll for the chimney and attach a bell-like ending. Stick it into the lateral hole.
5. Take out the balloon carefully through the bottom of the body for the pineapple to stand on its own.
6. Trace the body lines with the toothpick or carving tool. Don't make them too deep or you could end up cutting part of the body! Then do the "X" markings in the middle of each "diamond" in the body.

7. For the leaves, make a half-centimeter thick layer and cut out 9 leaves: Starting from a middle leaf, draw the other four to each side, each becoming smaller than the last one. Then order them in a triangular shape (biggest in the middle, smallest on the edges). Attach them together with the same technique as before. Wet your sponge a little and rub it on the leaves smoothly to flatten any irregularities.
8. Attach the whole leaf bunch into the center-top body of the pineapple (same technique as before).

9. Leave it all to dry for a couple of days. (Unless you have one of those fancy pottery ovens).

10. Once dry, paint it all. I started by painting the orange details and the inner piece. Then I moved on to the yellow part. Next, the leaves. Afterwards, the door, windows and chimney. Finally, I passed a brush with orange dust-paint over the whole body in order to give it that fresh-pineapple appearance.
11. You can later coat the piece with white glue or varnish for extra protection. If you are going to use it on a fish tank or over humid dirt, you MUST bake it and coat it at least twice with varnish.

Voilá! A perfect Spongebob's pineapple home. 

You can use this pineapple as an ornament, as a cake topper, as an aquarium decoration or as anything you like. I personally made this one as a home for my escargot snail, Gary. Unfortunately he passed away before I managed to finish it properly. Now I just use it as a decorationin my tiki-themed bedroom.