TOOTHPICK
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Sometimes.....the things that you have around you might be enough for you to start crafting - like toothpicks!
I've been using my needle tools and curved tools, and actually have never tried using toothpick to actually sculpt even though I have lots of them with me all the time (to mix paint/2 part epoxy glue etc)
One day I decided I should try it, because there ARE other artists who uses SOLELY toothpicks to sculpt, and that always intrigues me. If it isn't good, I'm sure they would have tried to find other alternatives right? The fact that they kept using it must have meant something...
So I tried to use it...and wow. It's actually not too bad at all!
To the point that I've already included it in my common tools I use and made a little spot for it to lay on on my tool pen rest 😆
And you can see me using it in this video hehehe.
I still love my metal tools though, but I think this works EVEN BETTER as THE TOOL to take small clay piece and place on another surface 😊
Here's an example. I'm picking up a piece of raw clay with metal tool, and placing it down on a surface that doesn't have any liquid clay.
Polymer clay tends to be a little sticky, and somehow, it sticks on metal tools well. Maybe it's the surface tension or smth from the metal tool, I'm not too sure, but it works! When there's a stickier surface (i.e liquid clay), the raw clay will be transferred from the less sticky surface (metal tool) to the stickier surface.
Sometimes when I craft, I don't necessarily use liquid clay to stick the clay pieces together (for example, making hair strands) and THIS is what happen (see above gif).
You can totally see me struggling hahahahahaha.
And this is with the toothpick!!! 😍
Look at how much easier it is for me to control it 😱
That is, if I can get it on the toothpick itself haha. I find that you have to "press" in to the clay a little bit for it to stick on the toothpick (you can see me struggling a little to pick it up in the gif), but because it doesn't have that surface tension that makes it stick as well as the metal tools, it also means that it can be placed down on a surface without that sticky surface easier too! 😆
You don't have to "press" too hard into the clay till it distorts anyway, so it really isn't a big deal!
You can use toothpick to texture like how you would with a needle tool, but I still prefer my metal tools for that, so I'm using toothpick solely for this reason. It's a big enough reason to keep it around constantly though - I use it almost half the time! 😊
Here's the quick tip this week, hope this helps 😘