Polymer Paula

Create.

2009-10-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

Simple as that :~)

Wedding Cake Toppers!

2009-09-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

Congrats Heather & Bill in Denver :~)

Here's a recent custom request from Etsy....
I was asked to sculpt wedding cake toppers based off of these US Postal Service 'Love' stamps:

Fun! Here's the king & queen I came up with:

.......details, details.

.....and a photo from the wedding! ©ericbakken.com

Figure Drawing at the Essex

2009-09-15T21:31:00.001-07:00

Another figure drawing session tonight. Same gal as last time.
I feel like I'm getting the hang of it!

Figure Drawing Night!

2009-09-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

My first time bringing a darker paper & white pencil! I enjoyed that combo.
Her head looks really small now that I am stepping back from this....

I'm Still Here!/Figure Drawing

2009-08-25T18:57:00.001-07:00

Hey, people!
I'm sorry it's been quiet on here for soooooo long! I've been swamped with all kinds of NON-creative things, moved back up to Ohio (temporarily, to be with family) and working a *ton* of hours in addition to my freelance. I've been getting so many comments about my blog--as in, when are you going to start posting again??! We're sick of looking at cupcakes! :~o

So, here we go :~)

Tonight I went to a new figure drawing group for the first time! It was so good!
It was at Manifest in Cincinnati. Manifest Gallery
This model had a very interesting, weathered face.

More posts to come soon..... I have Etsy orders I'm finishing up, and new illustrations that I can share very soon!

Garden Cupcakes!

2009-05-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

I know this isn't really illustration related...but it was so artsy & creative I had to share with you. My sisters and I put on a Cupcake Decoration Day for the kids...it was a blast!
Here's a million pics....

Freshly baked Devil's Food cupcakes...

Mixing the frosting.

Paper cones of frosting all ready to go!

Starting a piped-frosting flower. Step 1: Put a dot of frosting on your decorating nail.

Step 2: Put a square of parchment on your nail. (secured with that frosting.)

Step 3: Pipe a petal.

Step 4: Pipe more petals.

Step 5: Embellish.

Step 6: Embellish more if you like :~)

Here's a view of some of my roses.

I've got a whole bunch of flowers finished...and some heads of cabbage & carrots, too. Off to the freezer to harden up nicely.

Everyone working away on their cupcakes... Those cupcakes peel right off their paper backing when frozen, and only take a minute or two to thaw out.

They're looking good! (Oreo crumbles for dirt...chocolate-covered sunflower seeds for extra detail.)

Little Max gets help from Daddy. What are you two designing???

A few of our finished gardens... they didn't last too long :~)

We got this idea from this book: Hello, Cupcake! It's full of really unique ideas.... check it out!

Winged Creatures

2009-04-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a close-up look on a new piece I made for Kulture Klash this weekend. I'll post more of my work from the show soon...lots of photos to go through!

My butterflies all framed & ready to go!

Here is the first step: bug bodies on a baking sheet. (Gross thought, eh?)

Waiting for the glue to dry...

I used some handmade copper headpins I purchased on Etsy as antennae. I've been saving them for jewelry, but they fit in so perfectly with my bugs! Those wings were cut out from a vellum print.

Still here!

2009-04-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

I'm still here! I'm a bad blogger, though.
I've been busy working on clay pieces for Kulture Klash 4.... I'll show them to you when they're all ready! This little insect will be included :~)

the Little Blue Penguin.

2009-03-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

My very first mixed-media shadowbox!

Shop Talk

2009-03-27T00:07:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I've updated my Etsy shop... but I've been restocking tonight.
This creature is listed ;~)

polymerpaws.etsy.com

Addison

2009-03-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Somebody I work with was obviously not acting like himself the past few days... and I found out what was going on. He said his yellow lab mix, Addison, was hit by a car last weekend, and didn't make it. He was soooo upset by this, and told me all about what a good dog she was, and what she meant to him! He showed me pics of her on his phone.... and I sculpted this little angel as soon as I got home. I hope it helps a little :~/
That story touched me so much, I hugged my Terra extra long when I got home from work that night.

What the Folk??!

2009-03-13T16:43:00.001-07:00

Whoo hoo! I'm very proud to have had my Conchords piece featured on WhatTheFolk.net! (That's the official fan/info site for the band. Wow, they have a serious cult following!!)

Finished!

2009-03-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

Here's the final Flight of the Conchords illustration.

...almost done!

2009-03-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

We're getting there! This photo shows an additional 5 hours of work. I packed up all my clay & tools and sat at City Lights Cafe the whole day! I suppose I had coffee for lunch :~)
I'm going to add a few more details I think? Maybe some brighter greens to Bret's merman tail. I'll break out the tripod & photo box for a quality photo of the finished sculpt tomorrow.

Flight of the Conchords

2009-03-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

...in progress!

