We cannot imagine New Year and Christmas without fabulous New Year's characters, in which the main role belongs to Santa Claus. In this master class, I will explain step by step how to make a portrait of Santa Claus from polymer clay and decorate this product as a decoration. The cheerful, mischievous Santa Claus made from polymer clay, which we will get at the end, will serve to lift the mood and festive atmosphere of both adults and children. By the way, I recently told you how to make it, which is also a cool New Year’s decoration.
Necessary materials and tools for sculpting Santa Claus with your own hands:
Polymer clay in red, green, nude (champagne), black and white;
Red pastel and thin brush;
Acrylic rolling pin or pasta machine;
Varnish for polymer clay;
A cutter in the shape of a circle with a diameter of 2-3 cm;
Needles or toothpick;
Wet wipes;
Blade or stationery knife;
Brooch base;
Glue gun and hot melt glue (silicone).
Santa Claus and the Christmas tree are integral attributes of the New Year! Let's see how to make them from mastic using the example of a master class from Bia Cravol. By the way, you can just as successfully use polymer clay, cold porcelain or puff pastry for modeling.
This composition consists of a base (you can take a sheet of plywood and cut out a base from it), a Christmas tree and Santa Claus himself.
The size of the base is approximately 35x35 cm. First, we draw it with a brush so that we get cells:
You can add some extra splashes by simply taking a small amount of paint on your brush. Of course, it is better to do this in some workshop or cover all nearby surfaces with paper so as not to accidentally stain them.
Let's start sculpting Santa Claus. We form a head from mastic, after thoroughly kneading and heating the material. The same applies to polymer clay, which really “loves” the warmth of hands)
The eye sockets are easy to make using your fingers, simply pressing the material slightly:
We make the neck from the same piece of mastic.
Mark the place for the nose)
We sculpt the cheeks separately: we roll up the cake, giving it the shape of a hemisphere:
And then glue the cheeks to the head.
With a finger dipped in water, you can smooth the junction of the cheeks with the head. Everything should be even and smooth!
We also glue the big funny nose separately.
Now it's the turn of the eyes! They can be painted with acrylic paints using a thin brush. You will need 2 colors - black and white (for highlights).
Apply blush to the cheeks with the same paint, but with a different brush (soft) and blend well.
The head is ready, let's start with the body) First we make the arms. You can choose the color of the outfit to suit your taste, in this case the clothes are red. Here you can use special sculpting tools if you have them. If not, then we do everything with our fingers or improvised materials)
You can form folds on the sleeves with a stick or a knife for cutting plasticine.
Let's make mittens for Santa Claus 
And attach it to the sleeves. It’s simple, the main thing is to make the blanks smooth and even.
Now you can attach Santa Claus to the base for the panel.
Let's continue. It's time for the New Year's hat! We pull out a large piece of mastic in the shape of a cone, making a recess for the head.
We adjust it according to the size of the head and remove the excess.
Decorate the sleeves with cuffs.
Again we will work with a stick or knife to add volume and realism.
We make a ball for the tip of the cap with the following indentations:
So, now a beard and mustache! Where would we be without them!?! They should be lush and curly, like the real Santa Claus!
We do the eyebrows in the same style. What a goodie it turns out!!! 🙂
Santa Claus is ready! Let's make a Christmas tree for him! I don’t know why, but it reminds me more of a palm tree) You can make the Christmas tree more like our Russian one)
Santa Claus made of clay
How to make Santa Claus
Today's lesson is about sculpting a cute Santa Claus, which not only has the shape of a New Year's bell, but also rings well.
To sculpt Santa Claus you will need:
Cardboard + pencil (for template);
Clay,
Cotton swab tubes,
Rag, lace (for texture);
Stacks, rolling pin, sieve;
Glass/tile;
Paints (gouache/watercolor), PVA glue;
Ribbon (7 mm thick) + decorative elements (optional).
Clay Santa Claus step by step:
First, make a template for the base and cap by drawing a circle on cardboard with an approximate radius of about 5.5 centimeters (photo 1). For the base, cut 1/2 of a circle, and for the cap - 1/4. Roll out a layer about 3-5 mm thick through a cloth, attach a template to it and cut out the base (photo 2).
