Title – Creating Life-Like Animals in Polymer Clay
Author – Katherine Dewey
Publisher – North Light Books
ISBN – 978-0-89134-955-6
I have enjoyed using polymer clay since I first discovered it, for making dollhouse miniatures, about 30 years ago. When I spotted this book, “Creating Life-Like Animals in Polymer Clay” by Katherine Dewey, I was mesmerised. The animals were so cute and lifelike. Could I really hope to create something like this myself?
The book is a paperback and 8.5″ wide by 11″ high. It has 128 pages and is illustrated in full colour throughout.
Chapter One – Polymer Clay Primer
In the first chapter there is an in-depth look at the different brands of polymer clay available, and how suitable each is for the task in hand. There is also a list of safety tips for using polymer clay.
Chapter Two – Tools of the Trade
Here Katherine discusses the tools you will need to make polymer clay creatures. This includes how to make some of the simple tools for yourself.
Chapter Three – Mastering the Basics
Chapter three covers how to prep the clay, measure what you require and how to shape the basic components of the creatures. There is also a detailed explanation of how to bake the different shapes of creatures.
Chapter Four – Creating Animals Step by Step
Here are the instructions for creating ten different animals. For each creature, there is a full list of what materials and tools you will need. Then there is a pattern to show what sizes and shapes of clay shapes you need. The modelling process is explained with lots of colour photos and many hints and tips.
The animals included are:
- The Deer Mouse
- The Young Cottontail
- The Harp Seal
- The Black Bear
- The Basset Hound
- The White-Tailed Fawn
- The Red Fox
- The Bull Frog
- The Fledgling Bluebird
- The Siamese Kitten
Chapter Five – Changing the Size, Pose, Setting or Finish
This very useful chapter gives ideas for how you can create variations of the featured animals. You will learn how to change the poses or scale and how to add scenic details. There is also a section on how to create a variety of interesting alternative finishes.
Resources and Index
The book concludes with a list of resources. This includes books that the author recommends and suppliers for the various materials and tools. The suppliers are all in the USA.
There is a good index at the back.
Summary
The creatures in this book represent a good range of animal types. You would be able to adapt many of them to create other animals. For example, once you can make a Siamese kitten you could go on to create all sorts of cats.
The instructions are very clear and cover all stages of the creation process. Some may be a little tricky for a total polymer clay beginner. But, I believe it would be possible for the majority of modellers to get satisfactory results.
The book is very attractive, easy to read and inspirational.
Here are links to the paperback and Kindle versions of Creating Life-Like Animals in Polymer Clay on Amazon.com (top) and Amazon.co.uk (bottom). If you purchase from these links I will receive a small commission for sending custom to Amazon – at no extra cost to yourself. Thank you.
If you prefer to make miniatures and food with polymer clay, check out my previous polymer clay craft book reviews:
I also have a review of another of Katherine Dewey’s lovely books – Creating Lifelike Figures in Polymer Clay.