Flight of the Conchords

2009-03-03T18:32:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a personal piece now... a portrait of my favorite nerdy folk-singing comedy duo from New Zealand: HBO's Flight of the Conchords! I'd really love to work on more celebrity/editorial illustration like this, so why not give art directors a little sample? This is my beginning sketch. I've combined the guys with two of my favorite songs from Season 1-- 'Mermaids,' and 'Robots.'

So far I have Bret & Jemaine's heads finished!

...so, you've never seen the show? Well, here's a snippet:

...more clay soon!

Crazy Creatures

2009-02-25T10:41:00.001-08:00

I'm thinking about making a whole mess of these polymer clay guys for the Kulture Klash show in about a month... time to get sculpting!

Fat Tuesday!

2009-02-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

Nothing too serious today! ...just a clay doodle of my favorite subject.
Looks like I'll have a spot at the next Kulture Klash in April!! I'm getting excited thinking about the artsy possibilities....
Check out last November's event: Kulture Klash 3

Aw, man! More sketches??

2009-02-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

...that's right, more sketches. I think I have enough ideas down now, that I can start with the clay :~)
More to post soon!

the Sketching Sketcher.

2009-02-17T20:30:00.001-08:00

No clay today, but I certainly got my sketch on! I think I had more fun with my random doodling than what I set out to brainstorm on. ...but that's okay with me.
I know caviar and bananas is a very odd combination, but check out THIS place!:
Caviar & Bananas
...amazing!! It was my first time there, but not the last.

Later on in the day I went to City Lights Cafe on Market St.... and would rather sketch all the colorful ceramics I was given instead of my future sculpture.

...finally got to what I set out to do, but it's only a tiny thumbnail. Trying to figure out a fun way to convey "forbidden fruit" and I was thinking it would be great to make the fruit cacao. (although, I know this is not how cacao grows on trees.... the pods are larger, and they grow up the trunks. I'll work on that!)

Also:

I left my favorite ring in the restroom!!! Took it off to wash my hands & left it on the sink :~(
Cross your fingers I get it back tomorrow!!
It's a sea urchin from fellow Etsyian StaroftheEast

More of me at Target!

2009-02-16T20:09:00.000-08:00

Me again! I was in Target tonight, and noticed the American Greetings Easter/St.Patty's Day paraphernalia :~)

I found these stickers of mine....but didn't see what I was hoping for: frog stickers. Maybe they're in your Target, maybe not this year. I'm told the distribution varies between stores. ???

There ARE clay leprechaun cards out now, but they were done by another sculptor. (I think it was Teresa Vargas at AG? --she's amazingly talented!!)

...Classy mini-blinds photo, huh? hehe.

Here are my beginning brainstorming/sketches on these stickers. Sometimes I write things down that I overhear or want to remember as I sketch....and then have no idea what they were about later!

So, this is COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone... but on request, here is my in-progress sculpt right now. Blocking in the main colors (under-painting?) is no fun for me; I really like adding all the finishing details. This is the basic sculpt before adding the fun stuff!

If you're wondering why all those chunks of colors are out, but NOT in my sculpt--- I try to figure out where I want my color scheme to go by picking out certain colors & seeing how they look next to each other. Here, I'm looking for a good combination for the birds/flowers. Greens-vs-purples? Greens-vs-reds & oranges? Still deciding.

Is It Spring Yet? II

2009-02-10T17:14:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to work on some personal pieces out of clay again...here is where I'm starting!
I drew this sketch a few months as a hopeful Skirt! Magazine cover, but it never got off the ground. Looking through my sketchbook for ideas today I remembered how much I liked it.

My work is at Target!!

2009-02-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!
I was just so tickled to see my American Greetings Valentines cards for sale at Target this weekend! My very own endcap :~)
Glad I had my camera in the car!

I did the clay sculptures for these 18 cards last summer (usually when I say that I'm busy with work but not allowed to blog about it...this is what I'm doing!) This took about a month and a half to complete... whew!
Go out & support AG, and I'll keep my eyes open for St. Patty's Day stickers and cards...

Behind the Scenes!!

2009-02-07T00:12:00.000-08:00

...under the scenes?

A little behind-the-scenes view per request! This sculpt isn't too thick. I've been trying to keep thickness in mind in case I'd like to frame the piece later on! I've made a few polymer clay pieces meant for framing that were actually...too thick to fit in the box frames available for ordering in the frame shop. :~/

Looks messy from up here! Here you can see where I've had to peel my 'Presstime' logo letters off the background (I had them glued down) to allow for a version with no letters. Thank you, Photoshop!

Here you'll see lots of white artists tape and foam core. I'm in love with artists tape!... it holds it's stick very well, but isn't so tacky it can't be repositioned easily. When I make paper sculpts like this one, I like to be able to move my individual elements all around before I commit to a final photo.
...more to blog soon, have a great Saturday!

Sign of the Times

2009-02-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

Check out what just came for me in the mail!
I really like the way this cover illustration turned out... and it's so great to see it in print form on the magazine! Yay.

This is how the sculpt looked before I added the Presstime title. The sculpt was made basically to scale, so it was around 7" by 9" and the paper stood out about 1.5" in thickness.