Johnston Original Art Dolls

There are several ways to smooth the clay. I use my thumb most of the time. Some people like to use small smooth stone. Once you have the surface as smooth as you can get it, you may wish to put a small amount of smoothing oil on you thumb and smooth the clay one more time before you put it in the oven. I recommend you try a sample piece of clay first, that will let you know what to do, and what not to do. I can promise you, practice will make it easy for you. At some point you may wish to take another class from me in Las Vegas. I will be pleased to teach you all of the smoothing techniques and how to make a baby. Good luck, Jack

She does talk a bit about smoothing as she smoothes. I think that part will be fine.

Hi Jack, I took a seminar from you a few years ago in Oklahoma City. It was absolutely a delightful weekend, and I still hold the memory dear. One thing I want to do now is make a baby doll. The half scale. I'll order it tonight online. My problem is that I still have issues with getting the clay smooth as I work on it. When I took the seminar, you helped me with the smoothness of the doll I was making. Now I'd like to try the baby doll. That will simply have to be smooth! I was trying to remember how you worked. I seem to smooth over the clay with my thumb, dragging my thumb across the surface, trying to get it all the same. It doesn't seem to work. As I recall, you patted the prosculpt a lot with your fingers. Am I remembering correctly? The thing is, it seems like when you worked on the doll that day, your clay started out smoother than mine, and never did get that unsmooth look. Thanks so much! Janet Fish Madison, Kansas