DIY Celestial Air Dry Clay Paint Palette

Are you looking for an awesome and practical gift for an artistic friend? Make a Celestial Air Dry Clay Palette with us!




Clay has risen in popularity over the last two years because it is super easy to create with, even if you are not a professional artist. 

Step one:



Grab yourself some air-dry modelling clay, we used Mont Marte’s Air Dry Clay in white. 

Make sure you’re working on a nice clean surface, you can use an easy clean palette or wooden board to make moving your piece around easier. 

Knead and work the clay to make it smooth and soft.

Step two: 



Roll out a nice flat circular shape and continue smoothing out the clay. Once you’ve achieved the desired thickness, wet your hands and smooth the surface, making sure there are no cracks or air bubbles. 

Using a modelling clay tool, carve out your desired shape. We chose to create a circular palette with a crescent moon shape inside. 

Once you have carved out your shape, continue smoothing and shaping the edges. We created a slight lip around the edge of the palette to avoid any spillages.



Step three:



Next we carved out the wells. Using a clay tool, we marked out the shapes we wanted the palette wells to be, keeping about a centimetre gap between each well. 

Once we were happy with these shapes and spaces we used a sculpting clay tool to carve out the clay from the palette. 

We then used some water on our fingers to smooth out the wells, making sure they are nice and deep enough to hold some watercolour. 

We then chose to carve a few little stars into the palette for some extra detail. Now we wait for the clay to dry! Depending on thickness this will take about 24 hours to dry to earthenware hardness.



Step four:


Once your palette has dried you can use some sandpaper to smooth off any edges. Then it’s time to paint your project if your heart desires! 

We used Mont Marte’s Signature Acrylic Paint to create a nighttime sky effect on one side of the palette and left the moon side unpainted. We added gold paint to the crescent moon-shaped line and painted in the stars as well.



Step five:



Once your paint has dried it’s time to varnish! We used a high gloss varnish from Liquitex and a soft Taklon brush to apply it. Once it’s dry your masterpiece is ready for gift-giving or use it for yourself!



Enjoy your own unique beautiful hand made palette!









 

If you have any questions or comments be sure to leave them below!  And don't forget to tag us in your artwork on Instagram @artshedonline ;)