How to Make a Miniature Model Tree (with Whales)

Instructable by: jjlongo01 and hsmorgan01

Ever wanted to sculpt a flying whale swimming around a relatively large clay tree? If you haven’t, then after reading this instructable, you will!

We set out to create a sculpture that captures a viewer-personalized interpretation of size through an unrealistic display of nature. Taking the world’s largest known animal and placing it in a small setting, we made a size comparison that prompts active thought by sculpting an eighteen-inch clay tree home to abnormally large mushrooms, unusually tiny houses, and shockingly small whales. Or perhaps we created an absurdly large tree home to regular-sized whales? The beauty of our project is that it is rooted in the eye of the beholder and that it takes an onlooker for our abstract art to reach its full potential.

What follows are detailed instructions meant to verse you in the ways of tree-sculpting. We will explain the uses of dry brushing, the opportunities that using nature in art can provide, as well as many other tips and directions that will hopefully explain our process in a way that is easily able to be understood. So as you continue to read our detailed instructions meant to verse you in the ways of tree-sculpting, keep in mind that perspective will take your art to great heights.

1. Das air dry clay
2. Cosclay
3. liquid clay (this helps clay stick to baked clay and other non-clay materials)
4. Aluminum foil
5. Armature wire
6. HOT GLUE
7. Fake moss
8. Acrylic paint
9. Raw umber brown
10. Ochre yellow
11. Black
12. Maroon
13. White
14. Cobalt blue
15. Sap green
16. Emerald green
17. Purple
18. Others as needed
19. Miniature flowers
20. miniature bushes
21. Modge Podge (shiny finish)
22. silicone sculpting tools/medal tools (can be replaced with a pencil)
23. Paint brushes
24. Jewelry chain
25. Sticks
26. Water (for airdry clay)
27. Paper and pencil

First, use reference photos of whales and coy fish to create a sketch of a top view and side view of both.

For this step, take the armature wire and place it over the sketch, then follow through the center of the sketch until there is a tail fin shape and body, but don’t make the structure for the fins yet. Next, crumple a piece of aluminum foil around the wire. Place it on top of the sketches and shape the aluminum foil into the whale. Use both the top view and the side view to make it accurate to the sketch, and make sure the aluminum foil is as smooth as possible. Third, take a piece of wire and wrap it around the place where the fins will go. Leave some extra wire to show two pieces coming off either side of the whale in order to make the fins.

Take liquid Cosclay and cover the whole whale. Then add the clay everywhere but on the fins (remember: a little goes a long way). You can use air dry clay for this step, but later additions will be very delicate, so Cosclay works the best.

After that, wrap the tail fins in clay, making the top thicker than the bottom. Then shape the ends into points and structure the edges as thin as possible. Starting the fins is a little finicky. First, wrap the wire with one layer of tinfoil. Make it in the shape of whale fins. Next, put Cosclay over the fins and repeat the same steps in constructing the whale’s tail.

Use the end of your pencil or silicone tool to make a hole where the eyes will be. Then make two small football-shaped pieces of Cosclay. After that, create four slivers of clay, putting one on the bottom and the other on the top of the eye. Be sure to blend in the edges so that there are no seams.

Use the tip of the pencil and create divots on the whale's belly. the one that goes across the face should resemble a mouth. Then add a ridge that starts halfway down the back. At the beginning of the ridge add a small fin. Place the whale on a cookie baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the whale on top of tin foil in a way that will keep the whale’s shape in the oven. Then follow the instructions on your oven-baked clay package.

Repeat all previous steps for the next whale but don’t bake it yet to save time.

Create a small carrot shape out of tin foil and bend the pointy part in whichever direction you want the tail to go. Cover the carrot shape with clay. In this case, liquid clay is not needed because it is such a small surface. To create the small fins, take a sliver and use the pencil to create little rivets on the surface of the fins. These should be as thin as possible. Cosclay can bend when baked, so the thinness shouldn’t be a problem, but if you are using a different brand of clay you might need to be more careful when your sculpture comes out of the oven. Add two carrot-shaped fins on either side of the body. Then add one on top and create a circle with a slit through it for the back fin. Finish off the Koi fish with two tiny catfish-like feelers on the face and then use the tip of the pencil to create small indents for the eyes.

An optional step is to add texture. I had a tool with scale texture on it so I just rolled it over the body of the fish. Finally, repeat this four more times and then bake them with the previous whale.

When starting the tree, first go outside and collect as many sticks as possible. The best sticks will have little branches coming off the main branch. Make sure to find one very large stick, this will create a split-like trunk. Set the sticks aside for now.

