Process | Leigh Hannan

"You're only given a little spark of madness. You musn't lose it"

-Robin Williams

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Process

A lot of steps (and time!) go into creating just one skelly! This compilation of pictures will give you a taste of my method in paperclay (an air-drying clay); feel free to Email me with questions & comments, or head over to my Instagram to see new work in progress. I would love to hear from you!

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sketches & ideas

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necessary tools and primary build

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carving faces

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building a skelly

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example of carved skelly alongside a finished skelly

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rolling out clay for skellies

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beginning to cover in clay (and waiting for it to dry!)

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dry skellies ready for clay flowers & details

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adding on a layer of details

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making notes for later details!

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adding some clay flowers!

close up of sculpted flowers

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…and even more clay flowers!

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setting up a sanding station (really messy!)

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sanding the whole thing, including fine details

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first layer of paint is black (over a layer of primer)

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layer 2 of paint, this is where it gets exciting!

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layer 3 of paint!

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more paint!

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….paint, paint, paint….

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a bunch more paint on the body, and starting the face

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…6 additional layers of paint later...

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working on the details

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now she's looking like a Skelly Chic skelly!

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adding details (a coupla mini skellies here)

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some skellies get painted flowers (detailed in micron pen)

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two layers of varnish for protection

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photo shoot!

isn't she lovely?

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skelly with a shrine!

© Leigh Hannan leigh@skellychic.com