It's hard to believe it's been almost 10 years since I stumbled upon polymer clay. Hubby and I were on vacation, and I saw the Klutz books Incredible Clay Book and Create Anything With Clay in a toy store. I quickly realized polymer clay wasn't just for kids and fell in love with it. But when I went looking online for more information, I didn't find much. Polymer Clay Central was about it back then. So I spent hours working through various of their tutorials, trying to figure out what to do with this new and amazing material. And I clearly remember one of those tutorials was Dinko Tilov's How to Make a Bird with Teeth.

Dinko Tilov is still working with clay, and after a successful first book, he has teamed up with his brother Boris to write another. Their new book, Sculpting Mythical Creatures out of Polymer Clay (Quarry Books 2009), includes instructions for making 13 different creatures.

Overview

The book starts with a too-brief introduction to clay. I would have liked to have seen a discussion of which clay brands would be best for these projects. They mention tools to use — specifically the taper-point and cup-round clay shapers — but they don't include pictures of them. Granted, they say these specific tools aren't required... but it's hard to substitute something else if you don't know what they look like. (Here's a pic of the clay shapers on their website in case you're curious.) I also wish they had given more information, either in the intro or in the individual project instructions, on which wires to use for armatures, since the gauge and type of wire can make a lot of difference in its strength.

Following the intro, the book gives step-by-step instructions for making thirteen different polymer clay creatures, including:

• Gnome
• Pixie
• Halfling
• Fairy
• Mermaid
• Gorgon
• Vampire
• Griffin
• The Sphinx
• Unicorn
• Centaur
• Leviathan
• Dragon

If you're into mythical creatures, you'll likely find several projects here that strike your fancy. While some of the projects just don't appeal to me (the fairy and mermaid don't seem especially dainty or pretty), I do like the halfling, griffin, unicorn, and dragon projects. Still, I felt like Dinko Tilov's first book, Creating Fantasy Polymer Clay Characters, had a more charming collection of characters. Both books use glow-in-the-dark eyes, which I'm not crazy about, but it's easy enough to substitute another method of making eyes.

The projects progress from easiest to hardest, building on techniques demonstrated in previous chapters. For example, the armatures get increasingly more complicated as you go through the book, ranging from the armature-less gnome in the first chapter to the multi-appendaged dragon in the final chapter.

Each project includes:

• A time estimate for completion. (I really like this. Granted, the project I tried took me much longer than their estimate. But I am kinda slow!)
• A poem introducing the creature. This is a cute idea, and makes me want to write poetry for all my characters.
• Lots of excellent step-by-step photos and directions (seems like it has more photos than most books).
• A "variations" page, showing more creatures that could be made by simply changing colors, tweaking expressions, etc.

The book has lots of special touches. There's a chart that shows how changing facial hair on the same head can make a variety of characters. I love stuff like that. I like the stories & poems about the characters and the humor used in the instructions. It's a fun read — maybe not as much fun as a Christi Friesen book — but a lot more fun than the dry textbook style some craft books have.

I like the fact that they used clay characters as illustrations throughout the book — for example, there's a clay character holding a scroll who introduces each chapter. The fun way they made their characters come to life tempted me to start on a kids' book with some of these characters in starring roles. (Maybe I'd even have it done by the time my little one learns to read!)

I think my biggest complaint about the book is that it's lacking in finishing details. It doesn't show much texturing or smoothing, things that can make the work look a lot more professional. Some of the finished project photos in the book even have fairly obvious fingerprints. So while the book does a really good job of showing how to make armatures to create structurally-sound sculptures, those sculptures don't look especially polished.

Summary

• Title: Sculpting Mythical Creatures out of Polymer Clay (Quarry Books 2009), by Dinko and Boris Tilov
• Price: $16 + shipping
• Pros:
  • It's a fun read: each character has his own poem, and there's humor mixed in with the instructions.
  • Great step-by-step photos.
  • "Variations" page at the end of each chapter gives encouragement and guidance for tackling your own versions.
  • Good info on armature and sculpture-building basics.
• Cons:
  • Doesn't cover much detail finishing work (texturing, smoothing, etc.), so the end results don't look especially polished.
  • Characters aren't as charming as those in Tilov's first book, Creating Fantasy Polymer Clay Characters.

• Who It's Good For:
  • Anyone who wants to learn more about making armatures & structurally-sound sculptures.
  • Fans of Christi Friesen-style writing will probably enjoy the poems and humor in this book.
  • Older kids should be able to do these projects, especially if an adult helps with the armatures.

Read another review of this book (and possibly win a copy) here.

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Sometimes, when you need two pieces of about the same amount of clay, you can eyeball it and get close enough. But sometimes you want to be a little more exact. For example:

• Making same-sized parts: Earrings look best if they're both the same size (unless you're trying for that uneven look!). Same goes for strands of beads.
• Color-mixing recipes: If you're mixing 3 parts yellow and 1 part orange to get the perfect color, it's nice to have a defined size for each "part."
• Re-creating previous projects: For products I sell, I like to keep detailed instructions so I can re-create an item. Knowing measurements means it's much easier to make this pair of earrings the same size as the last pair the customer ordered.

Here's an easy way to accurately measure polymer clay:

1. Roll out a sheet of clay to any thickness you like on your pasta machine. (If you're writing instructions for later, make a note of the thickness you chose.)
2. Use a cookie cutter to cut out a circle of clay.
   • For color-mixing, each circle of clay is a "part" — so the cutter's size and shape don't really matter.
   • Otherwise, make a note of which size of cookie cutter you used. I use a Sharpie to number my cookie cutters, starting with 1 as the smallest, so I can just make a note of which number cutter I used.

