Whether you’re getting creative on your own or helping your kids express their artistic side, polymer clay is a fantastic medium. This clay is easy to mold, and you can leave it to harden into sculptures or other types of art to keep forever.
While you can buy colored polymer clay, many people prefer to purchase white clay and add their own colors. Adding your own colors with mica powder or another colorant gives you more control over the shade and saturation of your clay.
However, there are many colors to choose from. Most people don’t know where to start. What colors look best with polymer clay, and which ones should beginner artists begin with? We answer those questions for you below.
Primary and Secondary Colors Are Best
Although you can add any color you want to polymer clay, it’s often best to work with primary and secondary colors. These bold colors are easy to find and will saturate white polymer clay well.
Baking polymer clay to harden can also fade or darken the clay’s color. Primary and secondary colors are dark enough that the polymer clay will still have color if they fade. They are also light enough to appear after darkening.
The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. The secondary colors are orange, green, and purple.
Beginners Should Stick With Primary Colors
If you’ve never used polymer clay before, then picking between six colors can still feel daunting. You can narrow the list down to primary colors.
Red, yellow, and blue all look great with polymer clay and are easy to mix in. Using mica powders with polymer clay will give your clay the perfect coloring. Start with a small amount of powder and add more if you want a brighter color.
Craft Ideas for Each Primary Color
If you or your kids are new to polymer clay, we have some ideas for crafts you can make with the primary colors. While these crafts will work in any color, they are a great way to get started with clay.
Red Jewelry Dish
Red is the color of passion, so it’s an excellent color to paint an object for storing the jewelry you love. Mix red mica powder into your polymer clay and start crafting a dish.
You can make it any size you need to store your jewelry. Make sure to give the dish sides so your jewelry won’t slide out.
Yellow Decorative Flowers
Many popular flowers like daffodils and sunflowers are yellow, so it’s the perfect color for a decorative clay flower. Mix yellow mica powder into your polymer clay. Press it flat and then create petals using a hand tool or a cookie cutter.
Connect the petals in the middle to create a beautiful flower. Use a straw to poke a hole in the top petal so you can hang the flower up.
Blue Pencil Holder
Blue is the color of intellect, so it’s the perfect color for a pencil holder. Mix blue mica powder into your polymer clay and flatten it. Cut the clay into strips and roll each into a snake.
Place the biggest snake on the bottom and layer the other snakes on top to create a tube. Add a flat piece to the bottom to seal everything together.
The colors that look best with polymer clay include red, yellow, and blue. Use these colors and this sculpting medium to help yourself or your children discover their inner artists.
