Introduction: I Made the DRUNKEST DRUNK OCTOPUS Hook...ever.

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About: Hi, I'm Kat! My YouTube channel, Kat Liepins Art, combines tongue-in-cheek humor with wow-worthy art with the hopes of making fine art approachable and fun while inspiring an appreciation for a variety of proc…

PROJECT OVERVIEW: In today's instructable, I use polymer clay and acrylic paints to sculpt the drunkest drunk octopus hook...ever. To learn how I made this little dude, watch my video above for the full timelapse walkthrough and peruse the written steps detailed below. You'll have to let me know if you think I did this iconic meme justice in the comments!

If you like this project, I’d greatly appreciate your vote in the Sculpture Challenge contest! :D

CONTEST LINK: https://www.instructables.com/contest/sculpt2020/

Supplies

- ARMATURE -

- SCULPTING -

- PAINTING -

- INSTALLING -

  • Screws
  • Power Hand Drill

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Step 1: Building Armature

In regard to art, an armature is defined as a metal framework on which a sculpture is molded with clay or similar material. An armature is typically used to help keep a sculpture from sagging under its own weight. Though this particular project is relatively small in size, using a metal two-prong hook provides strength and structure, and bulking your form with tinfoil saves you clay and dollars–yay!

A. SELECTING A TWO-PRONG HOOK: Knowing that I was going to be applying oven-bake clay to my armature, I made sure to select a hook made of a material that wouldn't be in danger of melting in the heat of my oven. I bypassed plastic options and elected to go with a metal matte nickel hook that could handle the required bake temperature of 275ºF.

B. APPLYING TINFOIL: Begin applying your tinfoil in layers to build up to the thickness that you desire for the tentacles and head of the octopus. No glue or tape is required the tinfoil crimps to itself as you work. Any tinfoil or aluminum foil that you can find in grocery or home good stores works perfectly for this purpose. And, as mentioned earlier, using tinfoil to establish the majority of the form of your sculpture allows you to use less clay later on. Twist and curl the tentacles into shapes of your liking.

C. CLEARING SCREW HOLES: Once the entire hook is covered and you've achieve the size and thickness desired for the body parts of your octopus, you will want to use a pointed clay sculpting tool to clear out the two areas where your screws will need to go through. Performing this task now will make it easier to keep these holes clear as you add a layer of clay on top of this armature in the next steps.

Step 2: Sculpting

Now, let's get creative and begin layering on our polymer clay to whip this little guy into shape!

A. APPLYING CLAY: Using white Sculpey Original oven-bake clay (which is a polymer clay that does not harden until baked), we'll employ a rolling pin to flatten out sheets of clay to cover the largest parts of the octopus–the head and arms. When applying the clay to the arms/tentacles, I found it easiest to slightly uncurl them before covering them with the clay.

Again, using a pointed sculpting tool, clear the clay blocking the screw holes for easier installation later on. Then, gently push the screw cap covers into the clay, centered over the screw holes. This creates a space for the screw covers to reside, and the idea is that eventually, we'll hide the screws that hold the piece to the wall with the caps that will be disguised with the octopus's eyes.

Then, tiny balls of clay are rolled and applied to the arms to create the suction cups. Using a small ball tool, push into the center of each ball of clay to create the hollow centered look of a tentacle's suction cup. Once all of the suction cups are complete, carefully bend the arms back into their original position. You may have to touch up a few of the suction cups upon completing this.

B. BAKING #1: At this stage, we want to bake our piece so that subsequent sculpting on top of this base piece will not ruin the work that we've already done. Prepare a standard metal baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking mat, and put your piece in the center of it. Preheat your conventional oven to 275ºF and bake for 15 minutes per quarter inch of clay thickness, according to the Original Sculpey clay product instructions. For example, a piece of 1/2" thickness should be baked for 30 minutes. Over-baking can cause browning. However, since this piece is going to be painted, any accidental browning can be easily covered. Once the piece comes out of the oven, allow it to cool to the touch before working on it further.

C. APPLYING DETAILS: Because we want the quirky character of the octopus to shine through, this guy needs some visually arresting eyes! We are going to bake the entire piece one last time, so glass dome cabochon eyes are the optimal choice since they will not melt. Use super glue to attach the cabochons to the cover of the screw caps then surround them with snakes of clay to form the eyelids and add eyebrows and a mouth for his full expression.

You will also sculpt the yard of margarita and its straw at this stage. Create a small tinfoil snake armature and cover it with clay to create the margarita and a very small clay snake for the straw.

D. BAKING #2: Again, preheat your conventional oven to 275ºF and prepare a standard metal baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking mat, and put your fully sculpted piece in the center of it. Bake for 15 minutes per quarter inch of clay thickness, according to the Original Sculpey clay product instructions. Once the piece comes out of the oven, allow it to cool to the touch before moving on to the next step.

E. DRILLING OUT SCREW HOLES: For easier maneuverability, cut the hinge of the screw caps to free up the eyes. They still snap on and function without the hinge. Then remove any final clay blockages from the screw holes using a power drill. Select a drill bit small enough to go through the hole of the screw cap and gently auger out any hardened clay that might be obscuring a clear pathway for the screw that will eventually attach the octopus hook to the wall. You will also attach the straw to the lid of the yard of margarita with super glue at this step.

Step 3: Painting

The concept behind this piece is humorous and the character design is cartoon-esque in nature, so bright almost neon paint colors were chosen to make this little guy visually pop with energy. An octopus's natural coloring would be a fine way to go too, if you prefer!

A. CREATING DEPTH: Using acrylic paint and a brush of your choosing, begin covering the larger areas of the piece with your desired colors. To create a little more depth on the body of the octopus I primed him with a gray color that I would layer on top of to create a muddled color look that would provide a bit of interest. This would keep him from being too flatly covered with green. Depending on the opacity of your paints, you may require 2–3 coats to achieve full coverage.

B. DETAILING: We want to bring out the dimension of the different elements we've sculpted by adding some highlights to the yard of margarita, the eyelids, and the suction cups. We do this by mixing tints of the colors we already used and gently applying the paint with a nearly dry brush or a white acrylic paint marker in the case of the suction cups. For a final touch, we use the white acrylic paint marker to add a bandage to the octopus's forehead and use a bit of water thinned pink paint to hint at the story of this little dude's misadventures.

C. INSTALLATION: Using a power drill or screwdriver, drive screws of the correct length, through the holes of the open screw caps into your wall then snap the eyes in place to hide the screws. Due to the somewhat delicate nature of the tentacle arms, it can hold light objects such as ribbons, necklaces, rings or bracelets. However, it is not recommended that you hang towels, purses, or heavier items on this hook. What he lacks in functionality he makes up for in hilarity! ;)