He's sitting on a hair mousse lid LOL I still dont know how Im supposed to do a whole body of anything without there being holes everywhere

Iggy you can try and use a peice of thick coppre wire as a holder..Place the rod in the stomach. Look at the head I made for a ref..If you still need a little help give me or angel a shout..Also go to your local libary and look up some basic sculpting tips..They help.. But your work looks real good. And I'm not just saying that.
~Night~

PS watch the room temp when you are working with the PC. Too hot and the PC turns into sticky much..Too cold and it's a real BI@#$ to carve..

Whatchya mean holes??? Tell me what your trying to make....let the tutorial begin!!

OK, when I have the dolphin off of that llid thing, my fingers end up smooshing his fin, or when I try to add clay, the whole thing smooshes... could it be bceause I was still using the sculpey? So I set him on that mousse lid for some stability and so I could spin him around and not have to hold him... but now I cant work on the bottom part because well... theres a mousse lid there and I'll end up squishin him.

'HE' needs a name too I guess... hmm... Henry the Dolphin :D

The biggest problem with the polymer is that it becomes unstable once its warmed up. I run part of the armature wire up through the top and hook it on a string I have hanging from the ceiling. You can also make a little holder stand with a dowel rod, I'll have to draw a pic, the best thing is to handle the clay as little as possible.......and it really does look like your off to a great start!

Iggy you can put him in the freezer to frost harden him. Then you can remove him to add the tail without fear of squishing him..Or you can make the tail while the head is in the freezer(wow JD moment) and build the tail..Then place the two parts togeather and half way smooth him..put him in the freezer again .
Then take him out and finish the smoothing job..Then bake and sand..
~Night~

Y'all keep talkin about sanding like I know to do that LOL And you say Carve... Ive been more like ummm molding.. yeah... just squishin the clay with my hands til it makes a shape that i want it to, remove clay, reshape, remove a lil more, shape/shape/shape... I used a paperclip to pull a little clay out for the eye and the blowhole and to 'draw' the mouth on in a really slim line. . .

When they are 'done' baking, how should they feel? The dragonflies I did are still slightly flexible, but firm.. Make sense? Shoudl they be rock solid? Am I making them too thick maybe or just not cookin em long enough?

Iggy with the clay it all depends on what you want to do..Some of my creations are a little flexible and some are hard as stone..As for carveing the clay you can carve, mold,pull and shape it's all up to you..Me I work with all the techniques.
As for carveing tools you can get a basic 6pc set for 2.99 at the local craft store..Hey try the freezer idea..

Hey Iggy, now that school is back in session, and you'll have more time on your hands....any thoughts of breaking out the polymer?? I have a baby 1/2 finished, but the evil in me took over this weekend and I had to paint the clowns (posted in the penthouse)...now that I'm feeling "normal" again I'll finish the baby!!