I’ve talked about my favorite clays in multiple articles already. And I mostly stick to them, “La Doll”, “Premier”, and “Premix” can always be found at my studio. But from time to time, a new clay catches my eye, and I have to try it. I was in my local art supply shop and saw “Hearty” clay. The packaging said it was super lightweight, and it was made by the same company (Padico), which made all of my favorite clays mentioned above. Of course, I had to try it! So today, I want to share my thoughts on the “Hearty” air-dry clay.

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First impressions

• Lightweight

The packaging doesn’t lie, the clay weighs almost nothing. It’s very lightweight, especially when dried completely. Unfortunately, that’s the only thing I liked about it. Other aspects were quite disappointing. It’s my personal opinion, however. I’m sure this clay has a purpose and some fans. But for me - it’s a pass.

• Strange texture

The main thing that I couldn’t understand was the texture. It reminds me of a pliable marshmallow, but not in a good way. The consistency made it hard to sculpt as it has a “bouncy” feeling - just like a marshmallow. I've never tried any clay which feels like this, so I couldn’t get used to it when sculpting.

• Lacks durability

All air-dry clays have durability issues, but this clay especially. Because of the strange texture, the clay never fully hardened and remained susceptible to indentations and scratches. Even when handling carefully, you could feel how soft the surface was.

• Hard to carve

Because the clay remained quite soft and marshmallow-like, it was hard to carve the details with precision. The clay was crumbling a little bit around the edges as well. It was easy to sand though, so that’s a plus.

Sculpting with Hearty clay

To try out this clay, I’ve decided to create a new plush doll with a sculpted face. I have been dreaming about making a fluffy hedgehog. Just recently, I found some faux fur that fit perfectly.

I started by making a styrofoam base and adding the clay on top of it. From the get-go, I was a little surprised by the texture of the clay and how difficult it was to smooth it out. It just didn’t want to blend together. To make it work better, I sculpted in layers. Waiting for each layer to dry and working on imperfections this way. In the end, I made it work and formed the basic shape of the hedgehog face. When it was time to sculpt the features, I gave up and used Premix clay for the eyes. With Hearty clay, I couldn’t define the eyes, the eyelids and blend everything nicely.

It occurred to me that maybe this clay is not really for sculpting dolls, but rather, other crafts. I don’t want to be too harsh with my opinions because I truly love the company and its other clays, but maybe skip the Hearty clay if you’re sculpting dolls.

At the end of the day, this experience didn’t ruin my dream of making a plush hedgehog, and I really love the result. The tiny apple is made from polymer clay and makes it look even more silly and cute. If you want to see the video tutorial for it, I made one for my Patrons. The subscription is $5 a month, and you can cancel anytime.