Polymer Clay: Basic Shapes

Basic Shapes With Polymer Clay
Covered Here:
  1. Balls
  2. Flats
  3. Coils
  4. Strips
  5. Ball-in-Socket
  6. Stripes!
  7. Texture



Balls

a clay ball For most beans, we will start with a ball. Roll clay around in your hands until it is spherical. This may take practice.
a clay ball, mashed a bit flat, with an arrow
a flattened clay ball with red lines sectioning it into eighths, with a razor depicted
eight slices of what used to be a clay ball 		Making balls in batches: To get many pieces of clay in a similar size, make one big ball, mash gently so that it stays still, and slice into quarters, sixths, or eighths. These slices may be re-formed, but should be roughly the same size if your pie slicing was even handed.
a clay ball Balls will come in different sizes and be manipulated in different ways.



Flats

a clay ball
a clay ball, mashed a bit flat
a flattened clay piece with a rolling pin and a looping arrow
a flat piece of clay 		Roll a sphere as you would bread dough with a rolling pin (mini rolling pins are a thing that exists... or a smooth and even vodka bottle will do in a pinch). Roll at different angles, and flip or de-stick your clay every so often. If it gets sticky, leave it alone for a while to cool off.
a flat piece of clay from the top
a flat piece of clay from the top, with lines indicating trimming it into a square.
a flat piece of clay from the top, with lines indicating slicing it into strips. 		Flats can then be cut into strips or shapes.



Coils

a clay ball
a piece of clay being rolled into a coil, with an arrow
a coil of clay 		To form a coil, roll a ball back and forth until it is cylindrical. Coils can be short and stubby, or long and thin, or anything in between.
Slicing coils: For smaller sphere work, or smaller anything work, it is easier to cut a slice off of a coil than it is to pinch a piece out of a block.
a coil of clay with thick chunks marked with red lines
a coil of clay cut into thick chunks 		Thick chunks are easier to roll into more spheres.
a coil of clay with chunks marked with red lines
a coil of clay cut into chunks 		Midsize chunks are easy to flatten.
a coil of clay with very thin chunks marked with red lines
a coil of clay cut into paper thin chunks 		A very even hand can slice paper-thin, creating ready-to-use shapes.
Pro tip: The coil can be shaped. Need triangles? Pinch it into a triangle.
a coil of clay with a cut guide in the center of it
a coil cut into two pieces
two coils of clay, with their ends lined up
two coils of clay with a cut guide across both of them 		To cut two (or more) coil slices at once that are the same size: cut the coil in the middle. Turn the cut edges to be next to each other, even both out by tapping with the razor, and then slice both at once. This is very useful for getting two bits of the same size, such as for eyes or ears.
a coil of clay
a coil made narrower on one end
a coil of clay, made narrower on both ends 		Sometimes coils are used whole on a bean. They can be used cylindrical, or have one or both ends rolled smaller into a carrot or sweet potato shape.



Strips

a flat piece of clay from the top, with lines indicating slicing it into strips. Strips can be acquired from flats.
a flattened coil of clay with a wooden rolling pin Strips can also be made from coils. Roll back and forth, as if making a flat, but only longways to the coil. It will eventually flatten. This can be used instead of strips, and is easier to do with a smaller amount of clay.
a strip of clay
a strip of clay with straight cut guides on it
a strip of clay with diagonal cut guides on it
a strip of clay with back-and-forth diagonal cut guides on it, forming triangles 		Strips acquired from any method can be used whole, or sliced into smaller sections or shapes.



Ball-in-Socket

a clay ball
a clay ball with a ball tool pressed to it
a clay ball with a round indent in it
a clay ball with an indent, and a smaller ball being pointed at the socket with an arrow
a clay ball with a smaller ball set into it
a clay ball with the smaller ball smoothed out, making a clean dot 		Using a ball-tip tool, press a socket into the larger amount of clay; the socket. Roll a sphere from a different clay, roughly the same size as the hole. Press gently into the socket. If smoothed over, it creates a dot that is well anchored and not going to peel off. If not smoothed, it creates a well-set little bead - good for eyes or noses.



Stripes!

several colors of flat clay
the flat bits of clay being pressed down, with an arrow
a striped chunk of clay that has been trimmed into a square 		To get striped chunks, take several flats in two (or more) colors. Alternate the colors, and press together. Trim, and either separate or mix the edges. Then cut chunks to make striped beans or parts!
three clay coils in three different colors
a coil of clay smoothed and rolled from three different colors 		For stripey coils (good for stripey tails or multicolored hair tufts), take two or more coils of the same size. Twist gently together, and roll smooth, then use as normal.



Texture

several tools that might be good for texture pressing
a random chunk of clay
a random chunk of clay that has had a fuzzy little texture pressed into it 		Texture can be applied to almost any shape! A sphere, a coil segment, whatever. Just grab whatever tool is at hand - a clay tool, a plastic fork, a stick, the dull side of a razor blade if you are very careful - and gently press lines into the segment before adding it to the bean. This makes for great fluffy tails, noses, and ears!