How To Make A Polymer Clay Skinner Blend
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- Video #356: It's all about combining triangles geometrically so that your colors overlap. More Info: www.beadsandbea... Polymer Clay Tutor.
Topics Covered In This Video:
How to make a Skinner Blend - A polymer clay color blend that gradually shifts from one color to another.
You can make a 2 color Skinner Blend from white to black for example. Or you can have a multi-color blend that more like a rainbow.
In a previous video I demonstrated the old school way of making a Graduated Color Blend, where you mix individual colors by hand in stepped proportions from one pure color to another pure color, with multiple hand mixed shades in between.
www.beadsandbea...
A few years ago (20yrs? or so), a polymer clay artist by the name of Judith Skinner, developed a technique that made blending from one color to another, much faster and simpler.
In this video I show you how to make a two color Skinner Blend. You will see the biggest effect if you use two colors of polymer clay that have high contract.
I then demonstrate how to make an Off-Set Skinner Blend.
In a future video I will show you how I developed an even faster way to make color blends... the Lietz Teardrop Method.
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Additional Resources... www.beadsandbea...
I just wasted so much time searching for offset skinner blend. There are tons out there, but you know, nobody does it like you do. Your explanations are so clear, you don't skip steps, or do time lapse so fast that nobody knows what you are doing. Now I know why I joined up with you and I say "Just Join Everybody". Newbies go for it...go to Cindy's blog and join you will learn so much
Thank you so much Laurie for taking the time to come in here and say that!! I really appreciate that! :)
thanks a bunch, I have always liked the way you take the time to really teach
This was extremely helpful. I've always been self-taught and therefore lacking in technique--thank you for posting these videos!
The "spray sticky clay with water to prevent sticking" was exactly what I needed to find! Thanks!!
The inspiration for this may have been from MS Paint gradients. MS Paint, as you probably know, is the default art program on windows computers, and it's normally impossible to make a smooth gradient in it unless you sample something from a preexisting image, or use a similar method to what's in this video. Making triangles of the colors you want to blend from corner to corner, then smashing it down to a single pixel, then stretching them out again to produce a blend. I never realized that technique had an application outside of MS Paint.
I use your channel like a text book, whenever i need help or a reference I can count on your channel to look back on so I don't forget amazing tips or refresh how to do things like how i needed a reminder on how to do this
Bknm
Thanks so much. I had not seen the "offset blend" done this way. Very clear teaching. All of your tutorials are the best.
Also, THANKS ESPECIALLY FOR THE CLOSED CAPTIONING! I have deaf members of my family who love to use You Tube, but so many tutorials are not captioned that they miss much of the information. Captioning helps me too!
Thank you so much Betsy for saying that! I am glad you appreciate the closed captioning. It takes a fair amount of manual effort to do them correctly (especially since we use a lot of interesting words in a craft niche like this, so it is difficult for transcription tools or services to always understand what I'm saying.) But they are helpful to people who have issues understanding my words, whether it is a hearing problem or a language barrier. So the extra work in getting them out there is definitely worth it. :)
Hi Isa R. You can make tons of things with blended colors. If you you go to my website www.polymerclaytutor.com and type Skinner Blend into the search box you will find all kinds of projects using blends.
***** That is called a pasta machine n(sometimes called a clay conditioning machine.). You can buy them at craft stores, kitchen shops, and online. Do a Google search and you'll find them. I just got a new one that I love. Here's the video on it: Atlas 150 Pasta Machine Unboxing (Polymer Clay Review)
I cant find the searxh box..
Your work table looks fabulous. Would love to just see all the unique tools you use I love all of you tutorials!
Thanks Faith Malarkey Hepler! I will try and do more videos on the tools I use. Thanks for the suggestion!
I am a newbie to the polymer clay thing and the way you explain things and show techniques is so easy to understand! Thank you!!!!!
You are sooo welcome Crystal! Thank you for popping in to say hi sharing the love.
This is so handy to know. I've been 'fiddling' with poly clay for a short time & until now was frustrated on how to get various colors/styles/etc. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge & advice.
