Carving a Dog's Face With Clay

Any type of clay can be used for this project.

Immortalize man's best friend by carving a dog's face with clay. A dog sculpture is well-suited for all skill levels. Young children improve their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, and advanced sculptors capture the intricate details of a dog's face. However, all artists should give the dog's face all its basic components, such as eyes, a nose and a mouth.

Materials

Younger artists can use air-dry clay, which hardens with air, or polymer clay, which is a vinyl-based clay-like substance. Polymer clay comes in a variety of colors and hardens when baked in a conventional oven. Natural clays should be used if you have access to a kiln, which is a high temperature clay oven. For carving a dog's face, a basic clay tool set is needed. It includes a knife tool, a wire loop and a scooping tool, to help shape the clay. Small sponges to smooth clay and a piece of canvas to work on are optional but helpful.

Getting Started

Use a real dog as a reference.

Form the basic shape of the dog's face to begin. Roll out a ball approximately 4 inches wide. Make another ball 2 inches wide. Press it into the larger ball for the muzzle. Smooth both pieces to fuse them together. Depending on the breed, shape the dog's head. The forehead is a rectangular shape and the muzzle is more triangular. Add clay to create a cylindrical neck and add thin oval pieces for ears.

Carving

Place the dog's head onto a smooth surface facing you. With a wire loop tool, carve out large areas, such as the mouth. Consider if you want an open, partially open or closed mouth. Shape the overall face with a wire loop. Remove clay around the eye sockets and then roll small balls for the eyeballs. Press them into the eye sockets. Roll snake-like coils for the eyelids. Using a clay knife tool, shape the triangular nose and poke out nostrils with the knife's tip.

Completing

Turn the dog's face around so you observe your progress. Work on all sides of the face and find areas that need more shaping. Carve jowls and small details such as whisker holes under the nose area. With the scooping tool, carve wrinkles in the skin and refine the ears. Continue adding more details all over the sculpture.

References

• Ceramics Arts Daily; How to Carve Low-Relief Surface Designs into Wet Clay; Jennifer Harnetty, January 2010
• Block Art Materials: Mr. Black’s Dog House; Martin Black