Blending Colors When Painting Ceramics

Blending paints creates depth in hues.

Unpainted ceramic is the base for much of the decorative pottery you see in major home goods stores, but unlike most store-bought pottery, you do not need a kiln to fire the finished product when you paint ceramics at home. You can blend colors when painting ceramics to mimic store-bought pottery, and this process is easy because the most suitable paint to create images on raw ceramic is acrylic paint.

Supplies

Craft supply stores carry the few pieces of equipment necessary to blend and paint ceramics, including an unpainted ceramic piece. An acrylic paint palette that accommodates all the colors you want to use in addition to having extra space for blending allows you to work continuously without getting up to acquire more space for paints and blending. Choose paint brushes specifically made for acrylics because this type of nontoxic paint can ruin some paintbrush fibers. A variety of paintbrush bristle thicknesses and shapes yields different brush strokes, lines and textures.

Blending

Using acrylic paint directly from the container yields its thickest form. Small amounts of water added to the acrylic thins it to your desired consistency. Any consistency works well on ceramics, and the dry time is typically only minutes long no matter the thickness. A paintbrush or small palette knife is suitable for blending two or more acrylic colors. Take a small amount of paint from one color on your palette and place it on a clean palette section. Retrieve another small amount of another color and add it to the first color in a stirring motion until you see your desired hue.

Application

Apply the blended colors directly to the ceramic. If the paint is on the thicker side and you did not mix it well, you may see streaks of one of the original colors. Remnants of original colors may also reside in the paintbrush, especially if the bristles are thick. Rectify either of these issues by removing excess paint from the ceramic, placing it back on the blending area on the palette and remixing thoroughly. Acrylic paints that are not thinned to a watercolor consistency are easy to layer, which hides any underlying mistakes.

Clean the brush with soap and water between paint applications. Gentle hand rubbing motions on the bristles works the soap and water into the fiber lengths while minimizing fiber damage.

Considerations

The quick drying property of acrylic paint means you must keep paintbrushes moist, palette knives clean and your work area covered. A small cup of warm water next to your work area is a quick relief for paint brush bristles with drying acrylic. Use only a small dab of water to moisten the paint while keeping the paint’s consistency.

Use soap and water to clean the palette knife after each use. If the paint dries on the knife, it is extremely difficult to remove. The same is true if paint is splattered onto your clothes, floor or surrounding fibrous furniture except in this case, the paint also stains. Prevent this mishap by dressing in old clothes and covering your work space with plastic tarp.

References

• Dick Blick: Acrylic Painting
• How to Draw and Paint: Acrylic Paint Brushes Reviewed
• How to Draw and Paint: Choosing and Using Acrylic Paint

Resources

• Golden Artist Colors: Color Mixing Guide