Clay Book Review
Amazing Clay Flowers: Creating Realistic Flowers & Floral Arrangements by Noriko Kawaguchi
Overview:
First of all, let me be clear, this book was not written for polymer clay. This book was written for use with resin clay. This being said, every tutorial is adaptable to polymer clay. The results may not be as delicate as you can achieve with resin clay, but they certainly can be close if you hand blend all your colors and use some creative chalk accents.
The flowers in this book are all hand sculpted using resin clay. The delicate colors of the flowers shown in the book are made by mixing resin clay with oil paints. If you were going to use a standard white polymer clay to duplicate any of these flowers, you could mix colored polymer clay, alcohol inks, or pigment inks to achieve a color similar to those shown in this book.
My Impressions:
The book opens with gorgeous gallery images of every flower in the book. At first I was stunned thinking I had basically bought a picture book. Alas, I kept reading … the tutorials follow this gorgeous gallery of flower images: from individual flowers, planters, bouquets, and even flower brooches! I have already tried several of the flowers in this book with very good results.
Knowing Your Clays:
I am a polymer artist. While I have worked with many different kinds of clay, polymer is my favorite. Because polymer clay is not air drying, knowing clay, the warmth of your hands & studio, and learning how to have a super delicate touch are very important to duplicating these flowers. If you lack in any of these areas, multiple bakings of most of the flowers, buds, & leaf assembly in this book will be required. Figuring this out is a process of trial & error, but can be accomplished pretty quickly.
Is it Worth It:
If you love flowers, or have an itch to make realistic ones, you can NOT beat this price. The book is only $9.20 with free shipping with Amazon Prime. WOW! This is definitely a great book for the natural themed artist, flower lover, or someone who just wants to experiment with clay.
Thanks for joining me today,
