(WEEK 3) Claymation February 3rd, 2016

Week 3: Claymation

This week, we will be making our own clay puppets and then putting them to animation. If you don't know what claymation is, you may be familiar with titles such as Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run.

Materials:

• Wire skeleton covered in foil
• Crayola Clay
• Molding tools (optional)
• Digital camera

Step 1:
Apply clay onto the wire skeleton however you want.

Step 2:
Use the tools to help shape the clay. (If you don't have any tools then no problem! Nothing can beat a good pair of hands.)

Step 3:
When you are done molding, you can take you puppet and put it in front of the camera. Snap a picture of your puppet every time you move it.

I made the wire skeletons myself for the class. But if you want to make one yourself (or with the help of an adult if you are under the age 14), then you will need:

• Two sets of sculpture and armature wire (One set that's 1/8" diameter and the other that 1/16" diameter)
• A tube of Epoxy Putty
• Aluminum foil
• Needle nose pliers  
• Plastic knife

Step 1:
Unravel the 1/8" wire and cut three pieces of wire with the pliers. One for the body, one for the arms, and one for the legs.

Step 2:
Take the wire for the body, take the pliers, and then make a loop on the top of the body wire. for the head.

Step 3:
Take the 'body' wire and the 'arms' wire and place them on top of each other like a cross.

Step 4:
Take the 1/16" diameter wire and wrap it around the intersection of the 'body' and 'arms' wires.

Step 5:
Take the plastic knife and cut off a piece of the Epoxy Putty.

Step 6:
Kneed it between your fingers until it becomes a solid color.

Step 7:
Wrap the putty around the intersection of the 'body' and 'arms' wire.

Step 8:
Repeat steps 3-7 for the legs.

Step 9:
Take the aluminum foil and wrap in around the wire skeleton. The wire itself has a smooth surface and the clay won't grip very well, so the foil will provide a much needed grip.

Keep in mind that if you choose to use Crayola Clay then it will eventually dry out making your model stiff. If you don't want the clay to dry out just yet, then I recommend looking at Super Sculpey products. You can find almost all the things that you need at either Binders: Art Store or Blicks Art Materials. While you can make puppets with this clay, you can also make sculptures. A quick bake in the oven will make this clay solid and you can even paint them.

Here is an example of a wire armature.

Here is a video on how to make the armature.

And here is a video on claymation.