Polymer Clay Tutorial | Torn Paper Watercolor Technique [Video]

Ok, these have caught my interest, remind me of photos of those basketweave cane beads. can't wait till Friday now.

Now that looks really cool! Can't wait for the video!

Indeed Ken, They remind me of the basket weave canes and beads. They are really pretty.

These beads remind me of hatching eggs, robin's egg blue, and some breeds of small bantams and chickens (which we raised). How sweet they are!
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Seeing the size of these beads and having just yesterday commented on the bead rollers, I may just go and order the Amaco 20 & 23mm round roller

wow! so informative and beautiful color!

I love these! Looking forward to the video, thanks!

Not what I was expecting, but they are cool!

I'm amazed at what you can do with polymer clay. Love the colors!

Can't wait!

Melinda,
Just wondering if you designed a piece with those gorgeous jupiter beads. If so, don't forget to send a photo to Cindy so she can post it for all of us to see. Elizabeth

I love the look of these beads! Looking forward to it.

dear Cindy,
just watched the torn clay watercolor video- so easy and so impressive – so many techniques now to try and not enough hours in the day! Imagine our repertoire after a a few years of your lessons – i don't think there is anywhere else where you can get this ongoing tuition in polymer clay. I do believe it will have a big influence in raising the artistic status of polymer clay in the community. The spotlight section is really impressive and such a good idea.
cheers
cara

Very nice Cindy and thank you to Maggie too (can't wait to get her book) – will be trying these this weekend.

Love this technique! I could say this is my favorite one, but I think they are all my favorite! I am so addicted lol. My name is Theresa…..and I am addicted to Cindy Lietz techniques! Thank you for making it easy!

I took Maggie's class earlier this spring and loved all the color theory I learned.

This technique looks so great. Cindy I like how you created a quick simple process. You are great a simplifying things. Thanks.

Here's what I created:
Torn Clay Watercolor Earrings >>>

Cindy, that's a great tutorial and I love the torn paper beads, can't wait to try it. I did something like that a few years ago but didn't do the black and white clay underneath and I think that's what really makes them look better.
Thanks again, I love Friday mornings waiting for your tutorials.

Bonnie

P.S. I just tried the new Judikins DG3 Gel and it's great. It really dries shiny and will be great for adding inclusions to clay when you don't want to use resin. It dries really hard too. I suggest testing before using on a good piece.

ADDED: See photos posted below, of Bonnie's torn paper bracelet and necklace beads

LOVE this technique Cindy! I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. Have you ever tried a top sheet of clay with some patterning on it? Just wondering how far this "watercolor" idea could be taken. Thanks for all your great tutorials. Your site is the best!

Cindy I love the torn paper look. I will certainly try it for just beads selling.
Thanks
Kathy

I've been looking for some quick & interesting clay color applications to use when covering the glass "Bottles of Hope" for our local Guild display. This technique will certainly be a wonderful addition to the display. Thank you for the great tutorials and educational site you've created!! Lynn Vinge
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Cindy talking with Maggie? Be still my heart. What you two could do together by even just talking! I cant wait to see what's next! XOXO Jamie

Wow! You make it look so easy AND beautiful. I had planned on doing housework today… but

Thanks so much!

I tried these today, and I love them! They are so fun, but so are all the Cindy Lietz techniques I've tried so far!

@ Carrie

Do you have a photo?

Stunning beads. Excellent tutorial. You keep getting better and better Cindy.

Wonder where we all will be a few years from now? The thought of coming back for more is intoxicating. LOL!

Sure hope I see your stuff documented in libraries and craft museums. You are very very good at what you do.

@Claycass
I will post one soon!

I agree with Jocelyn, Cindy you should put out a book or something! In my opinion you are one of the top polymer clay artists I've seen!!

I third that thought! Id buy one! XOXO Jamie

Awww thank you everyone! I very much enjoy teaching you guys. Someday a book might be good but right now I am focusing on bringing you all as many tutorials as I can. I certainly would not want to 'bite off more than I could chew' at this point.

I appreciate each and every one of you. Without all of you making beads and learning from what I teach, what I shared would go to waste.

Keep up all the great input and interaction between each other. You're doing an excellent job!

My oh my, these were sooo fun to do and look so wonderful. Claycass: I love the variation you did too.
These are just way too much fun. I just kept making and making them. I also thought, hmmmm, what would happen if I put them in the bead roller in bicone shape. It altered them alot. They did look cool though too but did not retain the "torn paper" look. I thought, what would they look like in a lentil bead. Same thing happend as the bicone. Lost the torn paper look but the rolling action in both opened up some spots on the core bead so if you use a core bead of a complimentary color, it looks pretty cool. I like the torn bead look better though so will stick to that.

@Laurel – I loved reading about your experiments. Thanks for the compliment and the great information.

Wonder how would they look if you made the shape bead with a complimentary color. -Let it rest.- Then added the torn pieces -carefully- and reshape. That is more food for thought.

@Claycass

etsy.com/view_listing.phplisting_id=18019566

Love your site, especially the faux malachite necklace. Maybe you would do a Spotlight with Cindy on how these are made?

The swirled and metal adorned earrings are also wonderful. Where did you find those earring findings? They are so pretty. Did you make them yourself?

@carbinecat

Another fabulous site. Love the Harry Potter read. Your spiraled lentil necklace is to die for….and I adore the puppy dog bracelet detail and the ladies shoes.

@ Jocelyn – Thank you very much. I created the wirework which attached the bead to the earring and the tassel at the bottom.

That was fascinating-You have a lovely teaching technique that does not come across as patronising or, at any time, like you were talking to fill time.
Each stage seemed clear and concise.
A pleasure to watch :)

Thank you so much everyone! Your words mean a lot to me!

Has anyone yet tried this torn strip approach using some layers of translucent inserted with metal leaf, then backed by the darker shadow (hopefully transparent) color?

Would think this technique would make awesome "mokume gane" layers of torn strips, and if done on a translucent center bead, might even be "see through" when hung in direct light. Or at least the edges would, neat in inself.

If you used the right colors, the bead would pop with depth and sparkle.

Cindy, I am so excited I can't stand it. I literally stumbled onto your sites by using bing. I have been making paper beads and have been looking for info that way. One of your videos that I watched was the watercolor/clay technique. I just had to tell you the round one, if in blues and greens instead of the pinks could have been the globe. That process has made me decide that this is something I want to do. Thank you so much!

@Jocelyn: That's sounds like a cool idea! Will have to test that one out.

@Kathy: I love to hear the excitement in your voice! The one thing you'll find about polymer clay is that excitement never leaves. Jocelyn, the girl that commented above you has been doing polymer clay for something like 13 years and she still feels excited about it. The possibilities are endless. You can really push this media as far as you want and never run out of ideas. I am still very excited and I work with it every day. Glad to have you here.

If you are interested in a great primer for working with polymer clay beads, I have a 39 video course for Beginners. Click the link by my name for more info.

Wow Bonnie (carbinecat)! Your jewelry turned out really great! The colors are so bold and beautiful, I just love them! How wonderful for everyone to see how you used this technique for a bracelet as well as in the necklace beads. Pictures like these really help others to see the possibilities of what can be done with this torn clay technique. Bravo! [And thanks for the credit that you posted on Flickr... I really appreciate it!].

I didn't realize Joann's had their own clay. Michaels has just brought out their own as well. Good to know about the consistency being mushy. I too suspect that the quality won't be very high, but do let us know what you think once you work with it for a bit.

Thanks again for sending us these photos!

Cindy, I tried the torn clay process that you did on your video. It was fun and turned out pretty good.

I put a necklace that I did on Etsy and I also put it on Flickr and on Flickr I gave you the credit for the tutorial. Just wanted to let you know in case you see it out there.

I bought some of that new clay at Joann's called "Oven Bake Clay" and tried to use it for the torn clay but the clay is really mushy. I'm guessing it's a off shoot of Sculpey III but it's a lot cheaper. It was 99 cents. I mixed some of the orange with some Premo pearl and that worked pretty good but it's still mushy.

Thank you for all your tutorials, you do a great job of explaining things.

Bonnie Kreger

Bonnie, love them. Fabulous result!!!

Hi Cindy,
I bought the tutorial for the watercolor beads. I followed your instructions. After I applied the torn pieces of clay, the black and white edges basically disappeared When I rolled the beads to blend in. What am i doing wrong?
Suzanne

Hi Suzanne, there are a couple of things that you can do that will help.

First of all make sure you have all three colored sheets at the thicknesses I suggested in the video. This will ensure that the top colored layer isn't too thick so the black and white layers are able to show through.

Next, tear the sheet in a downward motion. You're almost trying to get these layers to separate a little. You want as rough an edge as possible. Watch the video carefully and you will see what I mean.

Also, if the clay is too warm or soft the layers will just mush together and they won't tear with those nice jagged edges. You can chill your sheet in the fridge or freezer for awhile and then tear it when its cold.

Lastly, make sure the torn layers are overlapped and not laid next to each other like a puzzle. Those under layers need to 'ooze out' a bit from behind the color, to really show.

Hope that helps. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

NEW PHOTOS ADDED:

Hello to Everyone,

Some new Spotlight project pictures that relate to the topic of this page (Torn Paper Watercolor Technique), have just been added in another post. They were submitted by Ritzs. The link by my name will take you to where you can see them, along with a bit of a write up. Hopefully they will inspire you to achieve great things with your own polymer clay projects.