how-to

Painting on Polymer Clay from Forest Rogers

I would love to welcome here everyone who is still following us and all who remember when we had an entry about painting on polymer clay. If you liked the recommendation from Megan then today’s entry is definitely for you. A few days back I got an email from Forest Rogers who actually works with polymer clay a lot. She did share some of her knowledge with me and I proposed to write another entry on this topic as I think as much information we share the more we know and then we get better and better.

Forest:

Honored Sergej, I feel that if the various art worlds communicated more frequently, we’d all have a lot more great information to work with!

Thanks for the excellent entry about painting on polymer clay! I was searching for info on using Wicked Colors on polymer, and found yours.

Here is a couple of my pieces, both in Kato Polyclay (much, much stronger than Super Sculpey, which is great for some uses but not so much for thin delicate works that need repeated curing).

Both are tinted with Genesis Heat Set Paints:

Goblin Spider
Goblin Spider by Forest Rogers
Versailles Mermaid
Versailles Mermaid by Forest Rogers
Versailles Mermaid
Other look of Versailles Mermaid by Forest Rogers

I’ve made my living doing prototypes and originals in polymer for many years and had a couple of things to add from my experience:

One way to help acrylic paints adhere to cured polyclay is Golden Acrylic GAC 200 Medium. It’s formulated to increase adherence to non-porous surfaces, and does an excellent job. I mix it into the acrylic colors as a medium.

Only draw back is that it does tend to fill fine detail slightly, given it forms a strong coating. It also results in a glossy surface, and will need a coat of matte varnish (I use liquid acrylic varnishes) or layers of acrylic color mixed with a matte medium if you want to dull the surface.

The other odd paint that is good on polymer clay is Genesis Heat Set “Oil” paints. They are a thick paint that takes some getting used to (a little like painting with butter). They are set with a heat gun or oven at about 265 – 300°F (130 – 150°C). Off the airbrush topic for sure, but I thought you might want to know about these if the topic comes up again!

P.S. I also make the prototypes for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History‘s model toy line. The Carnotaurus below is unpainted, but when I paint the resin paint guides, I always use the Golden GAC 200 medium (by brush). It helps the paint adhere through factory use. This is the Kato Polyclay mixed to brown for ease of detailing:

The Carnotaurus
The Carnotaurus by Forest Rogers

Thanks so much for the suggestions on Wicked Colors! I’m off to try them!
Love Megan’s Kirin!

Forest Rogers – http://www.forestrogers.com

Visit Forest’s website and you will find much more of her art works. All of them are just awesome. Anyway don’t forget to share this with your friends or just leave a comment.

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