Combining Crayons and Polymer Clay

I recently came across a tutorial for making polymer clay pendants with inclusions like crayons. Crayons are inexpensive, easy to find, and colorful, so it's very tempting to think they can be used like any other inclusion. My experiments, though, show that there are a few extra facts to consider.

Basically, crayons are made from pigment and wax. (They may have other ingredients, but these two are the most important when you're mixing crayons with polymer clay.) As with any other artist medium, the pigment can be used to tint the clay. The wax, though, will melt at the temperature at which clay is cured. That's what can be used to create the special effects that crayons can provide.

Mixing crayons in polymer clay
Crayons can be mixed in clay in the same way as any other inclusion. The amount of tint they give will depend on the original color of the clay, how much mixing you do, and on the hue of the crayon. For example, darker clay colors won't change as much as lighter ones, and a pastel-colored crayon won't change the color of the clay as much as a darker one will.

According to the article, there's also some unpredictability about the actual color you may get, and my experiments confirm that. But if you try to just color with a crayon, you'll notice this too. My "cerulean" blue crayon looks very dark - until you apply it to paper.

If you mix crayons into opaque clay you'll see the tinting effect. You won't see the actual crayon pieces unless they're close to, or on, the surface of the clay. If you use translucent clay, though, you can see crayon pieces further down.

There's another issue with mixing crayons in polymer clay. The crayon pieces will melt in the oven. This may produce some interesting effects inside the clay object. But if there are any crayon pieces on the surface of the object things could get messy, and your object could come out of the oven with small craters where the crayons were. This might be the effect you want - and then again, it might not.

It's very hard to keep all the crayon pieces away from the surface of the object. You can try keeping the crayon pieces very small - almost to a powder, if you can - and using only a tiny amount (a little definitely goes a long way here). Also, place the clay object on something that can handle the melted crayons, but preferably without permanently sticking to the clay; I use a sheet of paper, but glass or a ceramic tile might also work. Also, keep in mind that after the object has cooled the crayons will still act like crayons and color whatever surface they come in contact with. For this reason it's a good idea to seal the surface of the object with a coat or two of varnish.

Using crayons on the surface of the clay
You can create some interesting effects on a flat object by dropping a few small crayon pieces on the surface; they'll melt and blend together somewhat during the curing. The effects are unpredictable, though. If you like randomness you might want to give this a try; as with the inclusion technique, you won't need many crayon pieces to get some fairly dense colors.

I tried this with the blue, purple, and lime green piece in the photo. Observation during the curing process showed that the melted wax stayed on top of the pigment, making the object look a bit shiny in the oven. But that disappeared after the piece cooled and the crayons solidified again. I tried rubbing a piece of paper over the surface of the object, and it did color the paper, so if I do anything else with this piece I'll finish the surface with varnish.

A few final words
If you use the recommended curing temperatures for solid clay you shouldn't have any problems with fumes from the melted crayons (or the clay). I don't recommend mixing crayons with liquid clay, though. Some brands of liquid - for example, Translucent Liquid Sculpey - need a higher temperature to cure properly, and that temperature could burn the crayons.

Crayons can be fun to play with, both on their own and with polymer clay. But when you're using them with clay they do need a little extra care. Do some experimenting on your own, and get used to how crayons act in and out of the oven. That should help you better control some of their effects - both good and bad.