Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Hands & Fingers... A Mini-Tutorial!

My approach to this newest doll's hands and fingers
was a bit different... Though I often use wire and masking tape;
the application of the wire is new.
I began by bending florist's paper stem wire (18 gauge)
in the basic shape of the palm of a hand,
and then extended the wire long enough 
to include the wrist and forearm.
Then, using a needle-nose pliers I bent lengths of
18 gauge craft wire in half; long enough to equal
the length of each finger.  
(I wanted short, stubby fingers for this doll)
Using Alleene's fast grab tacky glue.
I glued each finger to the florist's paper stem wire hands
and allowed them to dry overnight.
After the tacky glue was dry, 
I wrapped the palm of each hand and the wrists  
with masking tape.  The masking tape provides 
good surface for the paper clay to adhere to.
I decided to bend the fingers of his left hand,
in order to allow this doll to hold an object later.
I used my faithful little needle-nosed pliers again
to gently give the fingers some shape.
Next step will be... sculpt those little hands with paper clay!
I hope this was helpful... in some small measure!
Warm Wishes, Daryle

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this great tip Daryle! Have a great day, :~)

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  2. Wonderful tutorial. You make it look easy and I know its not *smile*!!

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  3. I love it when doll artist show techniques! Hands can be so challenging to create. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  4. Very informational!!!fun to see the step by step process..

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing your hands technique.

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  6. Daryle, I am another who appreciates your sharing of this tutorial. The pictures are especially helpful ... confirming that I am a visual learner! The sketched arms are fun ... is that part of the character whose arms these will be?

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  7. Thank you for sharing. It really helps in making my clay figures!

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  8. Thankyou for sharing. Short and sweet tutorial,perfect😊

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