Got your own favorite way to measure polymer clay? I'd love to hear it — just leave me a comment!

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Christi Friesen has built up quite a following. If you hang around polymer clayers for long, you're bound to meet some of her die-hard fans. Ya know, the ones who have all her books, take her classes, frequent her website, AND participate in her Yahoo group.

I'm not one of those people.

I like Friesen's humorous writing style. And I love her attitude towards making and selling things inspired by her works — one of the most generous artists in polymer clay from that standpoint.

But I'm just not that into her artwork. Mixing beads and jewels into clay sculpture doesn't really appeal to me, and that's what most of her books have focused on. To each her own — beauty is a very subjective thing. But for that reason,
Polymer Clay and Mixed Media— Together at Last is the first of Friesen's books I've really read.

And the reason I was drawn to this one? I like incorporating mixed media items, especially found objects, into my art. So when Polymer Clay Daily mentioned this book together with Friesen's steampunk work, I got curious. Looking around Friesen's site, I really enjoyed her recent works — steampunk-style pieces that incorporated things like metallic gears. In fact, these were the first of Friesen's pieces that I really, really liked. And that's the reason I picked up the latest book. (A poor reason as it turns out, but more on that in a minute...)

Mixed Media Techniques

Friesen starts with a few clay basics (more are at the back of the book), then jumps right into the mixed media tips. I really like that she lists which items you can use before and after baking. Her list included a few things I might not have considered — things like hemp, raffia, and paintbrush bristles. It also seems like a handy list to help brainstorm your own additions. She's very good about encouraging experimentation: if you have some other material you want to add, try it (with the proper precautions) and see if it will work.

Right after her section on what materials to use is a section on how to use them. Her suggestion for how to attach porous fibers to polymer clay was new to me and very handy. I believe she's covered wiring beads (vs. gluing them) in her previous books, but it's also a worthwhile tip — one I certainly could have used in my earlier clay days.

The Projects

After her brief intro, Friesen jumps into the projects. Now let me say first that Lisa's right. The project photos on this book's cover don't help sell them. The largest photo has an out-of-focus section that is poorly cut out. It bugs me every time I look at it. The other photos are too small to show much detail.

Thankfully the photos inside are much better. Her many step-by-step photos are clear and helpful. And the projects themselves are a lot of fun. Some of my favorites:

• Thistle Pin featuring paintbrush bristles
• Grapevine Wreath featuring raffia
• Porcupine using a broom for quills (ah... so that's what brooms are good for?!) :-)
• Dragon frame using a fork for a spine
• Cracked acrylic paint background
• Assorted face hearts

I honestly wasn't prepared for how much fun I'd have creating these projects, even though they're not in my typical style. And I think some of the projects grew on me. Even though I'm not a caner, I am really eager to try the cane-covered turtle and starfish projects. The fact that the projects are pretty quick and easy makes them fun to try, even if they aren't your normal style. And of course, Friesen's humorous writing style adds to the fun. I mean, what's not to like about step-by-step instructions that tell you to take a chocolate break?

She has some neat extras too. Her eyelid chart may be my favorite part of this book: it demonstrates how the placement of the eyelids can completely change a sculpture's expression. It's a handy guide for those times when your sculpture ends up with a frightened expression and you want to know how to fix it.

I think die-hard fans of hers will like that many of these projects are complementary to those in her CF Sculpture Series. If you liked Dragons, you'll enjoy adding this book's "Thor's Dragon-Serpent" to your collection. There are also several projects with jungle and sea-life themes to match her Welcome to the Jungle and Under the Sea books. Fans of Friesen's will also like that this books is 160 pages long — more than 3 times longer than those in her CF Sculpture Series.

That "more of the same" aspect that her fans will love is my main complaint, though. While she does have a few really clever ideas (like the forks and broom straws), many of the projects seem very similar to her other work. She's always used lots of beads and precious stones in her work, and this book seems to focus heavily on those techniques too. It makes the "together at last" portion of the title seem a bit overstated.

Since I first read about this book in a post about Friesen's steampunk work, I was disappointed it didn't include any steampunk projects. There are a few metal projects mixed in (like using the forks), but it wasn't to the extent I'd hoped. (She does have a free steampunk heart tutorial on her site if you're interested.) Nor did I feel like there was much focus on found or recycled objects.

Still, it's a fun read with lots of clever ideas. There's a decent range of mixed media, and the projects are really enjoyable to do. I love that Friesen encourages trial and error, experimenting and improvising. She shares basic ideas, then lays the groundwork for the reader to do more projects on their own.

Summary

• Title: Polymer Clay and Mixed Media— Together at Last: Incorporating Craft Materials and Found Objects in Clay Figures
• Price: $14 plus shipping
• Pros:
  • Fun read. Quick and easy projects. Great step-by-step photos.
  • Good information on incorporating various mixed media items into polymer clay.

• Cons:
  • A little heavy on the bead and precious stones projects (Friesen's usual style) and light on the metal and found objects projects. If you're hoping to create the cool steampunk stuff like Friesen's doing now, you won't find those instructions in this book.

• Who It's Good For:
  • These projects are easy and well-illustrated, so polymer clay beginners should be able to jump in and have good results.
  • Folks looking to start including other media in their polymer clay work will find good tips here.
  • And any CF fans will, of course, enjoy this latest addition to the collection.

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