Sculpting and Painting a Polymer Clay Jack-O'-Lantern

Intro: Sculpting and Painting a Polymer Clay Jack-O'-Lantern

Hello! Thank you for checking out my Instructible!

For this tutorial I am going to show you how to sculpt and paint a mini jack-o’-lantern. I love Halloween and it will be here before you know it so let’s get started!

STEP 1: Create the Armature

Take a fair amount of aluminum foil and ball it up very tight, forming it as you go, into the approximate pumpkin shape you're going for. Add more as needed until it is roughly the size you want. Try to get the foil as tight as you can and as smooth as possible.

STEP 2: Rolling the Clay & Covering Your Armature

If you are using Sculpey it will feel a bit stiff right out of the package, but with some kneading it quickly becomes soft and pliable. Once you've kneaded your clay use your roller to flatten out a nice, even sheet, not too thick though, as we are going to add clay in the next step to fatten up the ridges (I find it easier to add clay than to have to remove it).

Beginning at one edge of your sheet of clay wrap the foil and work it around the securely so that all of the foil is completely covered. Using your X-acto knife trim off any excess. If your clay came up short, no worries, just pinch off some more clay and squish it on there.

Next, smooth the clay edges. You can use your fingers or a smooth sided tool like the one pictured (or a pencil or paint brush handle). If you find air pockets, make a tiny incision with your knife to let the air out then smooth it over.

STEP 3: Creating the Ridges

To create the ridges we will first define where they will go. Using the side of your sculping tool make indentations down the side of the pumpkin. This will also give the ridges depth.

Form bits of clay into an oblong shape and place them on the raised areas going all the way around the pumpkin, building up the clay until it is as plump as you like.

Smooth the edges down. Pumpkins are rarely perfectly symmetrical so any imperfections will make it look more realistic. Personally, I love the odd shapes.

STEP 4: Adding the Stem

Now our pumpkin needs a stem. Roll out a long, tapered snake of clay so it is bigger on one end for the stem base. Add grooves along the length of the clay, nothing fancy, just random lines.

Put the stem in place and blend into the pumpkin. I added a smaller snake of clay to help adhere it. Continue smoothing the stem into the pumpkin adding tiny bits of clay to help accentuate the stem grooves.

Bend your stem into a curl, as curly and long as you like then break or cut off the excess. If you like a shorter stem just cut it at the length that pleases you. Add extra tendrils if you like.

STEP 5: Making a Face

At this point, the pumpkin itself is finished. If you decide you would rather paint a face (or no face) onto your pumpkin, you can skip to the next step.

OK, let's get to carving our pumpkin. Very lightly sketch your design into the clay with your sculpting tool. Don't sketch too deep until you get everything exactly as you want it to be. Just smooth over any mistakes.

Once you get the design just so, etch deeper to really define it. Using your sculpting tool, remove the inner parts of the eyes, nose and mouth. Try not to go all the way down to the foil, if you do, just cover it back up with small bits of clay. You just want the foil covered. This is the point I wished I had given it fewer teeth!

STEP 6: Baking the Pumpkin

If you are using Sculpey the basic instructions are to bake the clay figure on an oven-proof glass or metal surface at 275°F (130°C) for 15 minutes per 1/4 inch (6mm) of clay thickness.

Do not microwave. Do not overbake. Baking should be done by an adult.

Never bake air-dry clay if that is what you are using.

STEP 7: Painting

Once your pumpkin is baked and completely cooled down it's time to paint!

Sculpey takes paint very well, but I like to add a base coat over the parts that I want to be brighter than the darker grey of the clay so that I can apply fewer coats of paint. This is optional.

When the base coat is dry, brush on a coat of raw sienna.

Once that has dried, dry brush orange over the raw sienna - this is done using a flat shaped brush. Load a small amount of orange paint onto the bristles and wipe off the excess paint. Lightly brush on, highlighting the raised surfaces, allowing some of the raw sienna to show, especially in the crevices.

Next we paint the stem with a coat of raw umber. I then used a smaller round brush with payne's grey to paint the deeper grooves in the stem. Darker colors = depth. Next, I mixed a very tiny bit of titan buff with sap green and dry-brushed over the stem, just highlighting the raised areas.

Now the facial features. I wanted a glowing pumpkin look so around the inside edges I painted orange, then yellow, then in the very center, white.

I help the facial features to stand out more I outlined the outside edges with payne's grey. I thought it looked a little too much like eyeliner so I painted orange over parts of the outline to break it up a bit. I then added little scratch marks here and there to give it more interest.

And that's it! Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of your very own clay pumpkin figure. I hope it brings you much Halloween joy.

Thank you!

Comments

[Clayalotte]

Very nice sculpting and painting job. Maybe it will encourage me to try my dental tools more...

[Lp151]

Thank you so much! I really like your artwork as well, it's very inspiring.

[Clayalotte]

Thank you! Made my day. I haven't been on here much lately cause of opening an Etsy shop, but I have tons of draft Instructables that I plan to get to!

[Lp151]

Congrats on opening your Etsy shop! I hope to do that too some day. I look forward to seeing your new work!

[Clayalotte]

Thanks, and I hope you can, too

[sussanmercuri01]

Candy corn with peanut butter sounds great!

[Lp151]

Oh i love it!

[magpiesmiscellany]

It's amazing! Any tips for not squishing it out of shape while adding the ridges/stem?

Also, I think steps 3 and 4 are out of order?

[Lp151]

Thank you so much for letting me know!!
As far as keeping it's shape, if you are using a softer clay or you just have warm hands, you could try putting it in the fridge for about 15 min to cool the clay and firm it up. Or try leaching some of the oil out of the polymer clay. Roll the clay out and place it between two pieces of paper and place something heavy, like a book, on top for about 30 min. The paper should absorb any excess oil and help to firm the clay. (Be careful, the oil may leach through to the book as well so you may want to protect it) You may need to repeat the process a few times. I hope this helps!

[wannabemadsci]

Looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing!

[Lp151]

Thank you very much!! 🎃

[GlueGun_RaR]

I particularly like the curled stem. Very fun!

[Lp151]

Thanks so much!!

[Kitra]

I have a ton of white Sculpey on hand that is begging to become something. Do you think starting with a white base would compromise the painting phase and finished project? Also, did you use Original Sculpey or one of the later variations?

[Lp151]

I don't think the original white Sculpey would be a problem at all, if anything, I think it'd help brighten the colors. For this I used Super Sculpey firm. :)

[Kitra]

Thank you for your prompt answers! I really appreciate it 😊

[Lp151]

You're welcome! I hope it helps 🙂

[Kitra]

How long did you end up baking your friend for? I am familiar with polymer clay but am curious as to how plump your creation is😀 I've also found that most creators have their own baking tips-please share your process with me.

[Lp151]

Hi Kitra, thanks for your question. I didn't do anything special for this guy, just followed the package directions baking at 275°f. It ended up being just over ¼", maaaybe ⅜" thick at most, so I gave it an extra 5 minutes. If a project ends up thicker than planned I may drop the temp down to 260° and bake it longer, maybe 30-40 minutes depending on thickness. Then turn off the oven and let it slowly cool down.

[LeslieGeee]

Lovely, and your painting of the pumpkin is outstanding. Thank you for sharing :)