One of the most useful skills you can master in polymer clay is making great color blends. The Skinner Blend is one of the ways you can create smooth consistent gradient color blends and is an important skill for every polymer clay enthusiast to know. This tutorial will show you both the regular Skinner Blend and the Off-Set Skinner Blend. #polymerclaytutorials
i dont have a pasta machine...
bunnylover807 You can just use a roller but it will be kinda hard
ok
+IAmPikachu me eather
Very helpful. I wasn't cutting them correctly and the water trick will really help!
I am just starting to learn and I have spent almost a week and a half, watching videos ALL day... :0)
I have made 2 canes and now I want to learn how to do the skinner blend. You did a great job of explaining so now I will try it.
I loved your video. you have some really great tutorials and I'm hoping this will help me. I've never done anything like this and I just ordered my clay tonight. Thank you for helping us beginners and beyond.
Cindy, I sincerely appreciate this video. I am still learning about polymer clay and found many helpful tips here. Thank you for not running this tutorial in high speed. Details get lost with higher speeds and pausing them gets old.
As to the comments: I am from deep in the southern section of Alabama. As if that wasn't enough fuel for people, I am also redheaded with lots of freckles. Personally, I like your accent. As far as I read I saw no negative comments on your style of teaching. This tells me that you're on the right track. I've subscribed and look forward to gaining more knowledge from you.
I did find one of the scathing commenter to be quite hilarious itself. I looked at 'her' page to see what kind of person 'she' was. I say it this way because it was trying to be catty like a female but the photo clearly shows an adam's apple.
I truly have no true animosity for anyone. As it requires more energy than I am willing to expend. Thanks, again ;) for expanding my knowledge of working with polymer clay.
WOW, extraordinary! That was so excellent! You have earned a big supporter :)
Clay claim! You make great clay tutorials! In fact i watch them daily
Great video, I am fairly new to polymer clay..you videos are so helpful, clear and precise. Thankyou for showing it in real time and not at a pace only light could follow. Xx
Thanks for sharing. The offset blend technique is very helpful.
I have to come back and visit different tutorials especially if I haven't needed one. Also I've been doing a Skinner blend without much variation so this was really, really good to relearn! Thank you!
You make a good point... sometimes coming back to something you have already learned, shows you new information you didn't see the first time. Because there is always so much information for your brain to collect, it only sees what it can handle at the time. Once you have learned more, your experienced eye, sees new things... usually the subtle things that can make a big difference... like how to hold your hands... the right tool to use... the direction the clay is folded. I regularly go back and look through my own tutorials and find things I forgot about... do differently... or inspire me to try combining that old idea with something new I have learned. Thank you for your comment! 💖💖💖
Thankyou - I will try. I want to make a kaleidoscope cane using 3 skinner blends. You make it look easy 🤞🌸
Hi and thank you for the tutorial on the skinner blend. No I have not made one but I wanted to didn't know how til now. I've done polymer clay for years however I feel with the tutorial help I can really let my artistic talent shine! I am learning so much! I'm on the hunt for clouds right now. See you soon going to watch the teardrop method.
Very clear tutorial. Loved it. Thank you.
Cindy, you are such a great Tutor; thank you so much. I am a beginner and I am learning so much from your tutorials. x Karen London UK
Thank you Karen for saying that! Happy claying! :)
You are most welcome; you have made me an addict. Love and Peace Karenx
Thank you for these terrific videos. I'm a beginner and you explain things clearly and simply. Thank you!
Glad the videos are helping you... thanks for saying so :)
I just got a roller machine today for Christmas, im excited to try this out for a project, thanks for the video
Wow I just found you what a wonderful teacher. Thank you ! Kathy from Cali. 😎
Thank you Kathy you are very kind! 🥰
I tried to make a skinner blend, only once, failed miserably! LOL First mistake I didn't know I could keep the colors from sticking together with a tiny spritz of water! That was an eyeopener! I'm anxious to try once again. My goal is three colors, will begin with two. Thanks for the awesome video! I see it is NINE YEARS OLD! I hope you're still making amazing and updated videos.
