Gamesylvania

For the past few weeks I’ve been focusing on hobbies other than collective video games. I’ve been trying to teach myself how to throw clay on a pottery wheel to turn a cup or a mug. It hasn’t been easy, but I didn’t expect it to be. Even so, without any more instruction than what I was able to gather from “How To” YouTube videos, I’ve been able to turn out a few objects and have a lot of fun in the process. I bought myself a “Make your own clay pottery!” kit for about $25 and got started. The kit came with a battery powered wheel, a foot pedal to operate it, some basic tools and an instruction booklet. At first, all I could make was a big mess, but after several hours I was finally able to pull up a basic cup shape and figure out what I was doing.

When it came to finding inspiration for a shape or design I wanted to work on, I didn’t have to look very far. One of the first objects I thought would lend itself well to the shape of a mug was “Bullet Bill,” a character from the world of the Super Mario Bros. Given his simple, easily recognizable shape, I didn’t think it would be too difficult for a first attempt at really making something.

Just to refresh your memory, here’s what Bullet Bill looks like:

Bullet Bill reference

Now, getting around that pointy shaped nose wasn’t going to be easy. I wondered about turning the thing upside down, but decided it would be awkward to drink out of his face, so I went with my first instinct and left him face down. Now it was just up to actually making the thing.

I started by building the usual mug shape, spreading it out and pulling the walls up as I’d been practicing. Unfortunately, I only had about a pound and a half of clay left to work with and I still wasn’t very good at gaining height without the walls ripping apart or collapsing. Eventually, I decided to compromise. The clay is self-drying and isn’t meant to be fired, so anything I made couldn’t be used to drink out of or eat off of. Even if it was, I don’t have access to a kiln. Anything I make has to be for decoration, only. So, while the cup is rather small, at least it can serve as a guide for future attempts. What I eventually ended up with looked like this:

Exterior

Interior view

As you can tell from that angle I goofed on the lip a little. Just have to keep practicing…

Meanwhile, after letting it dry several hours, I was able to trim the foot down and smooth out the sides to reinforce the bullet shape I was going for:

Foot trimmed, sides shaped and smoothed

Then it was time to paint it. Again, I don’t have the proper glazes or a kiln to fire them so I went with some hobby/craft paint. I went for the obvious metallic black paint for the interior and exterior:

Metallic black, all purpose hobby/craft paint

Painted interior, same as exterior

Finally, after applying several coats, it was time to paint the face:

Mostly finished, needs touching up

In this picture it’s not quite finished. I had to touch the face up a few times before I was really happy with the result, but this is how it looks, more or less.

And here’s how it looks sitting on a table:

Finished, sitting down

I have a few more projects drying and waiting to be painted. I still can’t properly fire mugs to be used for drinking but I’m working on decorative items I’m interested in selling in the store. Maybe with a bit more practice I’ll be confident enough in the quality of my work to put them out there. Until then, I’m just having a lot of fun and getting a real kick out of the fact that I made this all by myself. Let me know what you think in the comments. Any other characters you’d like to see?