Whale Shark Sculpture Process

One of my sculpting projects this past winter was a whale shark.

This was my first attempt at a shark of any kind. I was eager to give it a try, as the Whale Shark is one of my favorite sea creatures.

I didn't take very many pictures, unfortunately, so I'm not sure this can qualify for a true tutorial, but it may give you a few ideas or some inspiration.

I knew that this would be best approached by baking individual components before attaching them.

So I began with the basic body shape.

The ridges I added after baking the body. I rolled out thin snakes and attached them with liquid Sculpey. I used the edges of my fingers to smooth them into sharp ridges.

Next, I sculpted and attached the dorsal fins before baking again.

To create the upper tail fluke, I rolled and cut clay in the shape I wanted and then attached with liquid Sculpey and fresh clay. To create the curved shape, I propped him up in a bread pan using rolled up aluminum foil and pressed the fin up in the corner as it baked.

I used a similar process for attaching the bottom tail fluke. The pectoral fins I rolled, cut, shaped and baked before attaching and baking again.  I propped his body up on a roll of aluminum foil to keep the pectoral fins from warping in the oven.

My original intention was for him to be propped up on 3 fins, but the weight tipped him forward onto his chin and pectoral fins.

While it wasn't what I wanted, it ended up working just fine.

I sanded him down really well with fine grit wet/dry sandpaper before painting.

And that's that!

As always, feel free to post any questions in the comments section, and I hope this has helped inspire ideas for your next polymer clay project

HAPPY SCULPTING!