I saw a trick of putting clear plastic wrap over flat blue clay that's sculpted to have ripples. I haven't tried it, but I saw a picture of it and it gives an interesting effect.

Make sure to post a picture. I'd love to see if it works out or not. If it doesn't, much apologies.

Yeah, I'm sure Vaseline jelly will work as well. It's known for making clay shiny.

JesseOffy wrote:

Or just use real water and not nudge the table. Actually, I'd be interested to see a stop motion with real water for a poll, and the nudge it every time so it looks like it's slightly turbulent.

Water seems to be always moving, so no matter how still you try to make it, it'll most likely move and you'll be able to tell in the animation.

The way I've been doing water is making the colour of the water out of plasticine and then I use a paint brush and cover the water with olive oil.. I think it looks alright.. I use olive oil for tears too.