Marble Method
1. Choose your colours according to your eye reference or any colours you desire.
2. Roll balls of various sizes according to how predominant you want that colour to be in the final marble effect.
3. Make small sausages with each colour and then twist them together like this…
4. Once they are twisted enough so that the colour striations are small and fine but the colours have not all mixed into one colour, flatten the clay slightly and roll it through a pasta machine if you have one, start on a wide setting and keep rolling it through until you get to about setting 6 or 7. If you don’t have a pasta machine just roll it manually until about 1mm thick.
5. You will now need something with a small point, your clay marble sheet and some baby powder.
6. Dip the needle in the powder so that it wont stick to the clay and make tiny holes all over the clay sheet, keep dipping the needle in powder from time to time to stop it sticking. Make the holes wide enough apart so that you can glue the lens over the ‘’pupil’ and also keep in mind that you want to have two of very similar colours. Make the holes in places that have the most variation in colours to make the iris interesting. Cure this in the oven for about 15-20 minutes so that it is very strong.
7. You will now need some GLOSSY black paint, I use glass paint that is heat resistant. Keep the marbled clay in the dish and once it is cool paint the whole surface with the black paint, allow to dry.
8. Paint three layers, allowing each to dry thoroughly before painting the next.
9. You will now need some acetone and some cotton wool pads.
10. Gently rub the excess paint off the clay.
11. Only the tiny round ‘pupils’ where the paint has stayed in the indentations you made earlier will be left.
12. This is what they will look like once the crystal has been attached. You can also make a resin globe if you choose, see below for details. Always take a photograph once the lens is attached to check that there are no air bubbles, as you can see there are some in the pair of eyes at the back of the sheet. You don’t need to throw your crystals away, just prize them off the clay, this should be hard to do if you have good glue. Once off just clean them in acetone and they will be ready to be used again. Now you are ready to embed the eyes!
