Love is in the air- even for dragons!

Love is in the air- even for dragons!


Published On: 01-14-2012 05:34pm

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Category: Valentines Day

The theme for the first Smooshers Challenge of 2012 is Valentines and I recently finished and listed my first entry.  As always, I wanted to sculpt something different and unique.  I wanted to create something a little unexpected.  I toyed around with a few different ideas before an image of two dragons popped into my head.  In the scene I imagined the boy dragon was offering a pretty heart to the girl dragon, who had a look of surprised delight on her face.  Once the idea was formed I got started sculpting the dragons.  I started with the foil armatures for their bodies, making the boy dragon's armature a bit bigger than the girl's.

 
The next step was to cover the foil with clay and add a tail to each dragon.

 
I combined sparkling red clay with a bit of pink and white clay (even my colors are one of a kind- LOL)to create the perfect sparkling pink color for the girl.  The boy dragon was covered with a Cobalt blue and silver mixture, which creates the most beautiful shimmery blue color.  I took my time getting the colors just the way I wanted them because they help to define each dragon's personality.  She's soft and sweet and feminine in pink, with a little sparkliness to her personality.  And he's strong and brave and confident- a knight in shining (blue) armor ;-)
I sculpted each dragon separately, completing the girl first.  The next step in her creation was to sculpt a head and add underbelly plates.
 
I mixed up a pale purple color for her belly and impressed lines across it to resemble plates.  I made sure to give her a big smile and a happy expression right from the start.
Next I added the arms and legs, posing the hands just so.  This helps add to her expression of joy and surprise.  I also added a spine of purple (from the same clay that I used on her belly) starting at her nose and going all the way to the tip of her tail.
 
I used my fingernail tool to add the look of scales .  The next step was adding a bit of interest to her spine.  I used red, white, and purple beads and secured them with wire and liquid polymer clay.  I also gave her beaded horns with a purple acrylic flower at the base.  I found a gold filigree cone shaped bead cap in my jewelry supplies that looked perfect for adding to the tip of her tail.
 
The only thing that was left was to dust her with purple Pearl Ex powder and add her dark purple wings.
 
I embedded a wire in the center of the wings to make them even stronger and attach them securely to the body.  Then I carefully propped her and baked her.
Next I sculpted the boy dragon.  He started with the same basic shape then I added his head and belly plates, done in essentially the same way as the female, only in shimmery green.  Of course his head is bigger and more masculine than hers.  His hind legs were formed in the same way as the girl's, only slightly larger.
 
Next comes his green spine and his arms. The spine starts between his eyes and runs to the tip of his tail.  It's made from the same green clay as his belly plates. The arms have to be carefully positioned and propped so they hold this pose.  I prebaked the heart he'll be holding and glued an acrylic heart jewel to the center.  Since the jewel is acrylic I didn't want to risk having it melt in the oven, so I glued it to his hands after the dragon was baked.
I textured him with the fingernail tool to give him scales as well.  Next I added blue and green beads down his spine and a matching bead cap to his tail.  He has a single horn on his forehead made from blue glass beads.
 
I sculpted his wings from two shades of green gold clay and also have a wire in them.  They are slightly larger and a little different from the girl's wings.
 
And now he's ready to be baked.  The dragons were only the beginning of this piece though.   I needed to create a setting for this romantic little scene to occur in.  For the base of the sculpture I covered a metal lid with green polymer clay and sculpted flowers in shades of pink and purple for each corner.  In the center of the flowers is a purple acrylic flower bead topped with a yellow bead.  I positioned the dragons and attached them to the base with liquid polymer clay.  Next I stamped the words MY HEART IS YOURS into a rectangle of purple polymer clay and baked it.  After it was cool I filled the letters with red paint and sealed it with high gloss varnish.  I positioned the plaque and sculpted tiny pink flowers growing all around it.
 
After baking the entire piece for one final time I glued the heart in the dragon's hands and glued colorful marble chips to the base.  I covered the bottom of the base in green felt and signed and dated the piece.  
Now how sweet is that?  Love is in the air, even for fearsome dragons ;-)  
Thanks for joining me on another creative adventure!

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