This tutorial is kind of a build off of my hibiscus flower tutorial from last year. I found myself making another hibiscus-themed piece, and I wanted to try a different way of achieving the gradient look I went for originally by mixing a clay gradient.
Clay gradients are extremely effective, but they do take a little more time to create. I wanted to experiment with having a solid clay base and adding chalk pastels (or powder pigments, make up, etc. would work about the same, I imagine) to add a subtle gradient at the base of the petal.
Note: I’m keeping my petals as individual petals for this project—I am not making a complete flower. For this tutorial, you’ll see me coloring the individual petals. If you are making a whole petal, I would suggest assembling the petals first and then adding the powders. This way, if you’re a fumbler like I am, you’re not ruining that color when you’re assembling the flower. Clay with pigments on it doesn’t stick as well to each other anyway since there’s that layer of powder in between, so this way your clay has been assembled first and then has the powder added on top.
Supplies:
- Clay for your flower petal (I’m using a medium pink)
- Roller or pasta machine
- Exacto knife
- Ballpoint tool
- Chalk pastels or some other powdery pigment in a color that will show up on your clay. I’m mixing my own darker pink.
- A small fluffy brush
Step 1: Roll out your clay
You’ll want to roll your clay out into a flat strip of clay. Work as thinly as you feel comfortable doing. My clay is probably an 1/8″ thick. We’ll be stretching it out later so you will want it to be a little thicker than your final petal.
Step 2: Cut out your petals
This is a little bit of a recap of that original hibiscus tutorial, so if you want more in depth information, be sure to check that out (link in first paragraph)! Cut out a fan shape with a rectangle base.
This shape should be smaller than what you want your final petal to be because we’ll be changing the size in the next step.
Step 3: Shape your petals
I like to use the ball point tool to add the ridges to my petal. This also stretches out the shape to make it look more natural. I use this tool to feather the edges and make the petal thinner.
Step 4: Prep your chalk pastel
If you’re using a color right off of the chalk piece, you can just shave some powder onto your work surface. You can also do what I did and mix up a color blend that might work better with the color of your clay.
Step 5: Shade your petals
Using the small fluffy brush, dip it into your chalk pastels and brush it across the petal. For a hibiscus petal, the color is more concentrated in the base of the petal, so I built up the powder there and used less as I moved toward the middle (and none along the tips of the petal).
Tip: It’s easier to add more powders than to pull back on the gradient, so it’s better to use a little powder at a time and continue adding more until you have the amount you like. If you find that you’ve put way too much on, you can use rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab to wipe it off and start again.
The end is a much more subtle gradient, which is what I was trying to accomplish with this project.
Here’s the piece I created these petals for so you can see it all baked and glazed up.