Thank you so much Robin for the kind words! Yeah, it's hard to believe we made this video was that long ago! Yes, we are still in the Polymer Clay world and will be coming back to RUclips in 2023. In the meantime, we do have a weekly LIVE Q&A Broadcast on Facebook on Wednesdays at 12:00 NOON Pacific, if you want to come check it out... facebook.com/polymerclay
Great tutorial and your water trick is fantastic! Thank you very much
anyone still watching this in '21 for skinner blend refreshers? :D wish you would have shown us that complex one 2, but I managed, cheers!!!
I know I’m late to the party but I have just started messing with clay. Have crafted for years have several machines but I made the mistake of putting beads on a keychain I made. I found myself hooked on beads or I thought until I was making a bracelet and thought I wanted a different bead that I just couldn’t find.... so clay was the answer. Well once I started clay.... everything else fell to the back burner. I turn down orders for shirts etc because I’m making something from clay! Your videos are sooooo helpful! Thank you so much! Love the skinner blends.
Thank you so much Kim for you wonderful comment! I am excited for you! Polymer clay is a super creative medium and will satisfy your artistic side for many years to come.
amazing explanation.. i knew some of those technics but you were the best in explaning why.. thx sweetheart
Awesome you’ve taught me how to do a skinner blend! Thank you
Thanks for the video, Cindy. This is very interesting. And, in answer to your question, I have not ever done this before. I'm not sure what I am going to do with this information just yet but, if I wait long enough, inspiration usually strikes.
easy to understand and interesting tutorial for a beginner like me. Thank you
Cindy I prefer your teardrop way my blends come out perfect using your technique ❤️👍🏻
Thank you Janet! You've made my day!😍
Great Video.. I am also new to polymer clay... "eh! I knew you were Canadian right away, nothing wrong w/ your accent or anyone else's for that matter. Thanks for sharing your talent, and i'm off to find and watch more of your tutorials!
yep think this is the blending tutorial I want to watch, have a bezel pendant shape of a window and a cat sitting looking out and one side of the window opens out, so I wanted to make a nice night sky background from black to light violet i say bout 4 or 5 colors to blend, and as I can see mine should turn out good I follow this video. ty, what colors would you suggest Mrs. PolymerClay Tutor ? for the beautiful night sky, I don't juz want the dark blue and light. if in going to be blending 4 to 5 colors like that Rainbow piece you showed there how would I run through the pasta machine you have a tutorial for blending multiple colors?
Thanks as usual 👏 haven’t yet done a skinner blend but will definitely be having a go when my p m arrives..
Thx tor the helpful tips.. nice job, ur work area is impressive
Awesome tip with the water, Cindy
Thank you Karen! Happy to help!
Ah! I'm so glad I seen this video. 1, now I know how to do gradients! And 2. Now I know the water thing! And have past that knowledge onto a friend as well! Thank you!
Thank you very much for the help. To us beginners your tutorials are such a blessing.
Thank you so much. The other tutorials I've seen seem to be aimed at people with at least some experience with clay, and I have zero, so it's not to get some step by step instructions. =)
I have done the complex Skinner Blend. As I recall each try, after laying out the triangles, the blend just became too wide.I like your way of stacking ad even the offset is good. I would have liked to see you do the rainbow Skinner. When the Lietz blend came along, I once again started making rainbow blends. As always, cf
Thanks for the colormix video - beautiful. Will definitely try it!
i really love your video it makes me want to go out and my clay😍
Do you ever get bubbles in the layers of clay when you fold it in half and run it through. I often do. How can I avoid this or does it not matter?
thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich Hi there Lindsay, I am so sorry I missed this. Bubbles can get trapped in clay if you put the layers together in a way where the air can't get out and it forces it into the clay. SO to avoid trapping air, you should always put the fold on the bottom or the side so the air gets squeezed out through the top cuts as it goes through the rollers. If you do end up trapping some bubbles in your clay, you should gently pull and stretch the sheet of clay to release the air. I'll try and do a video on it soon, since it does seem to be a common problem.
