Summary: There are two general types of inks that you can use, referred to as Pigment inks, which we talk about today, and Alcohal or Dye inks, which we saved for our next podcast in two weeks. The main difference between the two is that pigment inks stay where you put them, and dye inks "bleed" and tend to dye whatever clay is around them a new color. Pigment inks are created with ground pigments, much like the pigment powder we discussed last week, and a wetting agent or "binder." The simplest binder is water, but the company creating the ink decides what else to put in the ink to create it's many properties- such as how long it stays wet, how flexible it is, how opaque it is, and whether or not you need to heat set it. Most pigment inks need to be heat set on polymer clay so they won't smear. That makes using them with clay very convenient, since you have to bake it anyway! You can use pigment inks on top of uncured clay, you can mix it in to change the color of the clay, you can partially mix it in- which creates a marbled effect, you can use a stamp to make an image, you can use the stamp pad, your finger, or a brush to put ink exactly where you want it. You can put it on the raised areas of a design, or you can paint it into the cracks of a textured design. You can even use it as a mold release instead of water or cornstarch. You can stamp onto a baked piece of clay if you want to see the stamped image clearly. You can brush or smear it onto baked clay to create antiqued effects or to highlight a portion of a design. Pigment ink is so versatile with polymer clay you will never run out of ways to use it. Be sure to come back and watch Polymer Clay TV next week, when we will demonstrate everything we discussed in our podcast. Special thanks to Tsukineko- they sent us a box of goodies to try out and we selected DewDrop inks in metallic and pearlescent colors to feature in this episode, and also in Polymer Clay Classroom- our downloadable full length project tutorial where you can watch, learn, and create along with us as we make two different light switch covers using polymer clay and DewDrop inkpads. I'm publishing early tonight- Harry Potter 5 is calling and I must answer the call! I will never grow up...
