Air Drying Clay: Troubleshooting Problems

OK, I have been having a lot of fun working with air drying clay, but I have come up against a couple of problems.

First, it dries out very quickly. As there were no directions on the package, I was just winging it, and assumed it would be bad to add water to the clay, afraid I might weaken it. Several discussions and how-to's I viewed online today all suggested using water to help soften the clay, but I am still wary.

Second, as it dried, I got quite a few cracks. Not so bad on the Raven, just around his skinny legs.

Far worse, and more visible, on the Dachshund sculpture.

A few of the smaller ones I knew I could just fill with paint, but the larger ones were a little more troublesome. So, I pulled out my handy Durham's Rock Hard and filled in the gaps. If you haven't seen this stuff, it's amazing. Just add a little water and it will patch anything! You can even cast with it, but it is not so cost effective.

I think I could solve the cracking problem if the pieces dried slower, so I am going to make another one and wrap it in plastic when I am done with it and see if that helps.

Repaired and now crack-free sculptures:

I am not entirely finished with the paint jobs but I was running out of daylight and wanted to get some photos. I have to add some more detail to the Raven and then I want to put a glossy medium over both of them.