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HanaClayWorks — Adding Pastels - Tutorial
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Published: 2007-06-17 00:07:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 33605; Favourites: 460; Downloads: 449
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Description
Here's how I color my clays since I only buy beige, white, and translucent. Why do I do that? It saves me monies because I hate spending the dough on a deep royal purple, only to use about as much as it takes to make one teeny tiny grape.
I'm cheap, but not lazy. xP lol
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Please do not take the image without my consent. Just email me, it's easy! ^____^ b
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Comments: 278
Oohh~ multi-parts! lol xD don't worry about asking questions - i'm always glad to answer them!
Er... Roughly how much chalk pastel dust do you add? Because my colours just always turn out pale >_>
how much pastels i add depends on how big my ball of clay is. it usually takes a LOT of pastels to get to the exact color that you want, especially if that color is dark (like black). you won't be shaving the entire stick to get it dark enough, trust me... and if you are shaving an entire stick to get it to the correct shade, then maybe your pastels are "pastel" shades... you know, lighter than normal. remember that there is no way to get the ball of clay any darker than the color seen on the stick itself. because it's so hard to get it dark, i tend to make larger batches of black in a day and just work off that black for a while. it's not the easiest method, but i find it to be the cheapest method.
Also, would you have to bake the clay longer if it has pastels in it? I baked a bit for just a little longer than I usually would, and I could still poke my nail into it.. just wondering if it's the pastels that were doing that...?
are you poking your fingernail into it when it's still hot/warm? or can you poke your nails through once it's cooled? if it's when the piece is still warm, then that's just how polymer clay is. right when you take it out of the oven, it will be a bit soft still. once it cools down completely, it will harden up more. if the clay stays soft even after baking it and letting it cool, then it probably has more to do with your clay than the pastels since i've never experienced this. it may be due to the fact that it's still really new clay and there's a lot of plasticizer (that stuff that keeps it from hardening in air like play-doh) still in it. i'm not exactly sure, but you can try just letting it sit on some white paper overnight before baking it. the paper should be able to suck some of that plasticizer out. if this doesn't work... then maybe try switching to a different brand (there's always fimo or kato, which are a bit more expensive than sculpey).
can you blend pastel colours together easily? Say, if you didn't have a green pastel, could you put in blue and yellow and actually get a good green?
yes, the colors blend quite easily. just be careful combining colors because sometimes you can put too much blue and it'll turn out more blue/green than green, if you know what i mean. i would suggest you start off with a little bit of both colors and then add more. or, you can do what i do - shave the pastel sticks and mix the pigments first before adding to your clay. that way, you'll be able to see roughly the color that you'll get in the end.
hope that helps! let me know if you have any more questions!
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Wow, thanks for the tip at the end, I never thought of that. 
I use FIMO, seeing as we don't have Sculpey here ;__; But Sculpey varnish is awesome XD
Yea, I came back to it after a few hours and it was OK. It was only a test piece, so I didn't mind ruining it.
Someone asked about using oil pastels.. Would they be just as good to use? I found when I was mixing the chalk and the clay that it was getting a little more crumbly and wouldn't stick as well. Would oil pastels help to keep the consistency, or would they not blend in?
Wow, thanks for the long answers! I really appreciate it, as most artists are very busy and can't respond. Thanks very much!
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no problem! i'm always glad to help even if it means writing an entire essay on the subject. xP if i didn't give thorough answers... people will still be confused and i'd have to spend more time explaining things over again anyway, so i figure i might as well do it right the first time! lol
as to the chalk pastels - yes they do get a bit dry after you mix it for a while. it tends to happen like how you would make dough for baking - the more flour you put into the dough the more crumbly it'll get. i normally would just add some TLS to it to help add moisture... but a lot of people use a stuff called "diluent" which is this chemical that helps to soften clay that's really old/hard/crumbly. i'm not sure if you can find it where you are but MOST craft places do carry it with all the clay stuff they have. i think Fimo has a diluent too, but i'm not sure, although i know that sculpey has it!
NEVER EVER use water to moisten your clay! it'll ruin the piece because water tends to boil off and make the piece all bubbly-looking. i've tried it and it's HORRIBLE. also, i had heard before that cooking oil can also be used, but i've also heard that it can ruin the piece over time (like it leaks out and ruins the varnish or paint, etc.) it is cheaper to use oil as opposed to diluent, but in the long run, i think you'd be better off with diluent or TLS.
finally, i have never used oil pastels in my pieces before. i think my main concern would be that they would flake off like crayons would (if that makes sense) when you shave the pastel stick and so they wouldn't blend well. i like chalk pastels because it does blend well (especially when you're not using a brand that's TOO inexpensive) and it usually doesn't leave chunks of color in the piece. i've heard of people using crayons, but it's not to color the clay, but more for adding texture to it. if oil pastels are anything like crayons, in other words, they wouldn't be any good for coloring the clay. :/ but i honestly can't help you there.
