This is how to create dorodango finishes using a variety of different textures and colors.


  / dorodango  
Is a great place to share what you make, I'd would love to see it.

You might be asking what is this? here's a link to Wikipedia all about dorodango.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorod...

The introduction to the film shows the refining and processing of clay. There's plenty of information about how to do that, but there's a link below as well. I usually use already refined clay from local pottery supply stores. You can also buy it online at the link below.

Powdered clay on Amazon:
https://amzn.to/2LcWUtf

How to process your own clay:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Find...

Other materials:
Dirt/Clay
I used the local soil here in Arizona. Your soil could be completely different ratios of clay, sand, silt, and organic matter. You might try doing a jar test on your soil to help identify what ratios of clay, sand, etc.

Sand
The sand was from a local sand and gravel yard, but sand from Home Depot or your nearby park would do just fine.

Straw
Most people don't even use straw so it's totally optional, I'm using rice straw chopped and screened through 1/8 hardware cloth or screen, but you can use various other fibers such as cut up strings, hemp fibers, dry grass, and many more.

Screens
Sifting can be helpful to process your material, removing rocks and larger debris. It's good to have various sized hardware cloth from the hardware store. Kitchen strainers can work as well as window screen.

The Core
Most people don't start with a dry core, but I find creating a base first that doesn't crack or fall apart to be a bit more reliable. If it's too rich in clay or silt you might want to add sand to reduce the expansion or, add fibers like straw to hold it together. If the soil crumbles and doesn't hold together, then it's probably too rich in sand, silt, or organic matter, and you probably want to add more clay.

material index.

Hand Polished
There are many ways to polish clay, but one of the funnest is to just use the friction of your skin and a bit of elbow grease, this can become incredibly shiny.

Screen Texture
To achieve a good result it helps to add fine aggregate or marble dust with the clay, to achieve a thick layer over the core that doesn't crack.

String Texture
Fibers or strings doesn't really matter and a dusting of clay might help to polish it up.

Stamp Texture
You can use any sort of object to get interesting results. The sky is not the limit!

Mica Texture
link to black mica.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/58992289...

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