New to polymer clay and was wondering if you leave the pasta setting on the thickest setting for the whole time blending?
this was so helpfull!!! thank you so much!! and this tip with the water saved my life :D
Happy to help!
I love skinner blend but haven't tried it yet. I love canes but don't really know how to do them. I love your tips and videos keep up the good work.
A helpful video! I'm off to make Christmas ornaments now! :)
Really good demo!! I love how you showed how it USED to be done! Will share on my blog (The Beading Gem)!!
That will be great The Beading Gem, I will go check that out! (Hi btw, it's been awhile we have chatted.) I don't know if you are aware of this but I invented an even easier way to do blends that I call the Lietz Teardrop Blend. Here are the links if you want to see how its done: ruclips.net/video/nLAfFTcfSA8/видео.html ruclips.net/video/kciq6jRMm-A/видео.html
My post won't be out for a while. But thanks for those links. The tear drop method is cool! I will mention it too!
That's great Pearl! I have your blog in my reader so I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks!
your videos are very helpful, Thank you for your time and effort
I really want to try this but I don’t have a pasta machine so what else do u think I can use 😋
Wow, how interesting! I've never made a blend before, but next time I get out my clay I'll have to try it! Thanks for explaining it so well. :)
Thanks for the great video. I can't wait to try using my new pasta machine. Do you have any advice to stop colours coming off on hands and onto other colours? If I was to put a triangle of red clay ontop of white clay (as you do with the black ontop of the white) the red colour would be all over my hands and onto the white clay causing it to go pink before even rolling!! Any advise would be greatly received. Many thanks!
I am guessing you are using Fimo? It transfers color to your hands quite easily, especially if your hands get damp or sweaty. I find that using Premo pretty much eliminates this issue except for a couple of colors like ALizarin Crimson which has a lot of pigment in it.
wow thank you for the feedback. i shall definitely try some premo in that case and see if that works better for me. I've tried making candy canes before now and the red dye instantly blends into the white causing them to go pink! I see all these tutorials where people are there rubbing away and rolling them together and the red and white stay separate and I was left exasperated going why are mine so pink! Thanks very much :)
Selena Hender g
that is SO mindblowing
Hi! My clay is always stiff after baking, I need it to be flexible as I'm trying to make link chains. Do you have a video to learn how to control this? TIA!
I love working with all clays😍
Super. I seem always have that curve at the end of the clay she is comes out of the pasta machine. Is there some way to deal with this?
I have made a skinner blend. My first and favorite was for a Halloween scene I wanted to make. I did a blend from gray to dusky blue to black to mimic a sky at nightfall.
- Heidi
Really good explanations thank you it helps a lot👏🙏👍🙂🙂🙂
Glad it was helpful!
Wow just really good 😃
Hi! It looks like this video is older but I hope you can still answer my questions. :) I'm looking to make soap dishes with kato polyclay, then of course baking it, using the Skinner blend technique. If like to also create a textured pattern & legs for the dish. What thickness would you recommend that would properly bake?
Hi Sophia Dang, no you have to have a pasta machine, but it does make it faster. Here is a video on how to make one Make Easy Skinner (Teardrop) Blends with no Pasta Machine
My first cane is a little wonky but the painterly look I’m getting I think will still be ok. Had an awkward time with the thickness and shape with blends. Kicking myself that I didn’t watch how to do the triangle to rectangle for shaping.and blending .
Your so intelligent and very artistic
Great video! Very informative!!
Glad it was helpful!
hi, thank you the the video, i was wondering if i can do this without the machine? Thanks.
Love the water trick!
Good grief. I wish I'd watched your tutorial this morning before starting. I had watched another video using a skinner blend but didn't realise I had to do it so many times...needless to say it was a complete mess. Thank you for helping!!
This is so beautiful. I mada a cane out of it. This tutorial helped so much I love your channel!
Esta lição foi muito elucidativa.Obrigado Cindy!
Thank you so much for your reply, I can shop and watch youtube and face book and thats my lot ha ha ha. Off to watch more of your brilliant tutorials.
