Printing with silk screens on polymer clay is a great technique to get wonderful patterns and effects with only a little effort. The silk screens can be used many times, if you treat them right. Although the screens have one certain design, they can be used in a great number of ways. I will show you how to do just that.
Here is what you will need to get started:
A silk screen, of course. Pick a smaller one for your first try. The Sculpey sets have one large one and six small, round ones. Then you will need a squeegee, that comes with the Sculpey silk screens or you could also use an old key card. Acrylic paint in the color of your choice. You want a paint that is viscous. If the paint is too thin and runny it can get under your silk screen and spoil the print! You also will need some kitchen paper towels and a bowl of water, big enough so you can dip in your silk screens. And of course polymer clay and your basic tool box for working with the clay.
When you first start working with silk screens, start simple until you understand the basics process. Once you have done that, it is easy to go to the next technique with confidence. Prepare all your tools and especially have the bowl of water ready right next to you.
First roll out a sheet of clay, in a solid color of your choice. I like to use Soufflé because the matt surface takes up the paint really well. Place the silk screen on top, with the shiny side down, and burnish it with your fingers to stick to the clay. Now use the acrylic paint and make a line of paint on top of the screen, as seen in the picture.
Place your squeege just behind that paint line and press it down on the screen. Now pull the squeege towards you to pull the paint over the screen. Check if you have covered all areas of your screen with paint. If there are still uncovered spots, place the squeege just on top of them and pull it over till the silk screen is covered with paint in all places (like in the picture above).
Carefully remove the screen from your clay by lifting a corner of the screen and gently pulling it off the clay sheet. Place your silk screen at once in the bowl of water to prevent the paint from stick to the screen! Also clean the squeegee at once or also place it in the water bowl. You can add your next silk screen in the same bowl of water and clean them all together carefully under running water. Let them dry on a piece of kitchen paper.
Place the printed clay to the side to let the paint dry before continuing to work with it.
Congratulations! You have done your first silk screen print on polymer clay!
After you have tried out the basic procedure a couple of times you can start making your design a bit more interesting by adding a couple of variations to the process. Here are some ideas what you could do:
Add a second print on top of the first one, after the first on has dried completely. You can use the same paint color or a different one. You can use the same screen design or a different one, or a mix of all of these variants. Even when you start with a simple silk screen design you can complex patterns with a combination of screen designs.
Use more than one color in a single pull. You can make stripes by adding alternating dots of acrylic paint instead of one solid line. You can use two or more colors for that technique. If you don´t pull down in a straight line, but in a wavy motion, you will get wavy stripes. If you do stripes and than a second pull from the side you even can get a checker pattern in the pull! Try out what else you can come up with!
Print on clay that has more than one color, a pattern or a complex design. (see my piece on the top left in the picture) You might want to keep the print simpler and/ or just in one color. Be careful that your design does not get too busy!
These are just a couple of starter ideas, that you can explore. Once you have tried out a couple of options I am sure you will come up with many more!
Silkscreen printing on polymer clay is a quick and easy way to make components for your jewellery or home décor pieces. There is a near endless range of possibilities to try out! What are you waiting for?
