Painting Tips and Tricks
I was painting some of the newly baked batch of charms and decided that I may as well also do a sort of painting tutorial, or show the process I use to get them painted and finished, decorations and all. So first off, I use a small flat brush, I'm not entirely sure what size it is and etc, but all I know is that this brush is the best to use to paint the main colours of the charms. The first thing I'll do, is paint a coat of white paint on the charm - since the clay is flesh toned, just painting straight onto it with the colour I want, sometimes have the effect of the colour being slightly darker than usual, since the flesh tone shows through. So having a white base is best.
I paint in one direction, downward brush strokes, and at this point I don't mind having brush marks on the charm. Then depending, if it was onigiri, and it's supposed to be white, I'll put a couple more coats on until the paint goes on smooth, about three to four coats. But since in this case, another colour is going on top, I'll use at least one coat, or two, if I want the white colour to be even. Of course, if the charm is going to be black, I don't bother with the white base coat, and just paint it black with maybe two coats of it. So anyway, in this case, I used two coats of white - painting the second one on after the first coat of white has dried.
So there's the second coat. After that has dried, I check it for any cracks or holes I may have missed in painting. These cracks and holes are usually created by the clay itself, and really, I should sand it before painting, but sometimes I'm lazy and just fill in these imperfections with the base coat.
Ah, you may have noticed, but there is this piece of wire hooked into the charm, it's what I use to hang on the little mobile thingy for the charm to dry between coats of paint. Next, I coat the charm with the colour I want to use, in this case, red.
Again, downward brush strokes. Once that is dry, I used a second coat of red, just to make sure the paint job is even. I tend to not worry about brush marks, and later on you'll see why.
So that's the second coat complete, and I tend to be a bit careful in doing it to make sure that everything is even and covered, and that the brush strokes are at its minimum. Then I add the details, painting the tail white, and then painting on the eyes and cheeks. I use a toothpick that I've broken in half, and smoothed down the end, and I use it to dip into the paint, and make the dots for their eyes and cheeks.
It's not shown in this picture, but I use a toothpick - the very pointy end of it - and dip it into white paint to make the dots for the little shine in their eyes. Once the paint is all dried, I dip the charm into the gloss.
I use the Studio by Sculpey Glossy Glaze - it's nice and thick, and dries relatively quickly. Of course you can thin it with a little water, but I prefer it thick.
So after the initial dip, I let the charm hang there for a few seconds for the excess gloss to drip off, so that it's coating is as thin as gravity will let it.
As you can see here, the coating has thinned itself. I'll then let the charm hang on the mobile, but if I see any drips form, I'll scrape that little dip off with an empty gloss bottle I've set aside. I'll then wait for the gloss to dry, which takes a few minutes, and then check it over, to see if the coating is even, if it isn't I'll use a brush and a bit of gloss to even it out. But anyway, since the gloss is thick, it 'fills in' the brush strokes of the paint, so I end up with a charm that is relatively smooth. I'll then glue the gems and slices of cane onto the charm using a toothpick and dollops of the gloss.
Ta-dah! completed charm! Since it already has an eye pin in it, and a split ring attached to the eye pin (this is done before the charm is baked), all it needs now is a jump ring and the cord.
And here are they all completed! I finished these charms in about four and a half hours, heh. I think it's the waiting between paint coatings that take the most time.
Ah well, I had fun painting them at least, even though at the end of it all my hands were covered in paint, lol. I was asked if it was a good idea to share this kind of thing online, since people can copy and etc etc, but in truth I don't mind very much sharing a tutorial/tip thing, since there are so many online anyway, and my technique is not that much different from any other. Regardless, I hope this was useful, and explains a bit in how I create these charms and how much effort I put into them!
^_^
I paint in one direction, downward brush strokes, and at this point I don't mind having brush marks on the charm. Then depending, if it was onigiri, and it's supposed to be white, I'll put a couple more coats on until the paint goes on smooth, about three to four coats. But since in this case, another colour is going on top, I'll use at least one coat, or two, if I want the white colour to be even. Of course, if the charm is going to be black, I don't bother with the white base coat, and just paint it black with maybe two coats of it. So anyway, in this case, I used two coats of white - painting the second one on after the first coat of white has dried.
So there's the second coat. After that has dried, I check it for any cracks or holes I may have missed in painting. These cracks and holes are usually created by the clay itself, and really, I should sand it before painting, but sometimes I'm lazy and just fill in these imperfections with the base coat.
Ah, you may have noticed, but there is this piece of wire hooked into the charm, it's what I use to hang on the little mobile thingy for the charm to dry between coats of paint. Next, I coat the charm with the colour I want to use, in this case, red.
Again, downward brush strokes. Once that is dry, I used a second coat of red, just to make sure the paint job is even. I tend to not worry about brush marks, and later on you'll see why.
So that's the second coat complete, and I tend to be a bit careful in doing it to make sure that everything is even and covered, and that the brush strokes are at its minimum. Then I add the details, painting the tail white, and then painting on the eyes and cheeks. I use a toothpick that I've broken in half, and smoothed down the end, and I use it to dip into the paint, and make the dots for their eyes and cheeks.
It's not shown in this picture, but I use a toothpick - the very pointy end of it - and dip it into white paint to make the dots for the little shine in their eyes. Once the paint is all dried, I dip the charm into the gloss.
I use the Studio by Sculpey Glossy Glaze - it's nice and thick, and dries relatively quickly. Of course you can thin it with a little water, but I prefer it thick.
So after the initial dip, I let the charm hang there for a few seconds for the excess gloss to drip off, so that it's coating is as thin as gravity will let it.
As you can see here, the coating has thinned itself. I'll then let the charm hang on the mobile, but if I see any drips form, I'll scrape that little dip off with an empty gloss bottle I've set aside. I'll then wait for the gloss to dry, which takes a few minutes, and then check it over, to see if the coating is even, if it isn't I'll use a brush and a bit of gloss to even it out. But anyway, since the gloss is thick, it 'fills in' the brush strokes of the paint, so I end up with a charm that is relatively smooth. I'll then glue the gems and slices of cane onto the charm using a toothpick and dollops of the gloss.
Ta-dah! completed charm! Since it already has an eye pin in it, and a split ring attached to the eye pin (this is done before the charm is baked), all it needs now is a jump ring and the cord.
And here are they all completed! I finished these charms in about four and a half hours, heh. I think it's the waiting between paint coatings that take the most time.
Ah well, I had fun painting them at least, even though at the end of it all my hands were covered in paint, lol. I was asked if it was a good idea to share this kind of thing online, since people can copy and etc etc, but in truth I don't mind very much sharing a tutorial/tip thing, since there are so many online anyway, and my technique is not that much different from any other. Regardless, I hope this was useful, and explains a bit in how I create these charms and how much effort I put into them!
^_^