Christi Friesen Dragon Book

YAY! It’s Friesen Friday!

Do you know what this means?  This means we’re about to talk about Christi, Christi Friesen that is!  Ok, well maybe not about her….but we are definitely going to talk about Christi Friesen books.  You see, today is the first Friday, in a year of Friday’s, for the Friesen Project.  This means that every Friday for the next year, we will be talking about Christi Friesen and begining to explore her style, unique designs, and transformative journey into the polymer clay world and using mixed media elements to enhance our work.  I am so excited to be joining with you in this journey.  If you have not yet signed up to receive the polymer clay & Friesen Project emails, please do so now.  This will ensure that no matter what you are doing, you never miss anything!  But without further ado, let’s dive in, shall we?!

First Friday Format:

The format for the First Friday of every month will be a book review & on special months, a giveaway too!.  I will do a brief synopsis and overview of the book we are going to be tackling for the month.  I’ll give you my thoughts, things I noticed, and what excites me about begin a series of projects.  I will also give you the list of projects that we will cover during the month, the homework you will need to do for the following week, the supplies that you will need to gather, and offer something special.

BOOK 1: DRAGONS

What You Will Notice:

Christi’s style is so laid back, confident, and funny that I laugh often when I read it.  She takes a basic love & instinct to work with polymer clay and combines it with unique designs, curls, swirls, dots, and thing-a-ma-bobs that it blows my mind!  From ears, wings, tails and more her multiple examples to use or follow are great.  There are infinite possibilities with clay and Christi allows you to explore what a Dragon ear might look like…feel like…or how it can change the overall appearance of the dragon itself.  She places thoughtful and helpful tips throughout her book to help you get started.  The book is well suited for begining sculptors as well as seasoned artists.

Make sure you check each “part” of your dragon closely.  Christi gives examples of 7 different kinds of heads (page 11), 8 different tails (page 12 &13), different expressions (pages 20 & 21), and a discussion on the difference between awesome Dragon eyes and not so awesome Zombie Dragon eyes…and let’s not forget the nose, wings, & ears shall we!  And whatever you do…do NOT neglect to read the BACK of the book. Check out Christi’s gallery of ideas, parts, pieces, and dragon mischief that may inspire your own medieval creation!

Don’t have the book yet?  Buy it here.

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Projects We Will Cover This Month:

January 11th – Make A Wendyll Tutorial

Or as I will call it, Make your very first Friesen Dragon!  I will walk you through a brief photo tutorial of how I made my dragon using Christi’s book and then….over the course of one week…you will make your own (insert semi-evil laugh here).

January 18th – Make A Dragon with Arms/Legs Tutorial

Now that you have made your first dragon, you will have to make another dragon.  Warning: DO NOT MAKE IT THE SAME!  Make this one completely different.  Different eyes, nose, mouth, head shape, wings, tail, etc.  And this time…you are going to add arms or legs, or if you really want, add both!

January 25th – Make A Dragon Sculpture

Now that you have made two awesome dragons, take that knowledge and make yourself a Dragon sculpture.  Challenge yourself to make it in characteristics that are more like YOU and YOUR style.  If you have an Etsy store, combine your regular motifs with it.  You can choose to keep this project piece or sell it in your Etsy store.  If you sell it in your Etsy store, please keep in mind that you write in your ad somewhere “Inspired by Christi Friesen” or “Made for The Friesen Project” or “Inspired by Christi Friesen for the Friesen Project” or….well I think you get the idea.

Homework for Next Week:

READ THE ENTIRE BOOK!

Do NOT try to make ANYTHING until you have read the ENTIRE BOOK!  Read it upside down, top to bottom, right to left, inside out, under your blankets in the dark, on your lunch break … I don’t care how you do it, but read it all please.  Allow it to sink in.  Allow her dragons to inspire the dragon that YOU will make next week.  Let it sink in……and then after it has sunk in, gather all your supplies for next week.  You might have to run to the store, so take a list with you … or you can shop online!

Supplies You’ll Need This Month:

• Your choice of polymer clay – at minimum 3 blocks per week.
• Acrylic paint in a dark color (I prefer brown, but my tutorials use both brown and black so you can see the difference)
• Acrylic paint brush
• Baby wipes or soft sponge
• Tiny-medium sized beads and/or gemstones for eyes and embellishments.
• Varnish
• Metal Craft Wire (I prefer 24-28gauge but any flexible soft wire will do)
• Sculpting tools

Everything you will need is available online if you can not purchase your supplies locally.  I have linked everything to Amazon as it ships worldwide and I am an affiliate.

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The Friesen Project

The Friesen Project is done in conjunction with Christi Friesen.  All tutorials are retaught here with her expressed permission.  Please make sure to read about the project here, and get answers to the most common FAQS here.  If you would like to join the project, feel free to sign up here.

 

See you next Friesen Friday,
Until then, Happy Claying,