Take one of your Dipsy balls of clay and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and put 2 balls back into the bag.
Make each of two balls into a bowl shape by pinching. First stick your thumb in the centre then taking your time and feeling the clay, pinch up rather than out until the bowl is even thickness and 6 to 8 cm across. Make sure your bowls have even rims.
Scratch the rims of your bowls and paint each with slip. This will ensure a good join. Join the two bowls together and use your finger or a ‘finger tool’ to cover over the join.Roll the ball gently on a flat surface to smooth. If the join reappears cover over again. Continue until your ball is perfect!
Now use the other 2 balls you put back in the bag. Cut one into half and half again to make 4 pieces. Cut the other ball into half and then just one half into half again to make one big and 2 small pieces. Roll all the pieces into balls.You should now have 6 smaller balls and one larger ball for the dragon bits.
To make the head take 2 small balls and pinch each into a little bowl. Try to make the bowls tall so that the head will be oval rather than round. Join the 2 rims together as before and smooth the join to make the head. Dont forget to scratch the rims and paint with slip first. Roll your head gently on a flat surface to make it more oval and then make the nose end more pointed than the other end. Pinch the head to form indents for the eyes and nostrils.
Now add a neck using another of the small balls. Roll the ball gently on a flat surface to make into a short cylinder. Pierce the cylinder with a pointed tool or pencil and wiggle the tool round to make the hole wider until you can get your finger in the hole. With your finger gently widen the hole to make the neck. Pinch out one edge of the cylinder ready to join to the head.
Pierce the underside of the head where it will join to the neck. This allows the air to travel between the head and neck and avoid the head exploding when fired! Make the hole bigger and pull the hole out a bit. Scratch and slip around the hole and the pinched edge of the neck and join the surface together. Smooth the join with your finger or the finger tool.
Pierce the body ball to allow the air to move between the neck and body. Widen the hole and pull out a bit. Pinch round the lower edge of the neck where it will join to the body. Scratch and slip round the head hole and the inside of the lower neck edge and join the surfaces together. Smooth over the join.Sit your dragon on a flat surface so he doesn’t wobble. You can gently squeeze and slap the body round a bit and smooth the neck joints to make it all look right before you move on.
Use the bigger ball to make the tail. Roll the ball between your hands or on a flat surface to make a lone cone shape. The fat end will join to the body. Cut off a piece from the fat end for the pointy bit on the end of the tail. Make this bit into a flat triangle.
Pierce the fat end of the tail and widen the hole until you can get your finger in. Pinch around the edge where the tail will join to the body. The pierce the body where the tail will join and widen the hole and pull out as you did for the neck join. Scratch and slip around the hole and inside the fat end of the tail stick on the tail and smooth the join. Curl the tail round as you see fit. If the tail cracks a bit rub slip onto the tail as you bend it round.
One more ball will make the feet and arms. Cut it into 4 and roll into little balls ready for these. Cut another ball in half and one half into half again for the ears. Shape the feet arms and ears as in the image above and join to the body as shown below. Scratch and slip all the joints. Smooth over the joints a bit to make sure of a good join but most smoothing can be done later.Join the pointy bit on the end of the tail!
Take the last ball and cut in half for the wings. First shape into triangles with a blunt end – this end will join to the dragon. Keep this bit quite thick. Shape the rest into a wing shape as shown and join onto the dragon. Ensure a good join with the ‘finger tool’.
Make about 7 pointy bits with the last bit of clay. You might not use all of the depending on the character of your Dragon. Give each pointy bit a flat base where it join to the dragon. Stick pointy bits to the back and tail and possibly the nose. Smooth all the joints.As your dragon starts to dry you can continue to smooth the joints – this is easier when the clay is less sticky and less likely to collapse! You can use your finger, the finger tool, a brush or a sponge for this smoothing. Use as little water as possible as wetting the clay will weaken it again. Dont worry about making everything really smooth – you can make brush or smoothing marks a feature of your dragons character!!!
