*I initially entitled this piece “Albion,” but after doing a Google image search, I discovered that his name was “Old Tom” or “Tom the Sailor” and was a well-known character in the Brick Lane area of London.  The original reference photo was taken by photographer Hugh Hill.

This is a small polymer clay sculpture I made during a workshop by the amazing Bill Nelson.  We each had to pick a photo to model our person after, and I chose a cheeky old fella with unruly whiskers and a stocking cap*.  Bill took us stepm by step through the process of building the head on an aluminum foil form, adding the eyes, the eyelids, nose, mouth, etc.  Once we were done, we could set the clay by baking in the oven, before adding color and hair.

He is made with Sculpy polymer clay.  His hair, eyebrows, and beard are wool roving I felted onto wig lace and glued to him.  The hat I got from a person on Etsy who makes clothing for 18″ dolls.  His color I did with chalk pastels that I moistened and applied with a brush.

I’m quite pleased with how he turned out, especially for a first attempt.

Project Images

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