Can you paint polymer clay

Soft pastels the chalky ones are commonly used, yes, but oil pastels far less so. Gilding waxes are used often. Have fun! Great article! I am a big fan of Liquitex and Golden as these are quality brands. I have been thinking about ordering some of the Liqutex acrylic ink but saw this the other day and was wondering how it works with polymer clay.

Toward the bottom of this article, I talk about acrylic inks. Give them a try! I currently use heavy body acrylic paint on sanded polymer clay and I have been using all types and brands of polymer clay and have found that the acrylic still does scratch off. I will try the Sculpey brands you recommend with the paint and see if that sticks better.

I would rather use only polymer clay and forgo the paint but I really love the end result of the paint. I just wish it would stay on better! Can one find liquid polymer clay in colors? Might that not work much better than trying to paint with acrylics on polymer clay.

I want to stencil onto polymer clay in colors. Yes, liquid clay comes in colors. Sculpey, Kato, Lucy Clay, and Fimo all make liquid clay in colors. I have been very successful with Genisis paints for the last 15 years or so, until today. I enjoyed your article and I felt reassured. Thanks a lot for your article. How can I avoid brushstrokes while painting on polymer clay with acrylic colors?

Are there any specific tools I can use? Would be great if you could tell me. Thanks for the article. I have a clay 3cm Green Tara statue super tiny! What would be the ideal technique to paint it? Posca pen? Thank you Mariana.

I recently watched a video that featured silk screening polymer clay with Golden brand acrylic paint, letting it dry, then baking.

I thought you and your readers might like to know what Golden wrote me about baking their paint. We feel this is a bad idea and we recommend against this application. That second point is correct. Artists will continue to bake acrylic paint if they want to. However, with such an adamant response from Golden, I thought it was worth passing on to others.

I generally paint it on a textured area and them wipe it off with a paper towel for the antiqued effect mentioned above. I sometimes use metallic nail polish to highlight textured areas. Clear nail polish also works well as a glaze, on Sculpty II anyway. For un-cured clay, I sometimes decorate it with metallic eye shadow. Pretty amazing the uses of this material! Many work nicely. Therefore we generally never recommend using nail polish on polymer clay because it often softens and becomes gummy with time.

The plasticizers in the polymer clay soften the vinyl in nail polish. Hi Ginger, fantastic article on an important topic, as always!

I have been trying paints for a while and it is quite difficult to find something that works so well on professional fimo. Now I have to try it with raw clay, and I think it will definitely fusion when baking. But before buying more colors I want to keep trying.

Genesis oils call my attention. And I wonder how resistant they are, they fuse with the clay and could I leave it unvarnished on a jewel , or if scratches also fade away? In addition, I was also looking the Genesis matt varnish, I have read that it may yellow over time … and that worries me! Thank you for sharing your experiences. A hug! Certainly nothing like we see with resin. I have five year old pieces covered with Genesis medium and they look great.

Hi Ginger, excellent article — gosh you honestly think of everything. I must find out though — are you specifically talking about painting cured polymer clay?

I love working with paints and polymer clay but the majority of work I do is on raw polymer not cured so it can be a whole different ball game. I mainly wrote the article for newbies who assume that those pretty chibis they see are painted. I wrote the article to level things up a bit.

Great article, as always, Miss Ginger! I started out with polymer clay as a canvas, always painting on it. My preferred method was alcohol inks on pearl clay then antiqued with an artist grade brown color like raw umber and then highlighted with tiny swipe of artist grade semi-translucent pearl. I am fond of doing all sorts of mixed media techniques with clay, and the Swellegant line that Christi Friesen developed works very well for an unique surface technique for polymer clay and other things.

I have also had good luck with the bright saturated colors of the Vintaj metal patina line. Very durable. You are always so informative and give a lot of things to think about, so thank you! And I can vouch for the awesome tutorial for your Rustic Beads.

I should give that a peek again soon! Enjoy the day! For lightfastness you have to consider the passage of time and what kind of work you are creating. Something in the mid-rating on the lightfastness scale is meant to last years in normal conditions, months of direct sunlight.

If you are making something to hang in a window in direct sunlight. They will fade, but will it be an issue when it happens an angry customer, or no longer relevant? Thing is, alcohol inks DO fade within months in some cases. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. All Articles. Info: Materials and Tools.

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Get tips and info. Weekly emails, or thereabouts. This is the newsletter that everyone talks about. Tutorial Shop. More Posts. Helmar Spray Varnish for Polymer Clay. What is a Polymer Clay Cane? About metals for polymer clay earrings. Testing 41 Polymer Clay Sealers. Rustic Components, Earrings, and a Surprise. So if you can afford it, this type of acrylic paint will generally give you the best results for your polymer clay project.

You can do this by baking it in a regular oven or even a smaller toaster oven at home. The problem is that some ovens are prone to temperature spikes. I have personally cured my polymer clay bowls and decor for about 30 minutes to start, and then I will re-cure it for another minutes to make sure the acrylic paint adheres. So after you re-bake your clay for 15 minutes at degrees F, you will want to apply a third complete layer, adding finishing details, and re-bake for a final 15 minutes at degrees F.

