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You are here: Home / Fantasy Sculptures OOAK / Babies / Micro Miniature Fairy Baby with RoseBud

Micro Miniature Fairy Baby with RoseBud

March 21, 2012 by MagicByLeah 3 Comments

Mothers Day micro miniature fairyI’ve decided to take a break from sculpting bunnies to create this tiny fairy baby in honor of Mother’s Day which is just around the corner.

And when I say tiny, I mean microscopic ‘I need a magnifying glass to see’ tiny. Just to see how small I can go.

Sculpting on a Microscopic Scale

While sculpting on a microscopic scale isn’t that different compared to sculpting fairy babies 3 inches or larger, there are some major differences and challenges on this small scale.

Mothers Day micro fairy 1Sculpting tiny details onto a face smaller than my thumbnail can be a problem when my sculpting tools are far too large for the individual features. The clay’s inability to hold so many micro details, and the fear of ‘squishing’ the face at the slightest touch are daunting, not to mention the frequent squinting when trying to get the little details just right. Perhaps I need one of those jeweler magnifying lenses.

All that being said, this little baby was a lot of fun to sculpt, and hey, I got away with some simple details that would perhaps look awkward on a larger sculpture. No pun intended when I say ‘It’s the little things’ (ok pun intended)

Tools and Supplies to Follow Along

To follow along with this microscopic fairy you will need to assemble the following supplies from your studio, or click the individual links to purchase supplies through my amazon affiliate links:

  • Thin wire for the armature
  • Living Doll Sculpey Polymer Clay
  • Dedicated clay oven – I use the Deni-tabletop convection oven
  • Genesis heat-set oil paints
  • Colored craft wire for the wings
  • Angelina (fusible) film for the wings
  • Glitter to embellish the wings

The Micro-Sculpting Process

Just like with my larger babies, this sculpture began with a simple sketch followed by a wire ‘skeleton’ armature.

Mothers Day micro fairy sketch and armature

While her tiny size doesn’t actually call for an armature, I chose to create one for the simple reason of having something to hold on to while sculpting the facial details.

When sculpting the face I simply focused on the major details – eyes, nose cheeks…

Starting with a set of the tiniest pre-baked Premo sculpey eyeballs, I added balls of living doll sculpey to build up the rest of her facial features right down to her large baby forehead.

Mothers Day micro fairy sculpting face Mothers Day micro fairy sculpting body

Her tiny figure was given a few torso ‘folds’, a small protruding belly button, and anatomical details so tiny that my camera can’t even pick it up.

Her legs were sculpted similar to my July Fairy Legs, but instead of adding the toes individually, I created an overall ‘toe shape’ and marked indentations with a tiny blade. A pinch here and another (hundred) squeezes there resulted in micro knees, calves, and thighs.

Her arms were sculpted like the legs, with one closed fist, and another small ‘mitten’ to hold the Mother’s Day Rose.

Two tiny tear-drops, with the help of a sewing-needle tool formed her little fairy ears.

Mothers Day micro fairy adding legs Mothers Day micro fairy in polymer clay

Rose, Paint, Wings

Mothers Day micro fairy paintedWhat’s a mother’s day fairy without a Mother’s Day Rose. Like the fairy, I went with a ‘baby’ rose-bud. I built the rose up petal by petal using a mix of red and crimson polymer clay.

Her baby fuzz comes from tiny cuttings of red mohair, added 1 strand at a time to her raw head, ever so slightly pressed into her scalp.

In a sculpture this tiny, where shadows are non-existent, it’s all about the paint to give her life-like features. Using my genesis heat-set oil paints, I used a brownish-red wash to bring a blood-glow to her skin. I then painted the individual details like eyes, eyebrows and lips using the smallest finest paintbrush I own.

Her wings are made of colored craft wire with a fiery-colored Angelina (fusible) film covered in glitter. I discussed this method in detail in my Valentine’s Day Goblin post.

I used the completed wings to make the wing holes between her shoulder blades ensuring a perfect fit. Once satisfied with their placement, I set them aside while the little fairy baked and cooled in my Deni table-top convection oven. Once cooled the wings were inserted (perfect fit, woohoo) and she is now ready to face the world. Her wings are not glued into place allowing them to be moved around and ‘posed’.

Mothers Day micro fairy rear view Mothers Day micro fairy rear

And just in case you forgot how small she is, take a look at her photo with the ruler, US coins and my hands. I tried to photograph her on my fingertips but she kept crying out for hugs (tipping off).

Mothers Day micro fairy 2 Mothers Day micro fairy on ruler Mothers Day micro fairy with US coins Mothers Day micro fairy on fingertip

I’d love some feedback

Let me know what you think of this baby by leaving a comment below

Filed Under: Babies, Fairy Babies Tagged With: fairy baby, micro, miniature, mothers day, OOAK

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Comments

  1. Carol says

    May 11, 2014 at 5:30 PM

    What a fabulous job. I do some sculpting both with polymer and waterbased clay.. Your micro-mini is awesome! I can’t imagine working in such small detail.. You are very good!!!

    Reply
    • MagicByLeah says

      May 16, 2014 at 2:59 AM

      Thank you Carol. I love working on a tiny scale. It’s intense but so cool once done

      Reply

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