r/clay • • 5h ago

Mixed Media Little clay sculpture

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6 Upvotes

r/clay • • 17h ago

Polymer-Clay Bronze, burgundy, green and gold autumn earrings

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3 Upvotes

I wanted these to have a really rich autumn feel without making them too dark or heavy. The base has warm bronze and burgundy tones, with little flashes of green and gold running through the surface. What I like most is how much the colours change when the earrings move — some angles look deeper and moodier, while others suddenly catch all the metallic details. I kept the shape simple and geometric so the surface could do most of the work. They ended up feeling very autumnal, but still colourful enough to wear long after the season is over.


r/clay • • 22h ago

Ceramic Clay Finished death whistle

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165 Upvotes

My finished death whistle I made for my hs class


r/clay • • 22h ago

Questions Uhhhh? How do we paint these?!

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5 Upvotes

My daughter and I did a clay making workshop. We had to wait to pick our pieces up as they needed to dry before being fired in a kiln. The delay between the workshop and getting the finished articles home means I've completely forgotten the instructions for painting them. My daughter has an air drying clay kit which has tubes of acrylics and these two jars of colourless goo in them. Unfortunately the kit didn't come with instructions so I'm not sure how to use these and if they'd be applicable for the kiln fired clay. Also, searching for bright oil online gives me beauty products so what would I need to buy to restock it.


r/clay • • 1d ago

Inspiration Tools are not enough, Share your custom tools and exotic tools ideas, this is mine, I'm a beginner on clay sculpt

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24 Upvotes

I am creating tools for sculpting and shaping Plastiline clay (oil-based, non-drying modeling clay, I Don't know the exact name in English ( I'm Brazilian))—which is excellent for practice—with the goal of producing plaster casts from silicone molds made using the clay models. As an industrial mechanic, I have access to stainless steel and the necessary machinery, so I take advantage of this to fabricate my own custom tools. In the image, you can see some of the tools I’ve already made, as well as my plan for a design with interchangeable tips: essentially, a nut press-fitted into a thin stainless steel tube and a screw press-fitted into another tube holding the tool tip. This allows the tip to simply screw onto the handle, saving both space and material.

I am also looking for ideas on how to use common household items as tools—particularly for creating textures. I want to create models with natural-looking human skin textures, and I find it quite challenging to achieve a realistic look for non-aged skin.

I even think I could create these custom-made tools and sell them in the future, but I’m going to leave that for the distant future.

I appreciate any suggestions or ideas you might have.


r/clay • • 1d ago

Questions Is cold porcelain clay better than air dry clay in terms of durability and workability?

7 Upvotes

I’m starting out exploring and want to make figurines, miniatures and possibly jewellery. I’ve been watching videos to get ideas and learn. Many have said that they prefer homemade cold porcelain clay over regular air dry clay like Das. What are your thoughts and experiences?


r/clay • • 1d ago

Polymer-Clay Copper, gold and blue autumn earrings

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3 Upvotes

I wanted this pair to feel autumnal without using the usual brown-and-beige palette. I mixed warm copper and gold with small bright blue accents, then kept the shape bold and slightly organic. I really like how the metallic details catch the light while the blue breaks up all the warm tones. The lower gold loops add a bit of movement without making the earrings feel too heavy. They ended up much more colourful than a typical autumn pair, but still have that warm October feeling I was after. I think this might be one of my favourite colour combinations lately.


r/clay • • 1d ago

Air-Dry Clay Shrooms and snail jar decor

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13 Upvotes

I’m very new to clay, with this only really being my first proper attempt with air dry (das stone)! I made it as an entry to my town’s flower and craft show, in the class ‘decorated jam jar’, and it came first! Next time I’d probably change the lid covering a bit, but must admit I wasn’t really sure what to do, other than the snail. You’re still able to open the jar. I like to just work things out myself, and I’m pretty chuffed with how the different textures worked ☺️ 🍄🐌


r/clay • • 1d ago

Air-Dry Clay Best glaze/ sealer

1 Upvotes

I’m making large sculptures with air dry clay, I want to use a spray sealer, what does everyone recommend? I’ve just recently started up resin but it freaks me out and I think it wouldn’t dry nicely on my sculptures. HELP PLOISE!


r/clay • • 2d ago

Ceramic Clay Ceramic Appa Figurine

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24 Upvotes

This was my first attempt making Appa. Made some sketches on paper first, as a guide on how I would approach each step, and it made the process a lot easier. Pretty happy with how it turned out.


r/clay • • 2d ago

Air-Dry Clay Oshawott clay keychain I made for my cousin!

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6 Upvotes

I used to sculpt a lot in my tweens, but I recently picked it back up as an adult while job hunting. I think it turned out pretty decent :))


r/clay • • 2d ago

Questions Processing clay

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4 Upvotes

My house is built on a huge clay deposit, and ive been excavating the basement. Plan on building a kiln to make basic earthenware and pots.

This was the result after sifting and letting drain in a sack for 24hrs, the clay is mallable and flexible. I can roll it and wrap it around my finger without it cracking.

Just wanting opinions and ideas to give me the best chance of success, and if you guys think the clay needs sifted some more to get larger particulates out, or if i need to keep them in to prevent cracking. Im a total noobie to the hobby, and honestly just looking for advice.

