Blushing / Painting Polymer Clay

With Acrylic Paints

Amanda takes you through Blushing / Painting Polymer Clay with Jo Sonja's acrylic paints in an easy to follow Polymer Clay video tutorial. Painting polymer clay to look like a realistic skin tone isn't as difficult as it may seem.

ADDITIONAL TIPS for painting polymer clay:

You can purchase any colour of the Jo Sonja's paints online from:

I am a regular customer with Dick Blick and find that their prices are often half of what I need to pay for supplies locally.

Because you are using such thin washes of paint when painting polymer clay dolls, you only need a very small amount of paint. Save your paint by only putting a small amount on your pallet.

To save cleaning up, wrap a plate up in Aluminium Foil or Baking paper and use that as your pallet. That way, when you finish, you only need to throw the foil or paper into the garbage bin.

To add freckles to your doll, do not use solid paint. Water the paint down- just do it a bit less than for blushing and build the freckle up until it's dark enough for you. Keep in mind that some freckles should be lighter than others to add realism.

Movie TRANSCRIPT:

Hello, my name is Amanda DeVirgilio and I'm going to show you how to blush a polymer clay sculpture. Firstly, you will need to get yourself some acrylic paints. My favorite brand is Jo Sonja's. I find they're the easiest to work with when you're painting polymer clay. You will need to have the colours Burnt Umber- which is a dark brown colour- and Burgundy. To paint the polymer clay you will have to water down the paints quite substantially. Load up your brush with water and drag out some of the paint on the tray. Keep adding water until the paint is fairly transparent. Now you're ready to paint. Dip your brush into the paint and apply it to the sculpture. Note that I'm not being very particular about it. When you're blushing a sculpture, the trick is to do it quickly. You want to achieve a fairly even coverage before the paint starts to dry. Make sure you get into all the details. It's helpful using a soft medium sized brush, it allows you to work faster. Quickly start to rub it off with your finger or a tissue. You won't see much of a difference at first but the burnt umber will settle into all the details and it will really make your sculptures features pop. Now, if you've never done this before, I suggest practicing on the back of the sculpture's head or in another area that will be covered later on. This will allow you to see if it's watered down enough before you paint the important features. You shouldn't be able to spot the edge of the painted clay. If dirty looking watermarks show up then you haven't watered down the paint enough or you haven't dried it off fast enough. When you've wiped off the paint, go back, load up your brush and add more paint. The paint will slowly start to tint the surface of the clay subtle enough to look like a convincing skin tone. Let's speed this up a bit shall we. Make sure you get right up into the nostrils. You want a fairly decent shadow in there to give it plenty of depth. Be sure to wipe all of that off too. I find it's easier to twist up a price of tissue and poke it right up in there. Now, I always like to add somewhat of a shadow around the eyes so I'm just going through and I'm working around the eyes with the burnt umber. After you have gone over the entire sculpture with the burnt umber and you're happy with how the shadows are sitting, you can start blushing with the red paint. Water it right down just like you did with the Burnt Umber and start applying it to the apple of the cheek. How red you want your doll to be at this point is entirely up to you, but I suggest not going overboard because your doll will just wind up looking sunburned. Paint both of the cheeks... a little bit on the tip of the nose... on the chin and up around the lips...remember to keep wiping the paint or you will start to get watermarks. I'll just add a little bit to the eyelids and some on the nipples. Pretty much, you're just adding red to wherever the blood might flow close to the surface. I'll also do some on the feet, fingers, knees and ears. Of course, all of this is optional, but I feel it makes the sculpture look just a little bit more believable. And there you have it- that is how you blush a polymer clay sculpture. Have fun everybody.

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Blushing / Painting Polymer Clay

With Acrylic Paints


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ADDITIONAL TIPS for painting polymer clay: You can purchase any colour of the Jo Sonja's paints online from: I am a regular customer with Dick Blick and find that their prices are often half of what I need to pay for supplies locally. Because you are using such thin washes of paint when painting polymer clay dolls, you only need a very small amount of paint. Save your paint by only putting a small amount on your pallet. To save cleaning up, wrap a plate up in Aluminium Foil or Baking paper and use that as your pallet. That way, when you finish, you only need to throw the foil or paper into the garbage bin. To add freckles to your doll, do not use solid paint. Water the paint down- just do it a bit less than for blushing and build the freckle up until it's dark enough for you. Keep in mind that some freckles should be lighter than others to add realism. Movie TRANSCRIPT: Hello, my name is Amanda DeVirgilio and I'm going to show you how to blush a polymer clay sculpture. Firstly, you will need to get yourself some acrylic paints. My favorite brand is Jo Sonja's. I find they're the easiest to work with when you're painting polymer clay. You will need to have the colours Burnt Umber- which is a dark brown colour- and Burgundy. To paint the polymer clay you will have to water down the paints quite substantially. Load up your brush with water and drag out some of the paint on the tray. Keep adding water until the paint is fairly transparent. Now you're ready to paint. Dip your brush into the paint and apply it to the sculpture. Note that I'm not being very particular about it. When you're blushing a sculpture, the trick is to do it quickly. You want to achieve a fairly even coverage before the paint starts to dry. Make sure you get into all the details. It's helpful using a soft medium sized brush, it allows you to work faster. Quickly start to rub it off with your finger or a tissue. You won't see much of a difference at first but the burnt umber will settle into all the details and it will really make your sculptures features pop. Now, if you've never done this before, I suggest practicing on the back of the sculpture's head or in another area that will be covered later on. This will allow you to see if it's watered down enough before you paint the important features. You shouldn't be able to spot the edge of the painted clay. If dirty looking watermarks show up then you haven't watered down the paint enough or you haven't dried it off fast enough. When you've wiped off the paint, go back, load up your brush and add more paint. The paint will slowly start to tint the surface of the clay subtle enough to look like a convincing skin tone. Let's speed this up a bit shall we. Make sure you get right up into the nostrils. You want a fairly decent shadow in there to give it plenty of depth. Be sure to wipe all of that off too. I find it's easier to twist up a price of tissue and poke it right up in there. Now, I always like to add somewhat of a shadow around the eyes so I'm just going through and I'm working around the eyes with the burnt umber. After you have gone over the entire sculpture with the burnt umber and you're happy with how the shadows are sitting, you can start blushing with the red paint. Water it right down just like you did with the Burnt Umber and start applying it to the apple of the cheek. How red you want your doll to be at this point is entirely up to you, but I suggest not going overboard because your doll will just wind up looking sunburned. Paint both of the cheeks... a little bit on the tip of the nose... on the chin and up around the lips...remember to keep wiping the paint or you will start to get watermarks. I'll just add a little bit to the eyelids and some on the nipples. Pretty much, you're just adding red to wherever the blood might flow close to the surface. I'll also do some on the feet, fingers, knees and ears. Of course, all of this is optional, but I feel it makes the sculpture look just a little bit more believable. And there you have it- that is how you blush a polymer clay sculpture. Have fun everybody. Go from "Painting Polymer Clay" to "Doll Makers Dream" HOME Disclaimer \| Terms of Use \| Contact Copyright © 2003-2013 Amanda Day, All Rights Reserved	Can't find something? Search Doll Makers Dream with the search box below Learn how to create a polymer clay baby from start to finish! Learn how to sculpt a face in polymer clay for your OOAK Dolls. Learn how to how to blush/paint your polymer clay dolls with acrylic paints. Learn how to make a permanent doll wig with mohair for your OOAK Dolls.