i made a new set of earthy toned hoofed cryptids ! while last time there was bison, goat, and antelope, this time around we have deer, cow, and camel !

the unbaked clay for cow was off-white and i did not expect it to turn out dark gold, so i am not super sure how i feel about her in this line-up, palette wise. i'll either add them to the shop at a discount so they stay together, or i'll keep them to give as gifts separately

my wol! 🎨✨

here is finished catte photos and their neocities webbed site photoshoot !

on top of being joyfully glow in the dark, these shooting star cats were a first experiment with a different way of painting. normally, i paint my sculptures after baking using acrylic paints. these little guys were painted with old eyeshadows before they went in the oven. i have used eyeshadows and other powder colours on creatures before, but not before baking, and both techniques for doing that yield pretty different results to this one. i had fun and i love the softness, so i will definitely be using the technique more !

here are my findings on using powders to colour polymer clay. specifically eyeshadow, but it's similar with any other powder pigment.

☀️ paint before bake:

• you can blend powder into the clay and knead it til it is the right colour, or use it to marble or pattern clay. make a concentrated mix of powder and a little mineral oil (baby oil is good). this looks amazing with shimmer powders mixed into translucent clay. the mineral oil is very important if you're planning on blending because the dusty nature of powders will make your clay not want to stick to itself
• but this is a fantastic way to make super sticky clay easier to work with if necessary
• if you are only using it to paint on the outside, you are making use of the clay being soft and sticky to get the powder to stay on, so how well this works depends on the age and consistency of the clay
• incredibly fun technique to experiment with textures too ! either by brushing on top of the textured clay, or texturing with powder coated implements
• however you might need to be a smidge aggressive to get the powder to stick on, and that might deform your sculpture, or blend out your texturing
• there's also fallout, which is inevitable with powders; some are better for it and what you use to apply makes a difference too, soft brushes have more fallout than a little sponge stick. the oil on your fingertips can be your friend here if you're happy with skin print in the colour. you can blow fallout away too, to some success. i find trying to brush it away with a clean brush tends to lead to smudges
• decent quality pastels will have much better coverage than eyeshadows, at least in the lighter half of the palette. building and blending is an important part of makeup. what you use is up to what you have on hand and how hazy versus bold you like your work to look
• however keep in mind that the powder doesn't stick to itself, it only sticks where it comes in contact with the surface of the clay, so although you can layer it to be a deeper colour, only what's touching the clay will get securely baked in, and the rest will just end up falling off when touched
• adding a light coat of varnish (i like to apply with my fingers) is a good idea anyway, even if your powders aren't budging