Doll Size Bananas

 

Watch the video here.

 

 

This week I have another really easy piece of fruit for the fruit bowl, bananas. These are really fun and easy to make.

Once again we are using the Sculpey Original polymer clay in white to make our fruit. I prefer to make most fruits with white clay and add the color with either artist chalks or with paint as I have done here. They just look so much more realistic that way. If you use a yellow clay, while it is faster the results are not nearly as nice. That tiny bit of extra time spent painting the details makes a huge difference.

The first step is to make the stems (I guess they would be called stems, the part that connects the banana to the bunch) for this we need to make a snake of clay between ⅛” and ¼” in diameter. Flatten at least one side of this snake so it is not completely round. This snake then needs to be baked in the oven at 250°F for about 10 minutes. We do this so it will retain its shape when we add it to the banana.

Once the stem snake is cooled start making your bananas. We are going to make a snake of clay that is ⅝” in diameter. Cut this snake to about 2 ¾” long. Now carefully taper one end of the snake to form the end. Add a tiny ball of brown clay (I used scrap clay for this, if you don't have any brown clay you can skip this part) Now tease some texture in the brown clay (or just in the narrow end of the banana. Use a sharp tool for this, I like to use a dental pick but a pin or a toothpick can work also.

Now start teasing the opposite end of the banana into a matching taper and add a piece of the cooked stem cane. Smooth clay up around the stem to make it look like it is all one piece.

Flatten on side of your banana, and form it into a “banana” shape. Repeat this as many times as you like.

Now bake the clay bananas at 275°F for 30 to 45 minutes. Allow the clay to cool down to room temperature before proceeding to the next step.

Once they are cooled we need to start adding some color to our bananas. Use a medium yellow color to coat the bananas and allow to dry. I used Ceramacoat in Crocus Yellow.

Once this is dry add a bit of a wash with some green paint. I used Lime Sorbet, also from Ceramacoat. You want to put this color on in very light coats to just a few areas.

Next you can add a bit of a lighter yellow to parts of the banana you want to highlight a bit. I used Folkart Daybreak for this.

Now the fun part, pick a nice warm brown. I am really lacking in good brown colors so I know what I need to stock up on when I get the chance. The ones I had were not exactly the correct color. Try to find one that has a bit of a reddish tint to it. Very lightly add some of the brown as a wash to areas of the banana. Depending on how ripe you want your banana to be will determine how much brown to add. For mine I wanted on to be fairly ripe so after I added some with a bush and my fingers I added some splatters of the brown paint by watering it down a lot and using my paint brush by tapping it. Be warned this makes a mess so protect the area around where you are painting.

If you didn't use any brown clay on the end of your banana you can use some dark brown paint to carefully paint the area you teased into a rough texture.

 

Allow the paints to dry and make any adjustments you wish and your bananas are ready. I am not adding any kind of sealer coat to these since I think that would detract from the realism of these.

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