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Ah thank you very much, that clears up a lot of my problems
I have 'FIMO Mix Quick', I suppose that would be its diluent. I had to buy it for all the other clays I bought for an animation, they went all hard after a while. I would use those colours for models, but they are too dark and aren't really common colours, so I figured I would try pastels. ^^
Thanks again, you've been a great help!
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no problem!
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Sorry to bother you again -__- I'm still having problems...
I can't stop getting dust in my clay; no matter how many times I sweep my worksurface, or how carefully I take the clay out of the packet, there's always a bit of dust that comes in it >_< What do I do?
Also, after I bake the clay when it's mixed with the pastels, it looks all swirly, although it looks OK before I bake it. Have I not mixed the pastels in enough?
Lastly 
Thanks muchly again
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^_^ no problem! like i've said before - don't worry about asking questions!
I can't stop getting dust in my clay; no matter how many times I sweep my worksurface, or how carefully I take the clay out of the packet, there's always a bit of dust that comes in it >_< What do I do?
what color is i that you get the dust into? usually, i have a huge problem with the lighter colors. what i do is i usually have an area that's designated as "clay only" to make sure that no food pieces or whatever is on the table. then, i do all of my clay work on a white tile (you can get one at the hardware store for under $1 for a 6x6 tile) that's cleaned after every session so that it's clean. I also wear white and never any dark colors (no reds, blacks, etc.) and tie my hair back. xP usually that works, but if it gets bad, i put on some latex gloves and work with it like that. it'll be harder to use gloves, but you get used to it after a while. you can get them at the local dollar store, just in case you don't know where.
also, when i work with white... and if i don't want to put gloves on for whatever reason, i wash my hands thoroughly before i start and then i have a bowl of water right by my side to clean it once in a while so that it doesn't get linty from touching things or sweat. xP
Also, after I bake the clay when it's mixed with the pastels, it looks all swirly, although it looks OK before I bake it. Have I not mixed the pastels in enough?
Lastly
If it looks swirly, then it usually means that you haven't mixed it well enough. it usually takes me a little while to mix things thoroughly. as a rule of thumb, i always continue to mix for another minute or so after it looks "mixed" to my eyes. that way, i can make sure that it's completely mixed.
on the same note, when you use only translucent, it'll come out swirly most of the time. That's why I always mix the regular clay with a little bit of translucent (or translucent with a little bit of regular clay, depending on what I am making). i can't explain why this happens, but i just find that it works better this way. you can also just mix the pastels with just regular clay if you want... but with translucent, i find it makes it easier to mix and manipulate. it could just be me but the clay feels softer with translucent mixed in.
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Once again, thanks loads
Yea, I work mostly with white, and no matter how clean the clay is in the packet, as soon as I take it out, there'll be something on it -__- I'll try and be more careful though!
I really need a space that's 'clay only' - I usually do my work on one side of our dining table, where no-one really eats, and I put down some cling film, but that's the best I can do for a workspace
Ah OK. It's just that when I mixed the pastels with translucent only, the colour came out a lot better than with the white and translucent mixed. Using Mix Quick hasn't helped; the clay is still quite hard and crumbly after being mixed with the pastels. I've found liquid FIMO - should I give that a try?
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the clay is still quite hard and crumbly after being mixed with the pastels. I've found liquid FIMO - should I give that a try?
yes. you could mix just a little of the liquid fimo into your clay to soften it a bit if it becomes crumbly. just remember to mix it well... and don't use too much liquid fimo or else it'll be too soft to work with! after you do all that, don't forget to let it sit for a bit as well... helps to make the clay a little bit more firm so that it's easier to shape without getting distorted.
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Thanks very much
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no problem my dear!
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w00t!
Awesomeness!
Just when I was stressing because acrylics hate me <3 <3!
Tho... ... TT_TT... I tried it, and after I baked my strawberry (it seemed to be hard.. but it wasnt..) it was sort of like a pastel-stick ... I stick my nail in it and it was totally destroyed (like when you stick your nail into a pastel-stick) D: Also, the leaves fell off asap T_T.
I used oil pastels.. could that be the reason..?
Cause I don't think I used -too much- pastels.. (less than what you used D
(I used it on Sculpey III..)
