This chunky coral-pink bear has cornflower-blue legs, a coarse pebbled skin all over and a face straight out of an old video game: a stepped blue mask with yellow square eyes, a black pixel nose and a big white toothy grin. A huge yellow belly and yellow foot pads finish it. The steps build it over one foil core, press in the grain first, then build the face and pads on parchment and press them on top. The picture is here for inspiration: follow the steps as a guide, then change the colours, the face, the grain or the animal to make your own version.
The pictures began as AI-assisted concept images and are here for inspiration. The steps are a guide to making your own version, so change the colours, size or details as you like. Clay brands, ovens, glues, finishes and hardware behave differently, so follow their product instructions and bake a scrap before a batch. Some product links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Check listing details, dimensions, materials, and fit before you buy. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosures
What gives it this look: the smooth, flat pixel pieces against a coarse pebbled body, so the face and pads read like stickers on a stone. On a bear about 12 cm tall the body is almost as wide as the head, about 7 cm, with no neck, and the blue covers the bottom third, meeting the pink in small steps at the sides. The mask is about 4 cm wide and 3 cm tall, from above the eyes to below the teeth; the yellow belly is about 4 cm wide and 4.5 cm tall and reaches down into the blue between the feet. Every edge on the mask, belly, eyes and pads steps in 2.5 mm squares.
Lookbook view
Before step 1, get a sheet of 2.5 mm graph paper, a pencil and small scissors for the templates, and clear a glossy tile to build the bear on, so it never has to be lifted and the grain is never squashed. Use Sculpey Premo in every colour, so one packet's bake instructions cover the whole bear. Roll the 1 mm pixel colours early and leave them somewhere cool, so they are firm enough to cut square steps and lift out cleanly.
Condition the Sculpey Premo. Knead a crumb of Cadmium Yellow into all the Light Pink until no streaks show, for the soft coral pink in the picture, and mix one part Cobalt Blue into two parts White for the cornflower blue. Mix all of each colour at once, so every part of the bear matches. Keep a pea of cobalt unmixed for the line between the teeth.
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Crush heavyweight aluminum foil hard into one gumdrop-shaped core for the body and head together, about 5.5 cm wide and 7.5 cm tall, with a broad flat base: the bear has no neck, so one core means no weak joint. Pack it tight, because loose foil leaves air pockets that can bulge or crack the clay in the oven. Roll the pink and blue about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick, with a 6 mm guide strip or an equal stack of playing cards under each end of the roller. Wrap the bottom third of the core in blue and cut its top edge into two or three steps at each side, then wrap the rest in pink with its edge butted against the blue steps, so the colours meet level. Press the base flat on the tile.
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Roll two thick pink sausages and press them down the sides from the shoulders to the hips for the arms, and two rounded blue feet about 2.5 cm across on the front of the base, each on a thin film of Bake & Bond. Pinch two round ears about 2 cm across onto the top of the head. Smooth every join with the silicone tip. Look from the side: the bear should sit upright on its broad base without leaning.
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If the clay feels warm, chill the bear briefly, so the bristles leave a crisp grain instead of smearing. Then press the stipple tool firmly and straight down all over the pink and blue, working in rows, for the coarse pebbled grain in the picture; the pressing also hides the joins round the arms, ears and feet. Texture the front too: the pixel pieces go on top of the grain.
Draw the face mask, belly, eyes, ear crosses and foot pads on 2.5 mm graph paper, one square per pixel, and cut them out as templates: the mask about 16 squares wide and 12 tall with notches for the eyes along its top edge, the belly a stepped oval about 16 squares wide and 18 tall. Roll blue, yellow, white, red and black about 1 mm thick (between two stacks of three playing cards). Build the face flat on parchment: cut the mask from blue, cut the eye and mouth shapes out of it with the tissue blade held upright, and drop a yellow eye and a white mouth piece, cut from the same templates, into the holes, so they sit level instead of stacking up. Tap a small red cross into the middle of each eye, a stepped black nose above the mouth and a thin dark blue line across the teeth. Build each foot pad the same way: yellow, with white toe marks dropped in.
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Dab a few traces of Bake & Bond on the face, slide the blade flat under the mask panel, lower it into place one edge first, so no air is trapped, and tap it down through parchment with the acrylic block until its edges sit down on the grain. Press on the belly, the foot pads and a yellow cross on each ear the same way. Add three white claw squares where each arm meets a foot. Then tap the belly lightly with the stipple tool for the softer ripple it has in the picture, keeping the face and pads smooth.
