PanPastels mixed with liquid polymer clay makes a very nice paint for raw polymer clay. It’s very compatible with polymer, unlike other paints which can scratch off. It sets up in a couple hours so it’s dry to the touch. This means it can be formed around an object. It can even be stretched without cracking.

I silkscreened this palm leaf pattern with a Moiko silkscreen and Pan Pastels mixed with Genesis Thick Medium.  I ran the small piece on the left in the photo below through my clay machine a couple times. Notice how the paint stretches with the clay.  If this were acrylic paint or ink, it would crackle.  The dot pattern around the edges of the silkscreened pattern does become more pronounced as it’s enlarged.

The small piece on the left was stretched with no cracking.

I really like how these “pastel paints” work and think they have a lot of potential.  You can mix any color you want. They’re very much like colored liquid clay or Genesis Heat-Set Oils.  They clean up with alcohol, which didn’t seem to affect the Moiko silkscreen. 

I did notice a little smearing when I used Genesis Thick Medium, so I decided to test different brands of liquid polymer, paste polymer and Genesis Thick Medium mixed with PanPastels on Cernit Number One to see which ones didn’t smear after they set up.

I mixed the following with lavender Pan Pastels, applied them with a palette knife, left them undisturbed for two hours and then tried to smear them: 

  1. Bake and Bond
  2. Translucent Liquid Sculpey
  3. Kato Liquid Clay
  4. Kato Poly Paste
  5. Cernit Glue
  6. Fimo Liquid Gel
  7. Genesis Thick Medium

Bake and Bond, Translucent Liquid Sculpey and Kato Poly Paste didn’t smear.  Kato Liquid clay didn’t smear, but it got little cracks in it.  (See red arrows.) Cernit, Fimo and Genesis all smeared.  

I tried smearing again the next day. Fimo had been very liquid after two hours and it had finally set up, but it still smeared, as did Cernit Glue and Genesis Thick Medium.

I decided to try a test of just the best three, plus Genesis Thick Medium and Genesis Heat-Set Oils. In the photo below it’s

  1. Translucent Liquid Sculpey
  2. Bake and Bond
  3. Kato Poly Paste
  4. Genesis Thick Medium
  5. Genesis Heat-Set Oils

I let them sit for five hours before trying to smear them. The first three were immovable. Unfortunately, Genesis Thick Medium and Genesis Heat-Set Oils smeared.

Then I decided to stretch the clay by running it through my clay machine on a narrower setting.

Stretched test pieces

None of them cracked, but a little paint lifted from the Genesis Heat-Set Oils.

When using liquid clay as a paint on polymer, it’s helpful to test it beforehand.  Results may vary with the brand of polymer clay used.