Translucent Liquid Clay Comparison

I've very much enjoyed the benefits of liquid clay. It's great used as a sort of glue. It hold eye pins in the clay very well if you dab some on were the clay and metal meet. It also works well to just bond two pieces of clay together. On more delicate projects, it can be hard to keep pieces together without messing up the project or it falling apart. If you place translucent liquid clay between the pieces, they stay hard and stuck together after baking. Also, if your into miniature food making or looking for a liquid like effect in your projects, you can mix liquid clay with chalk pastel power or a small piece of clay to color it. This is useful for sauces and glaze on small foods. On that note, added to a larger amount of clay, the two can be mixed together into faux frosting. Below I will introduce you to my favorite liquid clays. Both these brands are very useful in their own cases, so I cannot pick a favorite.

Translucent Liquid Sculpey (also commonly known as TLS) is a great tool in clay sculpting. This brand comes in a small bottle, about 5", and the liquid clay itself appears thick and white before baking. After baking, in a thin layer, the baked liquid clay appears almost totally clear, though usually produces a matte Finnish.  In thicker proportions, or contained, it appears very white. This is great for miniature food. It makes a great fake sauce when mixed with pastels (mix with pastels to get a more transparent look, mix with a small amount of clay for a more opaque look), and also works well in making faux frosting. This product, due to its viscosity is easy to control and won't run off very easily in controlled projects. This was my first brand of liquid clay to ever try, and I very much love it! Even after exposing myself to different brands, I very much still use TLS, as do most people, being over all the most popular brand of Translucent Liquid clay, due also to it's being inexpensive compared to it's competitors and it's great quality. I highly recommend not to buy this product online, but at a store. The pricing is significantly different.
Liquid PolyClay created by Kato Clay is slightly different compared to TLS. The bottle which it comes in is slightly shorter than that of TLS, but wider. The Liquid Clay itself has a much lower viscosity (Not very thick), though annoyingly comes out of its bottle extreamly slow. It still holds a white color in an un-cooked form but it is not so stark as that of TLS. This is a very good Liquid clay. It's absence of thickness makes it good for sauces, but beware! It runs off projects if not in a stable state. I just had this happen and it was quite distressing :( . I find in fact it cooks clearer than TLS as its viscosity can be very useful. Also nice about this brand is that after baking, it has a shiny finish.

I hope this post was helpful in your search for liquid clay. If you have any questions regarding translucent liquid clay or any other polymer clay related question, comment below and I will answer to the best of my abilities. 

jn

Bake Shop Review

Clay #2. Bake Shop

Now introducing one of my least favorite types of polymer clay. Made by Sculpey and inexpensive compared to other types I thought I'd try it out. I was walking down the walmart craft isle,  just burning time, when I noticed they sold clay! It wasn't my usual sculpey III or any of the other polular brands, it was Bake Shop, selling only for $0.99! I thought I'd give it a go. I picked up two white blocks and a skin tone, being low on both colors at home, and the store's color selection was very minimal. I was surprised when I opened the package, slightly different than the newest packing rendition, shown in the picture above. The clay almost felt as if it were covered in a very thin layer of moisture. I easily squeezed (notice that verb) a piece off. It stuck to my hands in some places and it was certainly the softest clay I'd ever worked with! After kneading it (which didn't take long), It became extremely soft and very hard to work with, almost like playdough. Fingerprints showed up very clearly on projects I tried to make with it. I've tried working with it in various ways, but the clay has few purposes. I've found the best use of it is in making faux frosting for miniatures and fake food. Because of it's extremely soft texture, it easily breaks down and mixes into fake frosting. I did find, due to my buying of the color white and using it to lighten other colors, that when mixed with a different type of clay, it softens it tremendously. Over all I wouldn't recommend this clay, except for frosting making. Have any recommendations or options about this product? Comment below.

Photo Credit: http://raw.rawmaterialsarts.netdna-cdn.com/catimg/syba1802_x.jpg

Sculpey III Review

Clay #1. Sculpey III

This clay is rather popular with most basic polymer clay artists. I personally have been using this type of clay for a long time, first due to my neglecting of other brands, and my already large stock of this type. Don't get my wrong- this clay is great! I have a lot of experience with it already and I know plenty of it's limits and capabilities. For one, this clay is great for basic projects and very easy to work with. I've made plenty of beautiful pieces using this clay, including one of my favorites, miniature realistic food. On the other hand, more meticulus work is not suited with this clay. Sculpting people or faces is very difficult with this semi soft clay (softer when kneaded) due to exactly that; its softness. Now, I've seen worse (Bake Shop), so don't go assuming this is not the clay for you! Also it is EXTREMELY difficult to create canes (minnefori art, as I believe it's spelled) with Sculpey III. It's possible, but the colors bend to together easily, and only the most basic canes can be made in their simplest form (lace cane, as I've discovered). Also dark or bright colors (red) will leave colored residue on your hands, so be careful! Over all, this is a great clay I highly recommend to you. Most of what I make is created from this clay, but I will say as I've developed my skills, I've gained a new interest in different brands and types, which I will cover in another review.

Photo Credit: https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnmMRX2uh7JbqjWKXsqDgsFtXIE706hKbCwGNDayEJ3S6Nkd3-JnCbsQlvF5TYHUJl9DCqqNtJ&usqp=CAE

New Video: how to draw a basic manga face

This video tutorial is super easy to use! Learn how to draw a basic manga face! This base can be used to create multiple characters, male or female with slight alterations. Never tried drawing manga? Well here's where you start! Watch Video Below

Video not working? Click the link below to see the video tutorial on my Styled by Sophie youtube channel.
Basic manga face tutorial