How to Make a Color Palette in Polymer Clay 101

Ready to Learn How to Make a Color Palette in Polymer Clay?

Make a color palette in polymer clay? Yes please! Is it something that you struggle with? Is it something that you are great at? Do you struggle to duplicate colors you fall in love with? Today I’m going to show you a quick, easy, fun, & basic approach to make a color palette in polymer clay. The polymer clay that we are going to use today is my polymer clay of choice: Polyform’s Premo! by Sculpey. So are you ready to make a color palette in polymer clay?! Let’s go!

Don’t Be Afraid of Color!

Every student that comes into my studio is afraid of color. It’s like it’s an evil demon. I ask them why they are afraid of it and it honestly boils down to this … they are afraid to make “mud.” Here’s my rule of thumb … even “mud” clay has a place in my studio: undersculpts, bead cores, test pieces, and more. So never be afraid to experiment and have a good time doing it. A long time ago I wrote a beginner’s guide to understanding color theory. It helps break down the “scary parts” of color into things that are easier for us to understand. And of course, Parker isn’t remotely scary to begin with.

My Structured Color Mixing Method

Today I’m going to show you how my method and how I do it. My method is based on basic color mixing and painting theories. Here’s why I don’t use randomized methods. More often than not, I “accidentally” make a color I really like and want to use for future projects and make large batches! If I don’t know how I made that color, I’ll never be able to reproduce it again. So rather, I make “test colors” from small samples of my basic colors.

Making these small samples enables me to see what larger portions will look like. I don’t like to make these portions too small however. Each “swatch” varies in size but is roughly the size of my little finger or thumb. In the end, if I choose to make a larger portion of these swatches, great. If not, I still have a small portion I can use as an accent that will go with my overall design. [How do you think I find cool color recipes to share with you all?]

Yearning for a more random color method? Try Jenny Sorenson’s Pivot Technique.

How to Make a Color Palette in Polymer Clay

Pick 2 or more basic “blocks” of color – This can be any brand. Most of what I use in my studio is Polyform’s Premo! by Sculpey, but you can use whatever brand you prefer. For today’s example I am using: Green, Cobalt Blue Hue, Purple & Gold.

• NOTE: I know Premo! very well, so I know which colors happen to be more saturated than others. For example, Cobalt blue hue is a very strong saturated color and will quickly overpower anything it’s put with. I know this because I’ve worked with Premo! for a long time. I would not be as knowledgeable with Fimo and the same may not be true with Fimo. Go easy on yourself when you are first starting to play with color as you may not know the saturations of the color as well if you are unfamiliar with a brand of clay.

• First condition about 1/4 to 1/2 block of each basic color you have picked to work with.
• Roll each portion of clay on the 2nd largest setting of your pasta machine.
• Pick a small cutter to use as your “sample” size and the basic building blocks you will use to make all your test swatches from.
• Cut out rounds of each original color from your sheets you just made using your Kemper cutters.
• Now the fun part! Take your rounds of color and begin to piece them together to make new colors.
  • TIP: If you have a color wheel, I suggest using it so you don’t mix a lot of opposites together and get oodles of mud. I do try to be a little cautious that way. Because I’ve paid attention to my color wheel, all my colors do tend to be “useable” in the end .
• HINT: USE YOUR CELL PHONE TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THE SAMPLES YOU INTEND TO MIX TOGETHER!!
• Next mix all those rounds or partial rounds of color you have chosen together.
• To conclude, at the end of a basic mixing session you will have a few or many colors.

Adding Tints / Tones / Shades : Once my palette is made, I can lighten or darken any color from there. I like my colors to be true. For example, why lighten a purple color when I already know that I can do that by simply adding black or white to that color. Therefore when I make my color palettes I make only what I call “true tone colors” choosing to accept whatever light/dark pigments are already in the clay itself.

The ENTIRE palette you see above was made simply from the four colors presented above and in less than 20 minutes by using the method above. Learning to make a color palette in polymer clay is not hard once you are shown what to do. I have made my own color palettes and blended colors this way for years. I find it easy, and often can come up with some gorgeous new colors I turn to over and over again simply by using this method.

The longer, more in-depth version is available as a worksheet in our store.

Polymer Clay Color Palette Worksheet

$3.95

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Sculpting Blessings,