Jane x
Why do my skinner blends always get wider instead of longer? Most of the time I end up with a inch long skinner blend. I have tried over and over a lot of times it ends up sinking in th middle. I watch all your videos and I think you’re great. Can you help me. Susie
Hello-I know this is an older video but what do you do if the blend runs too wide for the machine when you are running it through? Since you can only run through one direction. Thanks for the advice.
I'm just starting with all of this and looking for videos that shows me how to do that. I learn so much from your video's. I want to t hff the nk you for your help.
Thank you so much for popping in to say such kind words! It's greatly appreciated! 💖💖💖
Yes I have made "one" so far. It did not turn out as neat or blended as yours. I will give it another try. This time I will hold the sides in, fold it straighter and be prepaired to run it through the pasta machine many times. Thanks for the help. You make it look easy.
Hi Doreen G, Definitely follow those tips you mentioned and you will see a huge difference in your results! (Just so you know I have filmed the next video in this series that you will see next week on my Lietz Teardrop Blend, which is even faster and easier than this method. It should help you to make perfect blends even easier!)
Thanks I did see that video on teardrop method. It dose look way easier. Thanks for sharing.
I love your tutorials they are so informative TTFS Cindy 🙏❤️
Do you always fold the same way you are doing or you keep changing the folding.....? And, in what thickness do you start with? Thank you
thank you for this video tutorial it helped cause I watched another one on how to make a mermaid & she used this technique but never heard of it b4 now. I work in 1inch scale miniatures & this would be a cool idea for some of my stuff I make.thanks again :o)
hi cindy. i have clay at home i tried that and it was a pretty blend. i cut out petels and i made a flower with a petels. but i use a rolling pin. my friend that has clay tuaght me that tecniqe
I want to make miniature fish scales for a project and I need a skinner blend for the graduated colors, YET I need the graduation to also be very close to the size of the scales length so that each scale will have the colors and yet not have too much excess clay that will be wasted. If my scales will be 1/8" - 1/4" long how could I go about making a miniature skinner blend. I'm thinking using very thin small strands of 2 colors will work but not positive. Any help at all would be very appreciated.
nice blend
thanks for showing the way
😍😍😍😍😍
very helpful
great viduos
Hi, I am new to the whole polymer clay thing and was wondering, is there a specific brand you would recommend to use or any more advise on buying it? Thank you x
Hi BitterSweetSundownx Premo is my favorite brand and is the one that I base all my color recipes and tutorials on. But Fimo and Kato are good quality brands as well. Don't bother with SculpeyIII or Craftsmart. They just are not good enough quality in my option... even for a beginner. There is no sense that a beginner, should have their stuff break anymore than a professional!
This is brilliant! Thank you!
is their a vedio about how to make polymer clay and how to colour it ?
Is it possible at all to do a skinner blend without a pasta roller?
I saw a project that I really like and want to try it however it involves making a sheet of stripes. I have been having a problem with it falling apart. Could you please make a video showing how to make a sheet of stripes?
i liked it and i will want to try it
this is realy awesom but where i can buy the machine.
Julia B - please see my responses in RUclips comments to other visitors, or go to me blog for lots of helpful info about pasta machines.
If I decided to make a vase out of polymer clay, would it be waterproof, or should I glaze it with something? :)
+Maja Schaumann Bjørnø Hansen it'll be waterproof
I love this!!!
i was wondering how to creat this effect :D thank you so much
Thanks!! Just starting with polymer clay..
You're welcome! Have fun!💖
Thank you very much. Just starting out and I’m finding that my colours just merge into each other and create another block colour! I don’t get any graduation from one colour to another. 😢 Help!
Hi! Thanks for your video, it's very helpful! I've just tried making my first blend but my main problem is that my sheet gets larger every time I fold and pass it through the machine. Do you keep your machine at the same setting every time? Which setting is it?
Catherine Pinon There is a video in our channel that shows you what to do when your Skinner Blend gets too wide. Watch it, it should fix the problem for you.
can you teach me how to make a rainbow blend as that is the one i have trouble with?
Thanks for this video.