A New Tool is in Order

I made a little dragon today, but this time made it out of Kato Polyclay instead of Premo. The rubbery smell is a little strong, and it takes extra effort to get it conditioned. Even so, I think Kato could really grow on me. It doesn't crumble, it holds its shape very well, and it's fairly easy to blend.

But if I start using Kato on a regular basis, I think I want a food processor to do my conditioning for me.

Mrs. Dragon's Wares

A few days ago I was very surprised when Mrs. Dragon, a seller on Etsy, contacted me to say that she liked my dragons, and would I mind if she featured me in her blog? Of course I said yes! It's hard not to be perked up and flattered when someone offers to write something positive about you.

The article she wrote is here: Mrs. Dragon's Wares: Spotlight on dragonwhimsy

As her username suggests, she sells dragons too. Her dragonlings are featured on bookmarks, pins, and even a pocket mirror. I like how she names many of her dragonlings and summarizes their likes and dislikes. She also includes a general description of what dragonlings are. They're tiny critters who love mischief and often sneak off when you're not looking-- given this, I suspect that house dragons and dragonlings would get along rather well.

She also sells handmade cards, most of which have colorful cut-outs of flowers and pithy sayings. There are some dragonling cards too, and of those I think I'm most partial to the humor in this one: True Love leads to Housework.

Etsy and Guilds and Artists

There's been a fair amount of stuff I've been doing that I simply haven't written about... I now have an Etsy shop with a handful of dragons listed, I've joined a polymer clay guild, and I'm coming up with ideas for what I want to make for the guild's newest contest. I ought to be able to write coherently about these things, but at the moment my brain feels like it's been smooshed and scattered all over the place.

I can say this: Since I've joined the guild, I've been seeing lots of examples of other artists' work. They've been making a big impression on me, and they make me want to experiment more. For example, there's MossyOwl's cookie pendants-- they make me hungry, dang it. And then there's these highly amusing coasters by NothingLikeIt... truly, I've seen nothing like 'em. They make me think of Far Side comics.

Taking Pictures

That's one of the things I really need to improve on: Taking pictures of my work.

I've found that I can do a passable job if I take my dragons outside during a sunny day, set them in front of a white piece of paper, and snap away. But it's still not quite up to par.

Taking pictures indoors... I may get one or two decent ones out of a batch of 50. :/

On the plus side, I've learned about white balance! That's one way to take care of pictures that are too "yellow"-- sure, they may be dark and blurry, but at least they aren't yellow!

Frankly and the Backpack Incident

This little dragon story I wrote, Frankly and the Backpack Incident, was inspired by something that happened in real life. One of my purple dragon sculpts fell over while he was baking in the oven. When I tried to set him upright, his foot fell off. I had to glue it back on. Twice. It didn't stick too well the first time.

For some reason, the incident inspired me to make another purple dragon with a bandaged leg. I decided this was the same dragon who had that little accident in the oven. And I decided to call him Frankly, because, well, I don't know why I decided to call him Frankly. He just looked like a Frankly.

Originally, I had in mind that these dragon sculptures I've been making are just tiny representations of "actual dragons"-- chibified versions of full-fledged dragons, big enough to terrorize villages and small towns (if they felt so inclined). But inventing a world for these dragons and coming up with stories about them was extremely hard, something that felt forced whenever I tried. It never felt quite right.

Not so when it comes to two-inch-tall house dragons. Writing about my dragons has suddenly become easier, and so much more appealing.

Fragile Claws

When it comes to traveling with my little dragons to show others, I have discovered that their little claws break off so very easily even when they're carefully wrapped. The claws are without a doubt the most fragile part of the critters, and will almost certainly break off if you drop them.

I'm going to look into either making them from a stronger clay, or perhaps a more flexible clay-- or both.

Premo: My One Complaint

I love working with Premo. It's soft, easy to work with, yet rarely is it so soft that it feels like it's melting in my hands. It's practically the only polymer clay I use now.

However, there is one thing I don't always like: The color of the clay tends to darken after baking. Sometimes it darkens quite a bit.

Color is very important to me. There have been times where I'd stare long and hard at shelves full of polymer clay, trying to pick the perfect shade of blue. Then I'd take home that one perfect color, make my sculpture, bake it, and-- it's not quite the same color any more. The new color isn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't what I picked out to begin with.

It's for this reason that I may use more Kato polyclay. Although it needs more conditioning and I didn't enjoy working with it as much, it's more color-true after baking.