I love working with polymer clay and I am always trying my best to master the medium. I have found that working with black polymer clay is a challenge since it's less forgiving than other colors when it comes to our mistakes. As a result, there are some unique things to consider when using black clay in your projects.
Here are four things I've learned along the way:
1. Resin is exceptionally delicate after curing.
Resin is exceptionally delicate after curing and you can see all the little marks when working with black (and I mean ALL of them!) So if you want to manipulate the piece it's better to use a soft fabric on top of your desk and soft gloves.
Use a silicon tip to apply resin. If you want more detail in your resin finish, use multiple thin layers instead of one thick layer. This way, each layer can dry before adding another one!
Do not use paper towels or regular kitchen towels for cleaning as they leave behind lint which will stick on your clay once dried at room temperature or even worse if left outside in cold weather! Use only white lint free wipes because they won't leave any fibers behind like regular towels do.
2. Light color specks can be everywhere.
Light color specks can be everywhere and guess what? They can be seen in your black piece! So make sure you clean your desk, floor, and any surface around you BEFORE beginning to work.
When working with black polymer clay, you will notice that the color specks from your hands and tools will be everywhere. These specks can be seen in your piece if you are not careful. So make sure to clean your desk, floor, and any surface around you before you take tat black clay out of the pakage.
3. Sanding is tricky when using this dark color.
When working with black polymer clay, sanding is tricky. Black fades a little with sanding, so make sure to go through all the grains and buff and seal after (I like to seal with natural wax) to recover the piece from all the stress. This definitely helps you double-check if you're over-sanding.
4. All designs look good on black.
All designs look good in black so taking a decision on the design will be really hard. But I guess we all already knew this one! So, get reeady to having hard time deciding on what design to make with black polymer clay because all shapes look good in this medium.
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All in all, I think is a good color to test our polymer clay techniques as it reveals things we can improve.
Well, I hope you enjoyed these tips and found this information useful. Do you have any additional suggestions for working with black polymer clay? If so, please share them in the comments below.
Love, Naita
