1. First, ya need a shoe. If the leather is very flexible and you intend to bake the shoe more than once, cover it with a skin of epoxy and then coat the epoxy with a good PVA glue so the clay will adhere. An epoxy skin assure a rigid substrate that will prevent clay from cracking.
Apply the polymer clay (colors range from a greens through browns and near blacks) and model a gator head. Now, I know it lacks many of warts and bubicles of a gator, but it's a just a shoe, ya know?

2. The materials and tools for the next series of steps. First, make some eyes, lots of eyes (or buy them) and teeth, lots of teeth. The reason for extra eyes will become apparent when you set them in place--you'll know, at that moment, which pair suits the shoe. Then, get ready to add texture. I like to do it with a texture sheet. This sheet of clay was made from a Solar Plate. The original design was drawn in PaintShop Pro and is tilable. Frankly, creating that pattern probably took longer to make than modeling the texture by hand. Still, it's nice to have a pattern when symetry is important, or if you want a pair of matching shoes, and not just the one. Initially faster, using such a sheet has its own quirks. Centering the sheet requires a steady pair of hands. Some scales will require remodeling, and all of it will require refinement--reducing and softening scales in some areas and enhancing scales in other areas. All techniques that are a bit more difficult with a "stamped" texture. Incidentally, experience has taught me it will take one full sheet and two to three partial sheets to do the job.

4. The shoe with its first sheet of skin (yup, it's pre-painted)pressed in place, flanked by a sheet of pre-painted skin on the left and the Solar Plate on the right. This first sheet has been trimmed and modeled, though there is still work to be done. The eyes, too, are in place and one lid has been modeled.

5. A side view offers a better view of the effect of a pre-painted texture, the right choice for this project. The paint helps the texture maintain its integrity. Note the large eye with its narrowed pupil. It's indicative of a young gator out of his element, and the eye that best suited this shoe. Had this shoe been made of the real deal, the eye would be roughly this size, but the scales wouldn't be so readily apparent. Rendering what are essentially "belly scales" is a design decision, a way of maintaining what I call "shoeness" of the piece.

If you want to explore Solar Plates, there's a workbook on the Guides page at Elvenwork. Yes, that's a shameless plug.
More to come later,
Katherine

6. From this point onward, I lay the textured sheets on in segments, beginning with a 1/2 section. Because this is the left side of the shoe (with the right edge unfinished), I'm using the left side of textured sheet. Ah, the joy of tilable images. The tools I use to marry the seams are a Woodson 3 dental instrument for blending and trimming, a ball stylus for defining the grooves between the scales and a brush dipped in diluent to smooth out those grooves.
7. At this point, matching and marrying the seams is best done with smaller segments, easier to apply. A small segment has just been laid in place near the heel, chosen from a scrap that is close, but not an exact match. What matters most is the grain. Note the small scales in the foreground? They come in handy when marrying and concealing the seams; that process sometimes destroys a scale or two. Goudge out a scale sized area and press a new scale in place.

I can't wait to try this project. I have a daughter that would want to wear the shoes.

Wow Kathy. Thanks so much for sharing this. I hope to try it soon.

Wow, Wow, WOW!

Not only am I HUGELY impressed by the generosity of sharing the technique - but the level of detail (right and left scales!) blows me away.

Thanks!

Sera

8. I call these two steps "Teeth an Tedium". The first of the two, inserting the teeth, takes no time at all and is done after the main body is covered in scales. I used a #2 Knitting needle to create sockets at the line of the mouth, dipped the teeth in liquid clay and then inserted them in the sockets. The next step, refining the scales takes patience and time. First, use a large tapered clay shaper as a roller to remove any flaws (fingerprints and tool marks) from the painted surface of the scales. Use gentle pressure taking care to maintain the surface relief. With the scales smooth, pay attention to the grooves between the scales. Use the tip of the tapered tool to outline every scale and remove the minute fissures within the grooves. Again, work with the lightest of all pressures. Follow up with a partial bake before the next two steps: replacing the insole and covering the heel.

Enjoy,
Katherine

Katherine,

I LOVe your GaTOR shoes, my favorite is the mules... thank you so much for posting this, now i know what i will attempt to make for my daughter on her birthday, she LOVes shoes and the UFS (University of Florida State), GaTORs, which my father was a alumni of both the school and the team.

No, you are not making a shameless plug, i have all and treasure each of your workbooks as well as your published books, they are worth their weight in gold.

Hopefully one day i will be able to attend a workshop by you and meet you face to face, your are a wonderful encyclopedia of information, technique as well as a talented artist and teacher.

{{{{{{{Katherine}}}}}}}}

Thank you so much, again!

~joanna

9. The finished shoe: the heel has been covered with scales and the insole with a gold and copper toned transfer complete with the "Elvenwork Shoes" logo. A staining wash and some light dry brushing with water mixable oils added depth, subtlety and age. Gloss varnish made the eyes shine and a light misting of fixative imparted a leathery sheen to the shoe body. My signature is stamped on the sole replacing the original company name.




Thanks for watching,
Katherine