The roots are the most important part of your tree because they are the base, and therefore main structure for your entire sculpture. Take the thickest armature wire you have and get a very long piece, because all the roots will be connected. Then bend the wire into angles and double the wire up so that all the wires are connected. The shape of the wire should be highlighted above along with the amount of roots (there should be five structural roots). Cover all the wire in aluminum foil making it where they connect at the top in a plateau. The final roots should look like a spider. Make sure all these roots share an even amount of weight. Then take jewelry wire and make little roots that come off the supporting roots (these should not bear weight but they should touch the ground). Then cover these wires in the smallest amount of aluminum foil possible. Make sure that the foil is as smooth as possible. Use plenty of hot glue to keep the aluminum foil together (this is okay because we will be using airdry clay to cover the tree instead of oven-baked clay).

Next, to make the main trunk take the length of wire you want then double it and add just enough to wrap it around the base of the roots (this will make the trunk stronger). Then bend the wire slightly to the right. Cover everything in aluminum foil making it blend in as smoothly as possible into the roots using hot glue. Take the largest branch meant for the split trunk. The one we used was too big and heavy so we used a screwdriver to make a hole going through the side of the large branch. Then put the wire through the hole and tie it to the side of the trunk facing the left. Use aluminum foil and hot glue to blend the branch into the trunk. For the rest of the branches just cover the base in aluminum foil then slope it upwards to create a smooth transition. Then hot glue the branches to the trunk. Make sure to get all sides of the tree. If the tree is too unstable like ours was. Take an extra branch and attach it to the tree.

Get a wooden board that is 17.5 inches by 12 inches that's about 43cm by 35cm. Use the image above to place the roots. Once you like the placement, use a generous amount of glue to fix the tree to the board. Then, make aluminum foil logs and curve them.

First, cover the base of all the branches with airdry clay then use a piece of bark or stick and roll it over the wet clay to create a bark texture. Whenever the clay starts to get dryer and harder to work with, use water to make it easier to work with. Next, cover the rest of the tree in clay. Accentuate all the roots by making little divots around the roots. If the stick you added to stabilize the tree has any cool parts you can leave that uncovered. After that, create a bunch of long logs and lie them down on the roots to make them resemble a tree from the swamp. Smooth the edges of the logs into the tree roots and make sure to end the edges of the logs behind the roots. Then, take bark or a stick and add a bark texter to the rest of the tree. Finally, create a small log and connect the two ends to make a ring. After that, smooth the outside edges into the trunk and then add bark texture. Next, make two triangles and two rectangles that are very thin. You can add windows in the rectangles because these will be houses. First, put the rectangles in the ring then put the triangles on top and trim the excess so it fits in the ring.

Create semi-circles and flatten the top of them. Then use the pencil to add little cuts on the side of the semi-circle and wherever you want to place it. Then add water to the slits and connect the mushroom to the tree. Then take the pencil and put the tip in the center of the mushroom and roll it up to make the mushroom divots. Then make little slits in between the divots. Then place these all over the tree. It’s okay if they are random because sometimes nature looks random. I placed mine mostly where the shade would be. For the next mushroom make a wire into an “L” shape then cover it in clay. Next, make a carrot shape and flatten the bottom to make the top. Next repeat the same steps for the divots that were used in the previous mushrooms. Next, make a small hole in the middle of the top and stick it on the stem. Then attach these to the tree. For the large mushrooms make a carrot shape for the stem and take the same steps for the top as explained for the previous mushrooms, but just make the top flat. Then place them on the roots. I put mine mostly in pairs because I thought it was cute. Then take the pencil and add divots to the bottom of the big mushrooms.

Repeat the same steps for all the previous mushrooms but make them out of oven-baked clay. The only mushroom that will be added to the whale is the cluster mushroom which is made by taking three to four small wires that are fairly straight. Then for the tops repeat the steps for the big mushroom caps. Make sure to put down liquid clay first when adding anything to already baked clay. What to make the ground mushrooms before baking.

Use tin foil to make a carrot shape and cover it with clay then create a mushroom cap shape and cover it with clay (oven-baked clay). Repeat the same steps for the mushroom cap. Repeat this as many times as desired. For the next mushrooms, create three to four large wires and fold the wire in half. Then, make a “U” shape and split the loose ends so there are three stems then cover them in oven-baked clay. Repeat this as many times as desired. Repeat the steps for the “L” mushroom’s cap but the beginning shape should be a sphere. Then, bake all the mushrooms and whales.

Take a good chunk of clay and cover everything but the river in it. Making the banks higher than the ground. Take aluminum foil and roll it over the clay for texture. Next, place a sphere into the river, flatten it, and blend it into the wood. Texture it with aluminum foil again.