Twist the cut base into a cone, grease the seam with slip (clay diluted with water until it becomes thick sour cream) and glue it together (photo 3). Create a fur coat for your New Year's character. The joint must be thoroughly smoothed with the fingers of one hand, while holding the figure with the other hand. The inside needs to be made smooth enough so that the bell can then produce a good ringing sound. Next you need to smooth the bottom - for this you need to moisten it with water and place it on the tile. Rotate carefully in any attack, and then carefully move to the edge and remove. Do not tear it off or lift it under any circumstances - it will not turn out straight (photo 5-6). The bottom of the base should ultimately resemble a cut (photo 7).
Select the texture. which you attach to the bottom of the fur coat and, lightly stroking it, press it into the surface of the base (photo 8-9). As a result, you will get an imprint from the lace, as in photo 10. Take a cotton swab and make a tube out of it (photo 11)
Proceed to making the head, for which roll a ball of suitable size. Then the nose ball and stick it to the head. Make small cheek balls, flatten them into flat cakes, and stick them on. Make small indentations above the nose using a needle and stick small ball-eyes.
Push through the pupils using the prepared tube. After which you need to carefully glue the head to the body using slip (so that the head does not fall off in the future) (photo 14). Next, you need to roll out the “sausage” and glue it between the head and body, smooth it with your fingers - so that the head holds even more firmly (photo 15-16).
Using a stick, make a hole in the middle of the head (Pic 17). Make the sleeves - roll two identical “sausages” and slightly flatten each on top (photo 18). Then cut off a little on one side, as it is easier to glue (photo 19). Make folds by gluing small “sausages” to the elbow and ironing them lightly (photo 20).
Create texture on the sleeves using the same lace (photo 21). You also need to make a small indentation for the mitten using the back of the brush (photo 22). Make notches on the flat side for better adhesion, lubricate with slip and glue to the base (photo 23).
Make a mitten (photo 24). Lubricate with slip and glue to the recess in the sleeve (photo 25). Make a beard. Roll into a ball and roll through a cloth using a rolling pin until you get a cake. Then you need to lightly press the lines through the cloth. Cut the oval shape of the beard using a knife (photo 26). Glue the goatee in place. By analogy with the base, roll out and cut out the cap (photo 28).
Add texture (photo 29), carefully form the cap without smearing the embroidery (photo 30). Make a pompom by rolling a ball and pressing it through chintz (photo 31). Carefully remove with a knife so that it does not fall apart. Apply slip on the back side and glue to the cap (photo 32).
Squeeze the bangs through a sieve and glue them onto your head (photo 33). Then glue the cap and make a hole in it. If the embroidery is erased, update it (photo 36).
Make boots by rolling up a thick “sausage” and cutting it in half. On one side it needs to be rounded for the toe of the boot, and bend it. Make folds similar to the sleeves. Glue the boots well and make a hole between them (photo 37-40).
You can also make several beads to decorate the ribbon (but which Santa Claus will hang). Leave the finished work to dry at room temperature for a couple of days. This is followed by firing (the final ringing of the toy will depend on the quality of firing).
To color the bell, arm yourself with gouache/watercolor and PVA glue. The paint must be diluted with water to the consistency of cream and 1 tsp. diluted paint, add 2-3 drops of PVA glue. Mix well. The glue promotes the best adhesion of paint, so that the product will not come in bunches of hands (photo 44).
Start coloring from light to dark shades of each color. String the beads on a toothpick and color them, stick them into the foam, let them dry. The eyes can be painted using regular nail polish - they will turn out natural.
Cut a piece of ribbon (about 30 cm), insert a park of beads, thread it through the bell, inside of which tie a knot (in the area of the cap). Tie a knot at the end of the ribbon, coat it with PVA glue and insert it into the boots. Let dry for about a day.
Clay Santa Claus is ready!
Santa Claus made of clay. Master class with step-by-step photos.
Alyabyeva Marina Viktorovna, teacher of additional education, MBUDO Central Children's Education Center of the city of Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region.
