How to Paint Air Dry Clay Using Shading Techniques

Today Mauricio Siqueira takes us on a walkthrough of painting a completed air-dry clay or cold porcelain figure using craft acrylics.  Step by step photos take us from a cured completed figure (as shown below) to the finished detailed bunny shown above.   Using the same techniques used by tole painters, the artist shades and antiques the wrinkles in the bunny's body and other accent areas.  Notice where the artist uses thinned down paints to shade some areas.  Blush or pastel chalks are used on the cheeks.

Bunny before painting

Comparing Polymer Clay and Cold Porcelain

DottedKitten has created a video showing us the differences she found between polymer clay and no-bake cold porcelain.   This question comes up often, so I hope you enjoy the video.   Thanks DottedKitten!

New changes in store for New Clay News

Doll made by author (Mary in Oregon) using Creative Paperclay and Robert  McKinley tutorial.

In this, the fifth year of The New Clay News, I've decided to make some format changes.  I'll be converting this blog to a website format for a couple of reasons.   I've gotten involved in too many things (in real life) and just don't seem to have the time any more for daily (or even weekly) blog posts.  Also, I want to make this a great reference site for all the frequently asked questions about air-dry and no-bake clays.   To do that, I plan on adding some more pages of reference material rather than doing any more random posting or how-to tutorials.

All the existing posts will remain in the archives, but, in the future, look for all step-by-step tutorials to be posted at my Air-Dry-Clay (tutorial directory) and, just for cold porcelain, we have Cold Porcelain Tutorials.   Please sign up for RSS or follow those tutorial directories by email.    If you need personal assistance, we still have our Air-Dry-Clay Yahoo Group going strong with over 1200 members!  Join us!

Remember, we're not closing down...we're just changing....so look for more product reviews, more about art dolls, some featured artists, and lots of crafting tips coming soon as our resources for air-dry, self-hardening and no-bake clays grows right along with the popularity of this form of clay modeling!

How to Size Doll Eyes

If you're going to make your own clay doll, you'll need to buy or make some eyes.   There's lots of tutorials for making your own doll eyes.   We've featured some here and also at Air-Dry-Clay Tutorials....but today we're talking about ready-made eyes.