DIY - Miniature giraffe tutorial

A little tutorial to sculpt a tiny, sweet giraffe  : )

It's a quite simple project, but I had great fun while making it.. hope you'll like it too  : )

and here we go..

First step: warm up with your hands some yellow polyclay. I'd suggest to add a bit of white, as polyclay tends to turn a little darker in the oven.

Model the polyclay ball into a small cylinder, slightly thinner in the upper part. This will be the body and neck of the giraffe.

Pinch the bottom of the cylinder to create the first foreleg, adjust it a little and repeat for the other one. Next step, the hind legs. Just try to make them as symmetrical as possible  : )

Time to lengthen the neck. You can do it by rolling the upper part of the body between your fingertips..quite easy!

Bend the last part of the neck and try to give it the chubby shape of the muzzle.

Gently pinch the two sides of the head, in order to create two tiny ears.

Keep adjusting both the ears and the muzzle, until you're happy with the final result   : )

Now it's probably the right time to smooth the surface of your tiny giraffe. You can do it with a wet cotton swab, which will be also useful to remove fingerprints and dust from your creation.

Add two little horns and a tiny tail.. the sculpting is done!  :D

Time to bake your giraffe! 

A little tip: it might be useful to create a small tin foil support, to avoid any neck distortion. Please remember that polyclay becomes softer with heat, before completely hardening.

I suggest to use acrylic paints to add the details, like the tiny brown spots all over the body. I chose the most obvious colours, but a bright pink or rainbow giraffe would be nice too!   ; )

Don't forget to paint the horns & tail!  

Several styles are possible for the face. I chose a very simple kawaii style. Nothing but round black eyes, with a white spot to add a bit of sparkle, and two pink cheeks.. easy and cute!  : )

I'd suggest to glaze the figurine, in order to give it a more finished look and to protect the paint from scratching. Let it dry and you're done!  : )

And for those who don't feel like scuplting, a teeny tiny version of the same giraffe is available on my Etsy shop  : )

Ps: in case you decide to make your own giraffes, I'd love to see some pics of the result! : )