For the first style of house make a rectangle out of air dry clay and then add small windows and a door. No roof is needed for now as you will be adding it later. Make as many as desired (I made some tall ones and short ones to add contrast and place them where you want then trace the spot and give it a number and place it on a piece of paper with the corresponding number. For the next style of house make a sphere and flatten it. Take the eraser and create circle windows and doors then it is done. Place these mushrooms on the tree, trace them, and then number them. These houses will not have roofs. For the third style of house create a cylinder and put a mushroom cap on it then use the pencil eraser to make windows and doors. Finally, number them. For the last style make a cone shape and add triangle doors. Then, number them and place them on the paper. After all the houses and rip apart cardboard to get to the corrugated paper inside. Then, make pyramid-shaped roofs or slope-shaped roofs. That completes all the sculpting! For the pods hanging from the tree branches make tear-drop shapes and put them on the branches. Make the door with a pencil eraser (not all doors need to face the front). Use hot glue when the clay dries to secure them to the tree branches.

After finishing sculpting, send your completed clay tree model to your friend to begin painting. :)

We wanted a warmer color scheme to create an autumn-like atmosphere, using cool colors to balance the autumn mood with the fantastical, flying fish energy we’d imagined. I would advise you to begin with painting the mushrooms and work your way up to the bigger clay pieces. Start with a light brown or white base coat on a mushroom of your choice. It should cover the stem and underside of the mushroom cap completely. When the base coat has dried, complete a second layer with either the same color or a slightly darker (yet still pale) shade of brown. Feel free to add contrast between shades, but remember that later you will be dry-brushing the stem with a dark brown that will represent dirt, and you want the dry brushing to stand out against a noticeably lighter color.

While waiting for that second coat to dry, begin painting the top of the mushrooms’ caps. There are three types of mushrooms that I painted. If you are painting the small, clumped-together mushrooms, paint the top of the cap a solid brown. Raw Umber works well, but really any somewhat dark shade of brown will make your mushroom look like a mushroom. If you are painting one of the bigger, standalone mushrooms, you have options. Your first option is to paint the cap maroon-pink or red, which is the course you should take if you want to turn your mushroom into one of those really cool red-with-white polka dot mushrooms that you see everywhere in drawings but almost no-where in real life (unless you live in the north, apparently…?). These are allegedly called “fly agaric mushrooms.” For this type of mushroom, after the red has dried, give it white polka dots. The polka dots do not have to be perfect circles. In fact, I wouldn’t make them perfect circles at all. Nature is messy, and it tends to be fun to embrace that in your art. Look at a reference photo if you want to make your mushroom more detailed. For the second option for the big standalone mushroom, paint the cap a light-ish shade of brown, and then go over it with white dots. I made this type of mushroom have smaller dots than the flying agaric mushrooms to provide some diversity, but the dots are important in distinguishing them from the little mushrooms.

For this step, you will need to know how to dry brush. First, take the desired color and run it along a paper towel until there is barely any paint on it. Then run your paintbrush over the sections that you want to add highlights to, such as ridges. Use this skill in this last mushroom step (which is not unique to one type of mushroom; all of the mushrooms need this). Dry brush the stems with dark brown-bordering-on-black paint. This might represent dirt, or it might just be part of mushrooms: all I know is that it adds a finishing touch to your newly painted collection of clay mushrooms.

On to the whales! This step is particularly fun because whales are beautiful and just a big improvement from mushrooms. The whales are an important part of your project because they are what make your tree scene mean something special; size is relative. Without the whales, you would have a cool-looking model tree. With the whales, you have a tree that makes the largest mammals on Earth look small; you have a world where whales are hardly bigger than mushrooms; you have size interpretations that can be completely unique and personal to the viewer. And you have a cool-looking model tree. First, paint the top of your whale a light blue. I mixed cobalt with white to create the shade I wanted, but this can vary from person to person. When the first coat of blue has dried, use a sponge or paper towel to dab variations of blue, purple, pink, and/or white onto your base coat. Don’t go overboard with this; all you need is some splashes of color, and too much might distract from the awesomeness of the sculpture itself. Also, while you’re at it, paint the whale’s eyes black. After your whale is dry, use a warm color, such as orange or yellow (I used orange) to brush sparingly along the whale, mostly on the tips of its fins and the mushrooms. This creates an illusion of lights and is an optional addition. Make sure to leave the underside of your whale unpainted because you will later paint it white.

Later has arrived! Paint the underside white, tan, or gray, depending on what looks right to you. I decided white worked best for the first coat, and tan or gray was perfect for darkening the shadows of the grooves later on. In addition, you can dry brush a darker color to the underside if you think your whale needs a little more detail. This step is also the perfect time to color any clay barnacles gray.