Keep in mind that over-baking will cause darkening of the clay, and burning can cause bubbling and darkening.

Polymer clay is a versatile material. A lot of people even use polymer clay to cover non-clay objects and to make bowls and other decorations. Many miniaturists agree that polymer clay is perfect for making their own doll house furniture and decorations.

What I love about it is that you can create practically anything you can imagine from polymer clay, and even add glass, ink and many other types of extras to it.

If polymer clay is properly stored, it will last for years. The key is to keep it out of sunlight and excessive heat. You can also wrap your clay in plastic if you can ensure a tight wrap with no leaks.

Baked polymer clay is durable plastic and therefore more durable than any sealer. I recommend this set from Amazon for sealing or bonding your polymer clay. If the project is purely decorative and will merely be sitting on a shelf, sealing is not imperative. Make sure that you adhere to any instructions on the products that you use. Painting unbaked clay is a simple process, first mold your piece, proceed with painting the desired effects and then bake the item.

Be aware of oven temperature to ensure that the clay does not burn. Keep an eye on the clay in the oven just to be sure. Once your clay has been baked in an oven you can still easily add some finishing touches to your project. The process is easy to follow with a little knowledge of suitable products and this will round off your stunning creations perfectly. The Sculpey Gloss Glaze offered by Polyform assists with sealing and a gloss finish once your polymer clay has been baked and sufficiently cooled down.

This glaze is suitable to use with a variety of different paints such as oils, inks, and water-based acrylics. Should you choose not to make use of a glaze, simply use the sanding method as aforementioned, just without a glaze.

Once again, be aware of sanding too much as intricate detail can be lost. Should your work be very fine and delicate it would be worth looking into different types and brands of polymer in order to source the most suitable clay that will not require any sanding. Once the clay is baked and cooled, it may occur that the paint is not able to adhere to the surface; this can happen if a thin layer of oil is creating a barrier between the polymer and the paint.

This can easily be remedied with a little alcohol for rubbing used on a cloth; gently wipe the surface and this will remove any oily residue. Once the alcohol has evaporated you can begin painting even without any glazing or use of the sandpaper.

You can have lots of fun and be very creative and imaginative with polymer clay. You can create different surface effects and give the illusion of glass, ceramics, and even metals. You can also add elements to the polymer to incorporate mixed materials such as glass beads and glitters. Let us start by exploring various paint effect techniques for polymer clay.

With all the techniques, products, and brands available for painting clay, unfortunately, a few tricky obstacles can also come up. You may just need to try different methods and experiment as you go to find the best option for your specific idea.

In the meantime below are a few obstacles that other people have found themselves faced with. Remember that a medium that includes dye as a stain will not be lightfast, thus the color will fade with aging. The color in paint is far more durable and does last longer; it will however also begin to fade, particularly if it is in a sunny area. Many types of paints are primarily designed for use on paper or variations of paper, such as canvas, therefore if they are used on different mediums a few issues may occur.

Polymer clays are manufactured from vinyl that has been plasticized and is, therefore, a completely different material. The plastic in the clay may have a reaction with acrylics which renders them soft and sticky. You also need to be aware that there are various different brands of polymer and paints on the market. Some research and experimentation are required to see what clay and paint varieties are compatible.

Should you find yourself with sticky paint, it can gently be removed with crafting alcohol, or else a sealer can be applied to try and conceal the problem.

Polymer clay is non-absorbent; therefore paint is not immersed in this material as it would be with paper or canvas. The paint dries to the surface of the polymer and with time it may crack and start to peel. Some paints are better suited to maintaining surface coherence to certain types of suitable clay. To help improve cohesion, you can gently sand the clay to create a slightly rough surface. When asked, do you paint polymer clay before or after baking, with regard to this section, it may indeed prove better to paint the raw clay and then bake it as the paint should adhere more effectively.

When using water-soluble paints on raw clay, the paint may well bubble when heated due to the moisture content in the applied paint. To help to prevent this, ensure that your piece has dried for two or three before you bake it. Depending on whether the paint is thick or thinner, you may require a single coat or a few coats to achieve the desired effect. For ideal surface coverage and color, you should aim for products with a good quality make and proportion of pigment.

That said, the higher the level of pigment the more you will pay. Artist-level acrylics for example will be more expensive than simply using crafters acrylics. Crafters acrylics may be used, but they will require several coats to achieve the desired color density and coverage. Using polymer as an art medium can be very creative and inspiring, lending itself to anything from sculpture to beads, buttons, bowls, and anything else you can imagine.

As we know, a few minor issues may come up when working with clay and paint, below are some tips and tricks to help you avoid any unwanted problems.

Crafting with polymer clay is both satisfying and relatively straight-forward. With some simple tools and oodles of creativity, you can create beautiful and striking pieces of painted polymer clay art. Remember to always use the best quality paint you can afford, and follow our tips and tricks to make the painting process as smooth as possible. You can use food coloring in clay; however, it is always best to check the ingredients in the coloring as some additives may affect the processing procedure.

You can also test this method on a small amount of clay to see what happens. Using paint methods is usually more popular. You can effectively use both methods with acrylic colors.