Poodle Fur Tutorial

One of my commissions earlier this year was a custom portrait of a miniature poodle.

Creating the fur textures was a fun experiment, and I was pleased with the result.

This tutorial is for polymer clay, although you don't want to try it with your run-of-the-mill Sculpey.

The type of clay you want for this is Premo or Fimo.

I use Premo, and have had great results with it in my sculptures. It is strong, flexible after baking, yet very easy to work and holds detail very well.

It comes in a wide range of colors, but I stick to white since I paint my pieces.

You will also need a liquid polymer clay, such as liquid Sculpey.

The tools you will need for this technique are pretty simple.

You will need a small metal ball stylus and a small paintbrush.

The basic sculpture has already been baked at this point. It's easier to apply the other details without messing up your previous work. Working in sections, brush on some liquid Sculpey to a small area.

Tear off a small piece of  well-conditioned clay and flatten it out.

Spread over the area. pressing it in well.

Brush on more liquid Sculpey to moisten the clay (you want it to be pretty goopy and malleable).

Take the smallest end of your ball stylus and begin poking.

Keep poking until it begins to look like this.

It's best to bake after completing each section to help preserve your work.

And that's it!

This technique could also be applied to other animals with woolly type coats (sheep, alpacas, etc.), or even human hair.

Please don't hesitate to post any questions or comments below. Thank you for joining me!

HAPPY SCULPTING!