Polymer Clay Palette

For my birthday I treated myself to some polymer clay and some tools. I’ve loved the process of learning to work with this new medium. I wanted to create some polymer clay earrings that used a consistent color palette. I wanted to practice mixing colors to achieve a desired color, and I wanted the colors I chose to be cohesive.

I chose to use a sunset photo I took in Maine as my inspiration photograph. I thought I would end up with a couple of blues, some pink, some yellow, and then something close to black.

I input my photo into ProCreate. I knew there was a tool I could use to select colors, but I couldn’t remember how to access it. As I was looking it up, I found a way that you can have Procreate make a color palette for you based on your picture. I figured it would be worth it to try it out.

Oh my goodness. The color palette came out NOTHING like I expected it to. However, when I look at the image, I can see how the computer chose the colors it did. The computer ended up choosing oranges, blues, browns, and grays. Not my first choice for jewelry, but I liked it nonetheless.

The palette made from this image is at the top of the column. I was surprised at the colors it chose, but I like them!

I selected a few colors from the computer-generated palette, and grouped them for reference. I then set out to mix my colors. I ended up mixing the black, orange, navy, light blue, gray, and brown colors. I decided to leave out the second denim blue color because it seemed so similar to the navy I had already mixed.

I’ve seen this terrazzo pattern online recently, so I wanted to try it for myself. I took the black and rolled it into a slab. I then made sure my colors were very thin, and ripped sections off and pressed them into the clay, being sure to evenly distribute each color. I found that the navy didn’t have much contrast with the black. I then cut my earring pieces from the slab with my cutters and cut holes for jump rings. Now when I make this pattern, before I cut my pieces out, I put them through my roller or roll them with a rolling pin to have less texture on the surface of the slab and to make things smoother.

I then wanted to make some floral earrings. I cut my shapes out of a white slab and created flower petals and put them on the earrings. I made detail marks using a straight pin that I use for sewing. I tried to mirror my design on both sides. These ones turned out to be my favorites from this experiment.

The floral and terrazzo pieces ready to bake.

Next up was an abstract piece. I wanted to create a miniature piece of artwork for your ears. I made different shapes and lines using the different colors of clay. I think this technique would work better if I had made a large slab out of it and not just the two earrings. I would also roll out this slab to flatten the texture in the future.

I then had some white, gray, and black clay left. I marbled it together and cut out a few circles for earrings. I liked how these ones came out.

I took this marbled clay and used it to make flower petals with orange centers on a black slab. I liked my craftsmanship, but I feel like the finished product reminds me of the Brood X Cicadas that just finished singing until 2038. The red-orange centers remind me of the cicada eyes.

I then rolled the remaining clay I had into logs. I twisted the logs I had around each other, rolled a little, and then cut sections. I joined these sections into a slab, and cut out pieces. I liked the shapes of the individual colors. I don’t think I’m a fan of how the colors themselves interacted with each other, and the overall effect of the colors.

I then marbled all of the clay I had left from those cutouts and made some VERY thin earring pieces. I tested using a white paint pen on these pieces, and they remind me of footballs. The white paint pen worked well. The earrings, not so much.

I had a lot of fun with this project. It amazes me how far little balls of colored clay can go. I go through more of the slab color more quickly, but the little bits of colored clay can last a long while. I really do like my florals.

As I was getting dressed this morning, I wanted to wear some of my polymer earring creations. However I didn’t have any that matched the shirt I was going to wear. For an upcoming project I am going to base a set of earrings on clothes I already own.

Below are pictures of the final earrings.