Description: The master class is intended for children of preschool and primary school age, additional education teachers, educators, technology teachers and creative parents.
Purpose: figurine of Santa Claus - can be a decoration of the interior of the room for the New Year holidays.
Target: making a souvenir from clay.
Tasks:
1. Introduce the technique and methods of sculpting a figurine of Santa Claus from clay;
2. Create a desire to make a figurine of Santa Claus from the natural material clay;
3. Develop fine motor skills, imagination, artistic taste;
4. Learn to sculpt and connect parts, applying them well to the base, taking into account the properties of the clay;
5. Develop an eye and sense of proportion;
6. Encourage desire, make exclusive gifts with your own hands and do something nice for others.
Where are you from, Santa Claus?
Perhaps the story of Father Frost, a kind gray old man with a beard and a bag of gifts, and his Western brother Santa Claus originates from the Great Old Man of the North? This is the evil deity of the Celts, the lord of blizzards and cold. Once upon a time he did not give out gifts, but on the contrary, he was angry and demanding. And he carried a bag with him to collect sacrifices from people. In those ancient times, people believed that spirits protected them, they appeased these spirits in every possible way and thanked them for their care. At holidays, they represented the spirits of their ancestors, dressing in the most terrible and unusual outfits. It was called caroling. Young people especially loved caroling, of course. One of the young men dressed more terribly than anyone else. He was forbidden to speak; he had to portray a formidable and omnipotent spirit - Grandfather. There is a version that it was the mighty and terrible Grandfather who was later reborn into the kind Grandfather Frost. And now he does not scare or punish anyone, but, on the contrary, brings joy and gifts.Or maybe the story of Santa Claus comes from the fairytale Red Nose Frost? This fairy tale hero was invented by the Russian people themselves. It was the master of winter, snow and frost. Once upon a time they called him Grandfather Treskun and claimed that he was a little old man with a beard and a stern disposition. Even the Sun allegedly feared his formidable character, and from November to March, Grandfather Treskun owned all the lands, fields and forests undividedly.
And we were first introduced to that same handsome grandfather, kind and cheerful, whom we now look forward to with such impatience, in 1840 by Vladimir Odoevsky in the story “Moroz Ivanovich.” It was Odoevsky who managed to retell the folk tale “Morozko” in a completely new way, and turned the evil, like the Celts, Grandfather from the folk tale into a cheerful and friendly old man with gifts. If in the folk tale Grandfather froze the lazy girl, then in Odoevsky's story Frost just gave her a necklace of icicles. But he generously gifted the hardworking girl.
It is interesting that to this day some northern peoples have rituals of “appeasing” Grandfather so that he does not get angry and does not destroy crops, birds and fish. To do this, on New Year's Eve, women put wine and cakes outside the door.
The history of Father Frost remembers many of the old man’s guises, but to us he is more familiar in a long, warm fur coat, painted mittens, and a hat. He must certainly have a long gray beard and a staff in his hands.
The history of the European Father Frost, or Santa Claus, begins in 1823. He was invented by Clement Clarke Moore and presented as a kind elf. According to Moore, Santa came on eight reindeer and entered houses through the chimney. Santa Claus was dressed in a red fur coat in 1885, and in 1930 the Coca-Cola company depicted Grandfather in the company's colors - red and white. This image of a modern Santa is now known all over the world!
But where old man Frost lives is a separate legend. After all, his place of residence is still not known exactly. They say that he certainly lives in the North Pole, and maybe in Lapland. The old man likes to live in the cold, perhaps he likes the Far North. Odoevsky, in the story about Moroz Ivanovich, “sent” the fairy-tale grandfather into the well. In the spring, grandfather hides there, because it is cold there even in the summer.
Required material: clay, containers with water, plastic boards, rags, glass mats, brushes, foam sponges, whitewash, gouache, clear varnish.
Step-by-step work:
We knead a piece of clay in our hands - we get to know the clay, it feels the energy of the master and will definitely be obedient and pliable. Divide the piece in half - lam, lam, lam, divide the clay in half.
