Introduction: Miniature Clay Dobby! a Project for True Potter Heads

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  • Hi everyone! I do not have any experience with instructables since this is my first shot, but I just made a really cute clay sculpture of Dobby, the house elf. So to all the potterheads out there, please check it out hope you like my idea.

Supplies

For this project, you will require polymer clay of the following colors:

  • Burnt brown
  • Grey
  • Green
  • Black
  • Any other color for the patches and the sock. ( I used blue and lavender)

Step 1: Making the Head

For the head, first roll a ball of the brown clay and pinch in the middle to form the nose. Shape the nose until it is long and curved. At the points where it meets the face, you might want create small bulges to make it look more realistic.

Now, for the eyes, just make to slight hollows with your fingers. We will be adding the eyes later. Make sure that the hollows do not meet each other. Keep a small gap and make it nice and flat to represent the nose bridge.

For the mouth just add a little gash with your needle tool. Make it a bit deep. you may press the cheeks closer to make a pouting kind of look.

I am attaching an image to give you a bit of guidance but it may not be that accurate. Consult the final image of Dobby if you are looking for something more than a beginners' craft.

Step 2: Shaping the Ears and the Eyes.

For the ears, just take two balls of clay and roll them flat. Then shape them as shown in the figure. From the top, fold a little part down to give the shape of the folds.

Attach the ears to the sides of the face and smooth the edges nicely.

For the eyes, take a ball of grey and add a smaller ball of green on top. Add a piece of black for the pupil. Finish off by adding a little piece of grey or white for the reflection.Make sure that this piece overlaps both the green and the black as shown in the figure.

Make another eye in the same way.

Step 3: Completing the Face.

Fix the two eyes in the eye sockets you made earlier. Don't try to press them in because Dobby's eyes have been described as tennis ball shaped. So let them bulge to get the natural look.

Our face is nearly complete. To make it more detailed, roll thin strips of brown clay and wrap it around the circumference of the eyes. Blend them nicely to give it the eye socket look.

To make the wrinkles, add two on either side of the nose, at the meeting point of the face and ears and about 3 lines on the forehead. ( wrinkles are given in cyan in the figure. You can use the needle tool to make them.)

Make the head narrower towards the bottom.

At the end your face should look somewhat like mine.

Step 4: The Body

Making the body is really easy. Just roll a cylindrical part of clay. Roll four more smaller tubes for the arms and legs. On the legs, add a ball of clay about halfway down and blend to make the knees as shown in the figure.

Join the arms and legs to the body.

Step 5: Making the Pillow Case Dress

Roll a very thin sheet of grey clay. Don't worry if it tears a bit, Dobby's pillow case is really worn out!

Cut two rectangles from the clay according to the breadth of the body. Keep the length such that it reaches just above the knees.

Put the two pieces on the front and back and blend the clay at the edges.

Cut two small strips from the clay for the sleeves and join them.

Make some lines in the dress to resemble wrinkles.

If you wish you may add a strip of clay at the bottom edge for a better finish.

Step 6: The Embellishments

To decorate the sleeves, make two little bows as shown above and add them at the middle of the sleeve strips.

Make a sock from any color you like and place it near Dobby's hand.

You may also decorate the dress by putting little squares of clay and making marks at the edges so that they look like patches. ( see the figure)

Step 7: Finish It!

Attach the head to the body with a toothpick or a wire. Smooth out the neck. Your Dobby is ready. Bake it as per the instructions given on your clay package and glaze it with varnish or clear nail paint. If you wish, you can add a charm ring at the top before baking.

Now you can hang your creation on a key ring and display it for all your friends to see.