How to Sculpt Details on a Fish in Clay

Many fisherman like having a trophy to keep after a long day of fishing. The problem is, quite often, their trophy goes on the dinner plate instead. You can create your own trophy fish sculpture by building one in clay. Now that you have the basic fish shape on your work surface, you are ready to start adding details.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Clay trout shape
• Extra clay
• Clay sculpting tools
• Water and paper towels

1. Place your started clay fish shape on your work area.

2. Roll a small ball of clay for the eye of the fish. Place this on the head of the fish in the correct location for the fish's eye. Refer to your trout photos for reference.

3. Use your fingers to create a tube of clay to form the bony protrusions of a fish's mouth, then attach them to your sculpture. Blend theses into the body of your fish.

4. Carve out an area for the gills. You may need to add a little clay to your sculpture to thicken the area around the gills to achieve that standard flared gill look.

5. Form a fin from the extra clay and place it on the side of the body behind and below the gills. This fin, as depicted in your sample photos, can lay flat against the fish's body, or it can extend out from the body a little ways.

6. Smooth out the arc of the rest of the fish's body including the slope down to the tail and the upper and lower fins.

7. Carefully blend the body of your fish together, so that the form has an organic form without any sharp edges. Once the form is smooth, you are ready to start adding details such as fin spines and scales.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your clay moist. It makes it much easier to work with. If you are using self drying clay, anything that looses to much moisture can't be rehydrated or reused and must be discarded.
• Use the clay tools to score the clay underneath where you are adding additional clay to your sculpture. This helps the addition stay attached as you continue to work on your clay.
• Clay is a forgiving substance. You can replace parts that you remove, or smooth it out and start all over again.
• Most types of clay will stain cloth. Wear old clothes and cover your work area well before you begin to manipulate your clay sculpture.