2014/365 Art Day Challenge, Day 14

Well, this is the most amazing stuff, I am having a blast and a half! I thought I would start out with something very simple, without too much details, just to get the hang of the whole process. My choice was simple, a hummingbird! I love them, so it wasn't hard to pick out the project. To be honest, though, there were doubts. The body armature is simply made with cardstock, aluminum foil and wire, put together with masking tape. I wasn't sure it would hold up. But it went together very easily! My bird is about life size, and that was a concern, being that small and being able to manage the details, but that seems to have worked out, too. Another concern is the clay itself. My clay is much stiffer than hers, too, my worry is that it wouldn't spread thin enough. to dry properly. Jonni says this clay is very durable, and I will take her word for it. My initial layer is like Play-dough~ while hers spread, more like cream cheese. But it was so much fun to play with, I will take my chances and see how it goes... 
After about 15 minutes, it formed a bit of a skin and I was able to lay in some minor details on the wings. I don't want to do too much for this one, just simple stuff. When I tried to work with it before then, the clay wrinkled and shifted a lot. So now, it is a matter of waiting until this layer dries completely. It is cold here, so the little guy went in front of a fan, and the clay promptly began to crack everywhere, but a wet finger and some burnishing seems to have taken care of that. Soooo, we shall see what happens!!

armature

Initial clay layer

adding details