Modeling Clay
Apr 30th, 2008 by satisfyte
Modeling clay is one of those craft items that it could almost go unmentioned because it’s so inherently awesome that you just take it for granted. This wonderful, malleable substance provides hours of satisfying fun, no matter what you’re making with it. If you’re a more hard-core art student, you might have the chance to use the real stuff. Slicing a slab of that is satisfying in its own right.
But let’s assume that you’re more of a traditional, occasional arts and craftser, or you saw a little pot of Play-Doh at Walgreen’s and couldn’t resist it. When you work with clay, there are many different things that contribute to its satisfaction level:
Aroma - clay is one of those smells that’s almost gross, but because of that, it’s really good. Play-Doh actually has its own awesome smell that’s very distinctive and salty. Other modeling clay tends to smell like a warm piece of electronics, an eraser, or a box of crayons.
Consistency - old, brittle, dried out clay is absolutely disgusting. It turns a potentially satisfying experience into a frustrating, uncomfortable one. It’s like cake. When it’s moist and downy, it’s amazing, and when its’ dry and crumbly, you kind of want to gag. Fresh clay is key. The warmer it gets, the softer it gets, so there’s a great consistency nirvana right where it’s in the middle between soft and pliable and too warm.
Shapes and Tools - Did you ever have one of those Play Doh Fun Factory things where you could shove a wad into this little compressor and it’d squeeze it out in different shapes like toothpaste? I did. And it was AMAZING. You can experience many different satisfying moments with clay in this way. You can squeeze it through a shape like frosting. You can roll it out into a smooth cylinder and marvel at its smoothness. You can then SLICE said cylinder with a knife or razor blade and get little gummy chunks. You can roll it into a perfect ball. You can squash it flat and roll that up like a rose or one of those flaky tubular cookies (also satisfying). You can poke it with toothpicks or make beads out of it, anything you could think of.
It never dries - Play Doh will dry out if you leave it sitting around, but other modeling clays will stay soft for a very very long time, guaranteeing you a smooth and creamy craft time whenever you want.
Claymation - enough said.
Makes you want to go buy some FIMO or Sculpey right now doesn’t it?
(2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
Loading ...