chezPedro: Handmade historical eye models, air drying clay

Hi everyone!

So I've been putting the dolls on hold for a bit and have been dedicating myself to miniatures - my latest passion !

No, no polymer clay for me. Some months ago I did tried but ...... Its not that I have anything against it but lets say I just hated it, LOL. Miniatures in polymer clay seems to me rather too easy to do, there's no construction and thus there's no fun.

So which material then? For sure paper and air drying clay just like on my doll building! ;)

I think that I have a tendency to want to recreate, in whichever material I can, different ideas of different epochs and its items (not just furniture) and as I like the so called "cabinet de curiosités" and would love to have one but don't have the space, maybe I'm attempting to build one in miniature, eh eh eh

Some months ago I caught, on Pinterest, a photo of a German 17th century eye model set on ivory which I thought trying to built up in papermache but normal scale. Time passed by, papermache prop construction got a bit faded and miniatures making struck me, so I had to try!
I had to try specially because before this project I did a miniature heart. They were so successful that whilst thinking about doing more anatomy miniatures I, again on Pinterest, stumbled on another eye model set on ivory! It was a sign ;)

Here they are

The how was basically "slices" of air drying clay putted to dry on a tealight candle and then mounted on a pin. After the glue was dry I covered all with "liquid" cold porcelain (which means more water + glue than starch). The eye is all air drying clay done in two parts - first the eye ball and after dried and painted, did the rest around and behind. For the tall one I made the middle body with a newspaper roll.

The paint was with acrylics, matt varnish for the holders and brilliant for the eyes.

After taking the photos they look way wobbly, didn't noticed that on the actual pieces though ... The small ones are truly tiny and was difficult to combine the whole different "slices" into one direction only...

Maybe it gives them even more an aspect of "handmade"? ;)