Paint the tall, thin mushrooms on the whale’s back brown and white, using the same colors, order, and skills as you used when painting the small clumps of mushrooms in step 4. Paint the outside of the flat, ledge-like mushrooms (called “bracket fungi”) a dark brown (I mixed Raw Umber with black, but any dark brown will work), and the inside an ochre-yellow-orange-brown mix. This color will probably have to be made from scratch by mixing different paint colors together, but the good news is that there is no “one right shade”. Trust your gut, and if you find a shade you think looks good, use it! After this, paint over all that brown paint you likely got on the whale’s back from painting the mushrooms because you used too big a brush for the fine details. I know you did this. Don’t try to pretend otherwise. Use this step to hot glue any mushrooms that fell off while you were painting back on.

The bracket fungi should have that dark brown exterior with the ochre mix on top as I mentioned in an earlier step. For the standalone mushrooms, the ones with the pointy caps look best with a light-ish brown cap and white polka dots. The ones with round caps should be painted red with white polka dots (Fly Agaric mushrooms). All standalone mushrooms should have dark brown-black dry brushed details on their otherwise white or cream-colored stems. At this point, painting mushrooms will probably feel repetitive, and if so, that’s a good thing. Repetitiveness means mastery of the art of mushroom painting, and that is something all people should aspire to. 

Use a base color of Raw Umber brown that switched to Burnt Umber when I ran out. This coat was important in covering the clay tree trunk completely and readying the trunk for details soon to come.

Since the branches are already naturally colored, you shouldn’t have to coat them completely in brown paint; simply give them a dry brushing of the same brown you used on the tree to help them blend in.

Once a section of your tree is covered in some kind of Umber (Burnt, Raw, Baked, Old, etc.), it is time to add details. Shadows should be painted with black, and ridges with tan, orange, or white. Give textured bark black and white speckles, and dry brush the undersides of branches and mushrooms with yellow-green paint. This will also give the illusion of light. I added details as I went along instead of waiting until my entire tree was coated in brown, but you can switch up the order if you so desire. Also, depending on where you choose to place your whales, adding some blues and purple hints in those areas will enhance the presence of the big sea creatures.

We started with an ochre yellow to radiate that autumn feel we wanted, but once you add sap green, the mood will darken. This is okay! With details, light comes again. Continue using sap green/dark green and ochre to create a sunny, green landscape (a wide brush works well), leaving some sections purely yellow, and some purely green. Paint shadowed areas a mix of black and green, and add spots of emerald here and there to brighten the land a little. Your tree’s field should have some sunny elements, but not at the expense of the nice, meadowed fantasy feel. Paint the sides of the platform as you go. I forgot about this until afterward, but it will be easier if you do it during this step.

The river should be icy blue. Icy blue means blue and white, and because it is a stream, add white highlights to show foam and ripples. It is important to remember that water moves, so don’t make the entire stream one color (nothing is ever one color!). Whale lighting is also needed in the water, meaning that in those areas where the mammals shall be, add purples to the water. It adds a fantastical component to the scene that goes well with the mushrooms.

This step is fairly straightforward. First, choose around 5 different colors you want your houses to feature. I used blue, purple, green, yellow, and red, but this may vary. Now that you have chosen several colors, mix each with white paint to add a pastel tone, and paint each house with one of these pastel colors. You might have three or four houses per color, but this also varies. If you want, an easy way to bring your miniature clay house to the next level is to highlight shadows with darker versions of each chosen color. House roofs are the one element of your houses that should be the same or similar for each clay sculpture; a red-orange color that you can see on real-life red-tiled roofs. This provides uniformity, and red-orange tends to go well with almost every other color.

Paint about half of your fish orange, and the other half red. I had five fish, so I painted three of my fish orange. Once your fish dry, add patterns of white or pale paint-like spots along the fish. Since the fish were designed to resemble Koi fish, using a reference photo as a guide could be helpful. Congratulations, you have finished painting!

Take the houses and glue them in their correct spots with hot glue. Next, glue all the oven-baked mushrooms to the ground. I put mine next to houses and places that looked empty. Use the moss, small bushes, and miniature flowers as further decorations, and glue them on your sculpture wherever you see fit. For example, on top of vines, roots, and branches. Make sure to also get the ground. This is a great time to cover up any ruff seams.

Cut up strips of vines and paint them with varying shades of green. Make sure to thoroughly paint your hands whilst doing so. Drape vines over the tree branches making sure to secure them with hot glue. Then add moss at the top of the vines to create a more natural look.

To finish off the whole piece, use necklace chains to dangle both the fish and whales from the tree (the whales need holes drilled into them in order to attach the chains. Use a needle to get the chains into the holes). Use silver chains for the whales and gold ones for the fish. Then wrap the whale chains around the strongest branches and the fish wherever looks good to you. Secure the chains with hot glue, then disguise them with moss. Finally, sign your completed art!