The Clayful Artist
Paint Your Own Pottery Studio
How to: Bubble Techniques and Paint Chips
Although I have been painting pottery at the Clayful Artist for some time now, I have never been too adventurous. Storeowner Nikki DeLong recently agreed to show me some downright spiffy techniques, and I want to pass on my newfound knowledge to you!
This week we will be looking at the bubble paint and paint chip techniques. According to Nikki, the bubble paint technique works best with dark colors. She advised no more than four colors per pottery piece. I selected #33 “Fruit of the Vine” (purple) and #76 “Cara-bein Blue.”
Bubble paint technique instructions
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Mix a two-second squirt of paint with water and dishwasher soap in a paper cup for each color.
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Place the piece of pottery on a turnstile. Hold the paper cup about three inches above and to the outside of the piece.
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Use the straw to blow bubbles into the mixture. Once the bubbles begin to overflow out of the paper cup, have another person slowly turn the stile until the bubbles rise up about three to four inches on all sides of the piece.
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Let the piece dry until the bubbles have disappeared and the paint has dried. Continue the same step for each color.
Aside from taking breaks for laughter, it did not take me long to complete the bubble technique with my two paint colors. I selected orange and yellow paint chips for the next step while the second set of bubbles dried on my piece.
Paint chips technique instructions
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Crunch the paint chips in a paper towel until they are about the size of a dime or slightly smaller. If the paint chips are too large, they will blob. If the paint chips are too small, it will be difficult to differentiate between the colors.
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Paint and/or write on the underside of the pottery piece before placing the paint chips inside.
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Sprinkle or arrange the paint chips inside of the piece to your liking.
The bubble paint technique can be a little messy, but Nikki assured me the paint washes right out of clothes! All in all, the laughter-filled project took about 15 minutes and provided me with an effortless marble design.