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did you let your strawberry cool completely before you poked at it? cuz it tends to be like that before it cools. i'm not sure if oil pastels could be causing that... but it's a possibility since the oil will add more erm... "squishyness"? to the clay. i've never tried using oil pastels before so i can't really give any tips on that. however, i can give you tips on how to determine what's causing the problem
first, check to see that you've baked it for a long enough period of time at the correct temperature. sometimes, altitude can affect baking time as well as the humidity (just like how it would affect it when you're baking a cake or what have you). if you've baked it according to the time given on the pack and it's still soft when it cools, try baking it for a little longer (i suggest increasing it by 2 minutes at a time) on two balls of scrap clay - one that you've colored with the oil pastels and one that hasn't been colored. if after the suggested temperature/time both balls are still too soft after they cool, stick them both back into the oven for another two minutes. if the uncolored ball of clay hardens after cooling first, then it's probably the oil pastels that's making it hard. in this situation, i would suggest you invest in some chalk pastels or that you paint it after baking. otherwise, if they both burn before they harden or if the bake time is more than 30 minutes long, then it's *most probable* your clay that's defective.
to summarize:
- check that you've baked it long enough at the right temperature (make sure you're not using the Celsius temperature as Fahrenheit or vice versa)
- bake two balls of clay at the manufacture suggested time/temp - one colored, one uncolored
- let them cool and check to see if they're hard
- if they're both still soft, bake for another 2 minutes, let cool and check again
- if the un-colored one hardens first - it's the oil pastels causing the softness
- once time reaches above 30min and/or they burn, it's not your pastels but probably your clay that's bad
let me know how it turns out
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gosh, why didn't i think of this befor! hehe thanks!!
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I've got a question... babies have bottom hair?
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xD not really? lol that's why you have to do it gently.
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I'm still not grasping the fact of shaving babies... but okay... I'll just go with it. xD
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lol xD sorry... i'm just... weird.
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Weirdness is not a problem with me. I'm just in a trying-to-grasp-whether-my-insanity-has-led-me-to-shaving-infants mode.
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lol
i guess i'm a step ahead then, eh?
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Bad LH! *whacks self*
I remembered that you wrote and faq AFTER I posted that message...
Sorry! I read your answers in the faq so THANKS! lol
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Hey~ I'm just wondering if the colour would change much after baking?
'cause right now I'm painting my charms so it doesn't matter what colour the clay is.
The colour clay I've been using is beige but I think I've been burning it... cause it sooo much darker. I read somewhere to bake it for 20min... Too long?
I've also got white sculpey and I bought some TLC so I'll try this out soon! (After I finish my assignment... T_T )
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Good Idea *claps* ^^
I usually just use skin coloured FIMO (I swear they only sell sculpey in every country apart from England >< I've never seen it!) and I paint them with acrylics after I bake ^^
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You can get Sculpey here: [link]
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lol cool cuz i have a butt load of skin-colored sculpey. xD
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Lucky XD I bet sculpey grows from the trees where you live..I can't find it in any shops where I am XD But I make do with FIMO ^^
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haha i WISH they grew on trees - then i wouldn't have to buy them. xD
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If only there was a tree for everything...*sigh* A FIMO tree sure would be good ^^b
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OMG I never thought of doing that O_O I always just mixed different colored clays together. Now I have another use for my pastels ^^
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woo! glad i could help!
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that|s such a cool idea! i'll most def. use it on the future!
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fweee! glad you found my t00tie useful!
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VERY useful.. right now i've got a lot of nice clay and can't work with it.. but when i manage to go back to work and finish it, i'll use it!
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hey well if you ever have clay you don't want, send it my way.
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A very useful tutorial for making inexpensive coloured clay!
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very clever ^_^ now I won't have to stress about buying different colors! you rock!
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*rocks in her chair* xP
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cool! will the colour stay after mixing the pastel with the clay? As in when we touch the mixed clay-pastel, will the colour come off?
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no... if you mix it well enough into the clay, the pastel will not rub off (unless you have really cheap pastels or really cheap clay 
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oh wow this is a great idea that i never even thought of! i felt the exact same way when it came to buying coloured clay, and now i wont have to... XD genius!!
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haha glad you like it!
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wow... so that;s how to color the clays.. at first i think you painted it..
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lol xD
i do paint some of them... but only when i'm too lazy or when it comes out burned.
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what about clays that's not going to be burned? sone kind of self hardened i hear.. is it good to use? i see it in Disney Channel's Art Attack.. do you use them?
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self-drying clay? or cold porcelain?
i know lots who use self-drying clay, but i have never tried it myself. i'm not sure if this technique would work on those, but i don't see a problem with it. if you want, just get whatever type of clay that you have around and test it on a little bit of the clay to see if it works (so that you don't waste the whole thing). if the technique doesn't work, then just paint it afterwards.
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