Painting on air dry clay

August 16, 2021 8:18 PM

Confused snowflakes inside.

I have some JOVI airdry clay that I would like to make into pins, jewelry, and magnets.

I also have some oil paints already in my inventory, and would like to use those for painting the dry clay, but I'm seeing conflicting advice regarding the type of medium to use for painting clay. I saw a website that said oil paint works beautifully on airdry clay albeit being a bit more difficult to control, but others say that you should only use acrylic.

On YouTube, I see people working on airdry clay with both gouache and acryla gouache. Now I'm confused.

I'd prefer not to have to purchase a whole new set of paints, but I will consider it if I have to. So, what type of paint works best for airdry clay in your experience? Gouache, acryla gouache, acrylic, oil?

Also, I have some Liquitex gesso that I plan to use on the dried clay before painting to act as a sealant. Will that also work to varnish the painted clay, or do I need to buy a UV lamp for resin curing? Or can the gesso work as a varnish? Do I need to buy Mod Podge?

I am too scared to start because I don't know if I have the right materials and don't want to mess it up. Any of your sage advice would help greatly.

posted by antihistameme to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

Best answer: Oil paints dry at different rates and dry more slowly than acrylic. As long as you work lean to fat and allow the layers to dry completely and finish with a sealant, painting on dry clay should be ok. If the clay surface is not dry, the water trapped in the clay would rise out and fog the layers of paint, making the surface appear cloudy.

Acrylic would be ok as well, but water borne acrylic is vulnerable to mold and needs a top coat of sealant to protect the top layer.

Acrylic gesso as a primer is acceptable for an oil paint top layer, but it should be allowed to dry completely between applications and before applying the oil layer definitely. Thin layers dry faster and more completely than thick layers.

For oils, the recommended dry time is six months to a year depending on the oil the pigment is ground into, and for acrylic it is about a month. If you live in a humid environment, your paints will dry more slowly.

I hope this is helpful information. Happy painting.
posted by effluvia at 10:16 PM on August 16, 2021

Best answer: I think you plan on this, but just in case my reading is incorrect: you should not paint oil directly atop the clay as that is not archivally stable. If you want to paint with oils, put a barrier of gesso or any other acrylic paint down first and let dry, then begin working with oil paint.

I think most types of paint will work especially if you seal/varnish afterwards so your preference is what I'd go with. I myself prefer Golden OPEN acrylic as it has an intermediate dry time and has the ease of water-based cleanup. I would recommend a final varnish with UV protection for the best long-term results. Liquitex gesso is not that, but Liquitex does sell gloss, satin, and matte final varnishes in both liquid and aerosol. I have developed a strong preference for their liquid ones.
posted by vegartanipla at 4:07 PM on August 17, 2021

Best answer: The thing about air dry clay is that for most types, getting it wet again will make it soft again. So you want to keep that in mind when choosing paints. You also want to keep it in mind for pieces that might be exposed to sweat/rain/etc and make sure that all surfaces are sealed in some way.

gouache/watercolor: these will also re-wet once dry, so are not the best for this or most craft projects. Might perhaps work but would probably be a pain.

acrylic paint/craft paint: This would be my first choice as they can be used without much water added. Acryla gouache would likely also work; it's basically acrylic paint formulated to behave more like gouache. However a lot of the appeal of gouache is the matte finish, so if you plan to use some kind of clear coat it might defeat the purpose.

oils: I don't have any experience with oils so I'll leave that to other commenters. But if that's what you have and prefer to use, I'd say make a few test pieces and experiment!

resin: AFAIK this is self leveling, which means it can work to coat the top of a flat piece, but not for 3D sculpted items.

mod podge: It should work but is formulated to work as both glue and sealant, so you could probably just use any type of acrylic sealant/varnish instead.

gesso: is traditionally white chalk and glue and I've only heard of it being used as a primer/ground not a varnish/sealant. I know there are clear gessos as well; I'm not sure if those fare better as a finish. I'm guessing not though, as the purpose of gesso generally is to help the paint adhere.
posted by gennessee at 6:14 PM on August 17, 2021