Concentration #3

For my third project of my concentration, I knew I wanted to do something with a lot more detail than my first 2 projects. I also wanted to think outside of the box when deciding how I would incorporate stars. I came up with the idea to make starfish. I used sculpey to make the starfish because there are a lot of different, bright colors that I could use to make different, unique starfish. I also knew that I wanted to make them all different sizes and put a different pattern on each. I started by making one of the larger starfish. I used yellow sculpey clay to make the base of the starfish. To do this, I started with a ball of clay that I flattened the slightest bit, then I pinched out 5 areas on the side where I wanted my starfish arms to be. Then, I rolled out little arms and attached them. I pointed out the ends and the tops of each of the arms to make them look really realistic. Then I rolled out little balls of orange clay and put them on, as well as a long strip of orange that I put on the outer edges of the starfish. Next, I made a gold starfish, but made this one a little smaller. I added some detailing then moved onto another starfish. For my third starfish, I wanted to change up my method of design and instead of just putting on little balls of clay, I decided to try to ombre it. I started with a light blue, shiny base, then used a teal clay for the ombre. I used my fingers and a smoothing tool to do this. To add some more texture, I used a tool to poke a bunch of tiny holes on the top of the starfish to make it look more realistic. For my fourth starfish, I used orange clay that matched the clay I used for the first starfish and made this one very plain. I wanted to focus on the little tiny holes I would make all over the starfish to make it look really realistic. I used the same method for my fifth and final starfish, but I used a bright yellow clay. I added some finishing touches like curving the ends of the starfish arms to make them look like they had been moving. I knew when I started this project my goal was to not have it look childish and like a little kid made the starfish, so I tried to use different tools and techniques. While my starfish were baking in the oven, I started to make my base. I decided to use a good size block of wood. I painted it back and painted a lot of tiny stars because I wanted to use mixed media in some way, and I felt like if I just painted the ocean it wouldn't be clear that my concentration is stars. Overall, I am proud of the detail I put into this project and I am satisfied about how it turned out. If I were to change something about my finished project, I would make a moon or something and have the starfish sitting on that, but I like how it turned out.