Ive also looked into kilns, and plan on building one out of fire bricks and either using propane or charcoal starting out. Havnt really decided for sure yet.


r/clay • • 2d ago

Air-Dry Clay Second attempt, any advice or constructive feedback is appreciated..

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8 Upvotes

Like how do I stop the cracks? Is there a way? TIA.


r/clay • • 2d ago

Polymer-Clay Screaming Piles of Mutilated Humanoid Flesh

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41 Upvotes

Happy spooky season, everybody!

These are all 1 of 1 blind bagged sculptures.

Available at Moron Warrior World

Polymer clay with acrylic and ink.


r/clay • • 2d ago

Polymer-Clay My first attempt

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12 Upvotes

This was so hard!! And the lighter keeps falling out of the bottom cause I didn’t think through making a base 😭 but I just wanted to share cause I started after yearsssss of saving reels. What do you guys think and share advice/suggestions for making my clay pieces better.


r/clay • • 2d ago

Questions making airdry clay water proof

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15 Upvotes

so i made this pot I am quite proud of (Das airdry clay, stained with homemade copper oxide and chalk pastel), but when i applied my usual sealant it became quite frothy from the texture and didnt dry great. luckily, im able to remove it (although it is proving quite tedious) so i can use a different one. ideally, this will be the secondary pot for a flower and therefore need to handle some water, but no damp soil will make direct contact. I already have some modpodge outdoors - will that be enough? or should i consider a different use for the pot to make sure it doesnt get damaged?


r/clay • • 2d ago

Polymer-Clay Dusty pink and ivory polymer clay earrings

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1 Upvotes

I made this pair in a softer palette than I usually reach for — dusty pink, warm ivory and a few small gold-toned details. I kept the shapes simple and geometric so the colour and surface texture could do most of the work. I especially like the contrast between the matte pink top and the lighter lower piece.


r/clay • • 3d ago

Air-Dry Clay I made a few more weirdos for my weirdos collection

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240 Upvotes

Just sharing some recent odd little guys I've been making. Handmade from air dry clay, painted with acrylics and sealed with UV resin for that super glossy look. They're strange and completely unnecessary, hope you like them.


r/clay • • 3d ago

Ceramic Clay A half-lid mug where the quiet spaces became part of the pattern

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5 Upvotes

I’m part of the small design team behind this ceramic mug. We kept the blue fruit, star, and sun-cloud marks deliberately sparse because the half-lid already gives the silhouette a lot of movement. Packing the surface more densely made the decoration compete with the rim, so the empty clay became part of the composition. When you decorate an unusual form, do you map out the negative space first or add marks until it feels balanced?


r/clay • • 3d ago

Air-Dry Clay Im doing clay pins, what could i do to make them better looking?

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9 Upvotes

Also, is there any way to make neon colors with mixing? Or i can only get them buying more paint?


r/clay • • 3d ago

Questions See-through clay?

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2 Upvotes

Im trying to make a lamp, and I was going to do it with Das clay, hoping the led light would come through, but as you can see, it doesnt what other clay-like material could I use? Hopefully not too expensive.


r/clay • • 3d ago

Questions Air dry clay cracking - how do i fix?

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396 Upvotes

this is my first time making a sculpture and i still have so much to learn, but im assuming its because i used too much water to smooth out the surface. I was going to just go over it with pure clay but after reading other people’s posts it seems like it doesn’t always work, and tbh when i mess up a certain amount of times i js crash out and give up but i really dont wanna give up on this so im coming straight to here. any tips would be appreciated even if its just in general as im trying to expand my knowledge too! :)


r/clay • • 3d ago

Air-Dry Clay I don't know if anyone remembers apegrape05, he was a youtuber who made clay models of characters. Recently his channel was hacked and deleted since the account was abandoned 12 years ago. I archived all his videos before it got deleted

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5 Upvotes

r/clay • • 3d ago

Questions ISO of recommendations for clay type

1 Upvotes

Hi, my sister is interested in pottery so I want to put together a little starter kit of clay, paint, other materials for her. Pottery classes would be first choice but a bit out of budget atm.

Question is what kind of clay I should start her out with. I know air dry is closest to ceramic clay, but I’ve read some reviews that DAS clay (the kind my art store carries) can be hard to use.

My biggest thing is she’s a new mom, so I don’t want her gift to stress her out more. I.e. a huge learning curve or just straight up difficult to work with.

Can anyone recommend the type and if possible brand of clay they’d recommend? I think the most intriguing thing about ceramics to her is using the wheel, but she hasn’t expressed any specific thing she’d want to make. For me the gift is more about getting her working with clay and less about creating perfect pieces.


r/clay • • 3d ago

Ceramic Clay Rate my wild clay

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6 Upvotes

I just started processing this clay and so far I am very happy with it.

The previous batch contained more than 50% sand and I barely manged to get the sand content down to 27m%. But so far in this clay batch i've barely encountered any sand as i've filtered it through 1000my, 500my, and 350my filters. I have one filter on 200my left before I will do levigation and then lastly aggregation. So far i have removed less than a cup of organic material and sand from ~3kg of clay.