Technique Time: Cane Work Part 3

This will be the last part of my cane work series. I may do other posts on cane work later on, but they won't be part of this set of posts. ;) Today's project is pretty important when it comes to cane work, to make your cane from your own unique image/drawing.

I highly recommend reading the first two editions of this series if you haven't done so already. The links to them are below. :)

1) Cane Work Part 1

2) Cane Work Part 2


How Can I Make A Unique Cane?

1) First, find or draw an image that is the same size that you wish your cane to be. I actually drew my own image, since Halloween is coming I decided to do a face of a black cat.





Tip: It may be easier to color you picture in so you know exactly what colors of clay to use.


2)Place this picture flat so you can see it as you are working. It is easier to work from the inside of the picture out. For example, I am going to make my cat details first (eyes, mouth, nose) then make the ears last.

Tip: Think of your image as different shapes put together, it makes it easier to create it in clay.

The cat's eyes will be white with black dots in the center, thus I begin by making two simple bullseye canes.

First I roll out two thin black sheets and cut them into a rectangle.




Then I make two white middle thicker sheets and cut into rectangle (one per eye)




Finally I make two black snakes. They are wrapped with the white sheet, then the black individually: Click picture below for bigger picture. :)






Reduce the eye canes to the desired size and the eyes are complete!





3) Now you need to do other details inside your image.




For my cat I will be doing the cheeks. As shown above they are two round black canes with white on the outside as a border.




The mouth is one black cane curve shaped with white on outside as border. As you can see from the picture above the cheeks and mouth are hooked together, mouth is in the center on the bottom of the cheeks.





The nose will also be completed for my black cat simply by using two snakes of pink "flesh" polymer clay and shaping it into a triangle. It too will be hooked onto the cheeks and mouth, on top of the cheeks centered point of triangle is down.





4)Once the inside details of your cane are finished you can start filling in any gaps you may have with your background color, to make it round. Make sure to hook the eyes on as well, as shown below.







Use black or white sheets of clay to make the borders, and begin to fill in the outside to make that round shape once the gaps on the inside are filled as shown below.






Now at this point your image could be completed, if that is the case then feel free to reduce your cane and you are done. :)


For my black cat; however, I still need to make ears. After filling in the gaps around my cat using black clay with white borders, I reduced my cane, as you can see it's starting to look pretty good. ;)







Finally, I created two ears by rolling a black sheet of clay over triangle shaped "flesh" colored clay.





I attached the ears to the rest of my cane to complete the look.








Now my black cat cane is completed!







My Final Words:

Making your first cane from your own image can be very challenging, but don't give up. Start with simpler images with easy shapes such as the orange circle of a pumpkin. As you become more familiar with cane working, the more complex it will become. ;)

Also feel free to experiment with different shapes, patterns, and details to make your own unique cane. If you have any questions ask away in the comments. :)