Roll one part into a thick carrot - a cone,
With your thumbs we press it inside the thick part, a void is formed, and the wall thickness is no more than 1 centimeter, but not less than 0.5 centimeters.
We smooth out all the cracks and uneven surfaces, level the edges, with wet hands and sliding movements of the fingers. Place the hollow cone on the wide side.
From the second piece, we separate pieces of the required size in portions, observing the proportions of the figure.
Roll up a plump carrot - the head, and apply its sharp part to the sharp part of the cone.
Roll up two carrots and form a mitten on the wide side, flattening the end and separating the finger.
After wetting the connection points with water, we apply the sharp part to the cone - hands.
Clay has a characteristic feature - it is resistant to dry hands and a lot of water, and the joints are moistened with water, which in turn plays the role of glue during sculpting. Therefore, we constantly lightly moisten our hands with 2-3 fingers and the joints too. To roll out thin parts well - flagella (fur for decorating a fur coat), you need to roll out pieces of clay on a damp cloth, with your fingers together, fingers apart.
The flagella will turn out to be plastic and will adhere well to the fur coat, pressing along the bottom of the cone, around the mittens, in front, on the collar, on the hat.
At the end, hair is placed between the fur of the hat and the collar and a beard made of carrots, slightly flattened.
If desired, you can use a stack or a pen rod to emboss the beard - strands, fur texture.
The work is ready!
The figurine is dried in natural conditions for 3 to 5 days, avoiding drafts.
We prime the figure with white.
We paint using gouache, brushes and foam sponges for dipping - imitation fur, on a fur coat.
Cover the work with transparent varnish, you can use spray varnish.
And these are the figures my students came up with!
The figurine of Santa Claus is ready, it can rightfully become a pleasant gift for loved ones or decorate our interior for the New Year holidays!
On the same basis, you can mold and paint a figurine of the Snow Maiden. The guys tried their best and this is what they came up with:
With great joy and reliability that will come in handy, master classes from the Internet, I myself have already managed to make a wreath and poiscentia, it turns out great, and not difficult.
I suggest you make an interesting amulet as a gift for the New Year - a snake with a Christmas tree. As you know, the symbol of the new year 2013 is just a snake, and not a simple one, but a water one. Therefore, we will make our snake a soft blue color.
Prepare polymer clay in green, brown (for the crown and trunk of the Christmas tree), blue (for the snake itself), red, orange, yellow (for making balls for the Christmas tree), white and black (for the eyes of the snake). You will also need a blade for cutting plastic, a toothpick as a base for the Christmas tree and varnish for plastic products.
Let's start by making a Christmas tree. We take a piece of green plastic and cut it into 4 unequal parts - one is the largest, the rest are smaller. 
We roll each piece of plastic into a ball, flatten it a little and begin to press the edges with our fingers to form a skirt around the perimeter. We do the same with all four pieces. We pull the smallest one up a little. 
We assemble the Christmas tree by sticking pieces one on top of the other, starting with the largest one. The crown of our Christmas tree is ready! Now let's make the trunk. 
We make a small stump out of brown plastic and stick a toothpick into it. We stick the green part of the tree on top with a toothpick. If the toothpick is longer than the Christmas tree, then simply cut it to the desired length in advance.
Now let's make the snake itself. We take a piece of blue plastic and cut it in half - one piece for the head, the second for the body.
Roll out the long sausage so that it narrows at one edge and wrap it around the Christmas tree in a circle. We make the tail with a curl.
We sculpt the head - we form an oval out of plastic and use a toothpick or a needle to draw the line of the mouth. We attach the head to the body of the snake, pressing well. 
We form two balls from white plastic - these will be the eyes of our snake. Make small pupils from the black one and attach everything to the snake's head. If you have ready-made doll eyes, you can use them, but glue them only after the snake is baked in the oven, otherwise the eyes will melt. 
The only thing we're missing is decorations on the Christmas tree! We make New Year's balls from orange, yellow and red plastic and attach them to the Christmas tree 
All that remains is to bake the toy in the oven and coat it with varnish. To properly bake the product, follow the instructions of the plastic manufacturer. Apply one layer of varnish, carefully covering the space between the layers of the tree. 
