Rainbow Gradient Polymer Clay Tutorial
Have you ever wondered how to make color gradients with polymer clay? You might have also heard of a Skinner blend? It is actually quite easy to make the gradients, and a Skinner Blend is just one type of gradient.
To make a full rainbow gradient, you surprisingly only need three colors of polymer clay and something to roll them out. We are going to tell you everything you need to have, know, and do in this polymer clay tutorial.
Here's what you will need to get started:
- Red Papa's Clay
- Yellow Papa's Clay
- Blue Papa's Clay
- Pasta machine, hand roller, or a baker's roller to roll out your clay
Step 1 - Condition the Clay
Papa's Clay conditions differently than other types of clay. It just needs some gentle rolling and heat from your hands. Make sure to condition your clay before you start working with it.
Step 2 - Make a triangle or teardrop out of each piece of clay
Take your red piece of clay and cut it in half so that you have four pieces of clay. Make a little triangle out of each piece of polymer clay. Take your four pieces of clay and arrange them together as shown so that from left to right you have red, yellow, blue, red. You can also form your pieces of polymer clay into triangles.
Step 3 - Start rolling your clay
A pasta machine is not required to make blends, all you need is some type of roller. But, a pasta machine will make this step much easier. Use your roller to flatten your polymer clay.
Step 3 - Fold your clay, roll it, and repeat
Fold your polymer clay in half horizontally. Then, use your roller to flatten it and repeat this process many times. This step is the trickiest step because you will have to "smush" your clay back down to a workable size as you roll it out. You can see how this is done in the video. The more times you repeat the process, the more it will gradually start to create a gradient.
Step 4 - Stop rolling your polymer clay slab when ready
The more you repeat step 3, the finer the gradient will be. Simply stop the folding and rolling process when you are happy with the gradient on your polymer clay.
