How to Make a Skinner Blend with Polymer Clay

When polymer clay was first made available to the public there was no fast or easy way to make shaded colors. Artists who were used to mixing paint tried the same technique - for example, nine parts red to one part white, eight parts red to two parts white, seven parts red to three parts white, and so on. This method worked, but it was time-consuming, tedious, and wasteful, and sometimes the color "steps" were much too visible.

Then Judith Skinner came up with an alternative. Her method produced such a gradual color change that it would have replaced the old technique even if it hadn't also been quicker (which it is!). Here are instructions for making a Skinner blend, with a few suggestions for how to use it and a couple of variations on the basic method.

Equipment and supplies needed
To make a Skinner blend you'll need two (or more) colors of clay and a way to roll them into sheets. It is possible to make the sheets with a hand roller like a dowel or brayer, but a pasta machine speeds up the process considerably.

Basic instructions
1. Decide on the colors you'll be blending. You can use the clay right out of the package, in which case all you have to do is condition it. Or you can mix clays together until you get the colors you want.

2. Roll out a sheet of each color and form it into a square or rectangle.

3. Divide each sheet into two pieces with a diagonal cut. You will then have two triangles.

4. Using one triangle of each color, lay the triangles next to each other so that they form another square or rectangle. Smooth the "seam" to make sure the edges stay together. You now have one sheet of clay made up of two different-colored triangles.

5. Fold the sheet in half and roll it out or run it through the pasta machine. (The best way to run a folded sheet through a pasta machine is fold-first.)

6. Repeat step 5, making sure you always fold the sheet the same way. This is absolutely essential; if you vary your folds the blend won't work.

7. The colors will start to blend into each other. Continue folding and rolling until the blend is the way you want it.

What to do with a Skinner Blended sheet
You can use the entire sheet or a part of it just as it is, on a flat object. You can also make a log, rolling it so that one color is on the inside and then blends to the other color on the outside. Or you can change the shape of the log into a long triangle or rectangle and use it that way.

Skinner Blends have a wide variety of uses, but generally they're used just like any shaded color - to show depth. They're especially valuable in the construction of canes, because they make flat surfaces look almost three-dimensional.

Variations on the basic technique
Skinner Blends don't have to be made with just two colors. You can keep laying different-colored triangles next to each other, form them into a sheet, and blend them all at once. This does affect the size of your sheet, though, so you may have to make the triangles smaller. And the blends might be less gradual. The look of your final sheet will depend on how many and which colors you use and how many times you roll out the sheet.

Even if you're using only two colors you can still affect the final product. You can make the inside edges of the triangles curved (rather than straight), or you can include some of the top or bottom edges, so that the pieces aren't strictly triangles but more like oddly-shaped rectangles.

If your sheet starts to lose its shape as you're rolling it out this could affect the smoothness of the blend. Just trim the sheet back to a rectangle and keep the cut-off pieces for another time.

Skinner blends are simple and fun and amazingly creative. In fact, they're so useful that they're almost a "required course" for anyone who wants to expand what they do with polymer clay.