Creating Clay Dragons

A few years ago, I needed a three dimensional piece of art for a portfolio. Usually, my art consists of two dimensional drawings in different mediums. Then I remembered working with clay when I was at a summer camp. I had not worked with clay in years, but I decided to try it again.

I wanted to make a clay version of a dragon I had drawn. I started by making a smooth base, and then added lots of scales. I could not get the dragon to stand, so I made it in a sitting position. I was so short on time, I took the dragon to show people without baking it. The head fell off a couple times, and I tried to repair it with scrap clay at the last minute. I was so nervous that the whole thing would fall apart as someone looked at it. Luckily, the head did not fall off again until I took it home :)



I had another chance to show my dragon about a week later. This time I baked it. Someone suggested adding some type of wiring to the inside of the neck in order to hold up the head. I added toothpicks instead, and it worked! The ears were a little burnt, but it looked good.

Multiple people who saw the dragon asked how I made it. I described the process, but they thought it was difficult. I remembered getting the same reaction when I brought a bigger version of my model house in for a school project. In both


cases, people thought it was hard to make, so I made a how to video. I made a baby dragon for the video, just like I made a second, smaller house.

The photo on the right shows the baby dragon:

Here is the video that shows how to make the dragon: