This is a step-by-step guide to making coloured clay using 3 different methods. You can try the options and decide which one you are most comfortable working with. Here are the 3 methods:

You can produce your coloured clay using pigments or oxides. The difference between oxides and pigments is that oxides are simple metal elements. Pigments are processed oxides and have additional ingredients that make their colour more stable and consistent.

We recommend using pigments as the colour results of pigments are more predictable than oxides. However, some potters may use the same techniques with oxides.

When making coloured clay, you basically need to mix your pigment or oxide into the clay.

And you have to mix it properly. Otherwise, small unmixed pieces or pigment particles can cause a spot effect when your clay is baked.

How Much Pigment Should You Add When Making Coloured clay?

Whichever method you choose, you should consider how much pigment you need to add to your clay. Usually potters think of this in percentages. The weight of the pigment will be a percentage of the weight of the clay.

Strictly speaking, it is more accurate to make your pigment as a percentage of the weight of the dry clay. However, this means that you need to make your clay dry. Then you should reconstitute the dry clay by mixing it with water.

The reason why this is more accurate is that about 20 per cent of the weight of the clay is water. Therefore, there is less clay in the wet clay than in the dry clay. If you add 10% pigment to your wet clay, the ratio of clay to pigment will be higher.
In practice, however, most potters usually add pigment with wet clay. In our experience, mixing pigment into wet or dry clay does not make much difference.

Which Colour Pigment Do You Use?

Remember that some pigment colours are paler than others. You will need to add more pale pigment to get a rich colour. Pale colours are yellow and violet. These can easily disappear into the clay, especially if you are using light coloured clay .

You should use lighter pigments, usually at least 10 per cent of the weight of the clay. If your clay is very white, such as white porcelain, it will stand out more. However, for pale colours the recommended minimum is 10%.

Darker colours such as black, dark blue or deep red will show up with smaller percentages. We usually recommend starting from 5%. However, some potters may use less for a subtle colouring effect, for example as little as 2%.

Clutter and Security

When making coloured clay you will always get a little messy. This occurs because the pigments are intensely coloured fine powders. These powders are dispersed into the air and on surfaces. So remember to wear a respirator when making coloured clay. And clean your surfaces thoroughly afterwards.

Method 1: Making Coloured clay with Dry Paint

Firstly, you should weigh your clay and paint. Then, you should choose the colour of the paint you will use. If you prefer darker coloured dyes, you can add 8% dye to your clay in this method.

An important point to consider in this method is that you are adding dry material. Therefore, it may dry your clay. However, you can make your clay wet before you start to prevent drying. Wrapping your clay in a wet cloth or towel and keeping it in a plastic bag for a few hours or a day will help keep your clay soft and moist.

After you have prepared your clay to add the paint, add the paint to the surface of the sliced clay. Stack the slices on top of each other and add an unpainted slice to the top layer to ensure mixing. Then pinch these slices together before you start mixing the clay and paint.

It is recommended to use gloves for the first mixing, but after thoroughly mixing the paint into the clay, you can remove the gloves and knead the clay. Check at regular intervals to make sure that the paint in the clay is evenly distributed. If the clay starts to dry out, remember to spray water during the process.

Step 1: Prepare the Ingredients

Firstly, weigh your clay and pigment. Set the amount of pigment to an average of 8% of the weight of the clay. the proportions may vary depending on your clay and the shade of colour you want.

Put on your breathing mask and transfer the pigment into a transparent plastic bag. This allows you to observe the process. Then add a little water to the bag to dissolve the pigment and massage and stir the bag.

Step 2: Mix Pigment with clay

Once the pigment has dissolved, give your clay ball a bowl shape and squeeze the liquid pigment from the bag to mix the pigment into it. This step can get a bit messy, but the joy of pottery art is in the details!

Wearing gloves to protect your hands, mix the clay and pigment. After thoroughly mixing the pigment into the clay , knead your clay until it reaches a uniform colour. Some of the liquid on the surface may spill out, but you can collect it and add it to the mixture.

Step 3: Knead and Rest Your clay

When the pigment is completely mixed, remove the gloves and use the kneading technique to make the pigment in the clay as homogeneous as possible. This will also help the clay to dry out a little more.

Finally, wrap your clay ball in several plastic bags and put it in a closed box. Let the clay rest for a few days, sometimes a week. During this time the clay will dry sufficiently and become workable.

First, we start by adding mason pigment to the clayslide. You can get clayslide from your own waste or from pieces of dry clay soaked in water overnight. Put 0.5 pounds of clayslide into a plastic bag and add your mason pigment wearing a respirator mask. Squeeze the bag gently so that the pigment mixes homogeneously with the slip.

Step 2: Ensuring Colour Absorption by Adding Dry Clay

The next step is to add about 0.5 pounds of dry clay pieces into the coloured slip. You can use these pieces of dry clay in small flat hamburger shapes made from the same clay mixture. Leave the bag for 24 hours so that the coloured slip completely covers the dry clay pieces. During this time the dry clay will absorb the coloured slip.

Step 3: Creating the Coloured Clay

After 24 hours, check the colour shift by gently squeezing the bag. If all the clay is soft, massage the bag to make it smoother. Next, weigh out 1 pound of the coloured clay and prepare 1 pound of your own clay mixture separately. Then knead these two clays together. At first the mixture will be quite sticky, but when you knead it patiently you will get a homogeneous ball of coloured clay.

Step 4: Kneading the Coloured Clay

Now remove your gloves and clean the kneading table. Knead the clay with a kneading motion to remove water from the clay. Kneading on different kneading surfaces will help the clay to dry faster. After kneading for about 5 minutes, place the still slightly soft ball of coloured clay in bags for a few days. After a few days, your clay will be ready for pottery making or hand shaping.

Final Tip Protecting Your Kneading Surface

To prevent the pigment from colouring your kneading surface, you can use a cloth or spare plywood stretched tightly over the surface.