Stand an oven thermometer beside the tile. Fold a sheet of foil into a tent over the bear with a clear gap above the ears: the white and pale blue show browning first, and foil that touches the clay can leave a mark. Bake by the instructions on your Sculpey Premo packet, going by the thickest solid clay, the arms and feet, since the foil core is not clay. Let it cool fully on the tile, then press each piece gently with a fingernail: nothing should lift.
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Leave the bear as it comes out of the oven: the coarse grain scatters light, so the pink and blue look soft and the flat pixel pieces read crisply against them. For the faint sheen in the product picture, dab on one thin coat of Sculpey Satin Glaze with a soft brush, working it into the grain so it does not pool. Try it first on a baked offcut and check it dries clear and not tacky.
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What you will need
Everything here is used in the steps above. The clay is for this bear; most makers already own the tools, so tick those off first.
About three 2 oz (57 g) blocks of light pink make the upper body of a bear about 12 cm tall over a foil core; one block each of cobalt blue and white mixed together covers the legs, feet and mask, and one block of yellow covers the belly, eyes and pads.
Crushed hard into one gumdrop-shaped core for the body and head, it keeps the clay an even 6 mm wall to bake through on a bear about 12 cm tall. A folded sheet from the same roll makes the oven tent.
The pink of the head, arms and upper body. A crumb of the yellow kneaded in warms it to the soft coral pink in the picture; mix all of it at once so every part matches.
Mixed about one part to two parts white, it makes the soft cornflower blue of the legs, feet and face mask; a little straight from the block makes the dark line between the teeth.
Lightens the cobalt for the pale blue, and makes the teeth, the claws on the paws and the toe marks on the foot pads.
Pressed firmly and straight down all over the pink and blue, its bristles give the coarse pebbled grain in the picture, and the pressing hides the joins round the arms and feet.
The big stepped belly, the square eyes, the cross on each ear and the two foot pads, plus the crumb that warms the pink.
The small red cross in the middle of each yellow eye.
The little stepped nose; a tiny corner of the block is enough.
A few traces under the face mask, belly, foot pads and every small piece bond them to the textured body in the oven, so nothing peels off after baking.
Tick what you already have, then get only what is missing.
Rolls the 6 mm pink and blue for the body and the 1 mm sheets for the pixel pieces, with an equal stack of playing cards under each end.
Cuts every stepped edge square against the paper templates, and slid flat underneath, carries the finished face panel without stretching it.
Taps the face panel, belly and foot pads down through parchment with light, even pressure, so they sit down on the grain without the steps spreading.
The silicone tip smooths the joins where the arms and feet meet the body before you texture it.
Traces round each paper template, lifts a piece out of the mask to drop another in, and dabs the adhesive.
Build the face panel and foot pads flat on it, and lay it over each piece to tap it down without fingerprints.
Build and bake the bear on the tile, so the soft figure is never lifted and the grain is never squashed.
Sits beside the tile so you bake at the temperature on the Premo packet; the white teeth and pale blue show browning first in a hot oven.
For the faint sheen of the product picture, a piece that lifts, a base that rocks or a crack.
Only if you want the faint sheen of the product picture: one thin coat dabbed on keeps the grain crisp.
A soft brush dabs the satin glaze into the grain without leaving pools.
Only if a piece lifts after baking, or for Sculpey's crack repair mixed with dust from a baked offcut.
Only if the baked bear rocks: laid flat on the tile with water, it levels the base.
Wear it while you sand the base level or a crack repair.
Each one walks through a technique used in this piece, in full detail.
Small figurines look simple until the base wobbles, the cap droops, or the face gets smudged while you are still shaping the body. This guide covers the order of operations that keeps polymer clay characters stable with cleaner features.
Five ways to build polymer clay pixel art, compared on one 12 x 12 design: stacked cutter layers, one stepped silhouette, square tiles, a pixel cane or clay beads, plus the sum that sets each pixel's size.
Stop small clay details popping off after baking or spreading as you press them. Decide on liquid clay before you start, then carry, place and tap each piece so it stays on with a crisp edge.
Custom range
Ask for a build pack to make it yourself (a supply list and a making plan for your version), or ask the studio to make the finished pieces for you.
More small desk figures to make next, with different shapes, textures and faces.
Pin it to a board, copy the link, or keep it saved here while you make your own version.
Tag Clay Bake Studio on Instagram or TikTok so we can see how you adapted it.
