For more on TLS, enter Sculpey 201!

Getting Started with TLS Bakable Transfer and Color Medium
Techniques by Jody Bishel, photos by Elizabeth Campbell

• Translucent Liquid Sculpey (TLS)
• Sculpey Diluent for thinning TLS
• Work surface such as glass or paper
• Artist's Oil Colors (any brand is fine. The more expensive brands have fewer fillers than the student grade. Because so little actual paint is used to tint the TLS, it probably doesn't matter at all which brand you use. Note: DO NOT thin oil paints with solvents or paint thinner.)
• Sculpey Super Slicer or cardstock for spreading TLS in thin layers
• Small artist's brushes, synthetic bristles
• Alcohol for cleanup
• Toothpicks for applying paint
• Disposable small paint cups or palette

Basic Instructions:

• TLS has a honey-like consistency. Over time it does advance and thicken. To thin it, add a drop of Sculpey Diluent.
• TLS has great adhesive properties, but only AFTER BAKING.
• TLS has more of an odor when baking than solid Sculpey clays. It is not toxic, but you might want to use a dedicated, inexpensive roaster pan (speckled enamelware or two heavy foil roasting pans clipped together) to minimize the odor. Take the pan outdoors after baking before opening lid.

Tint several puddles or paint cups full of TLS by adding small amounts of Artist's Oil Colors. Mix well with toothpick so that no streaks or spots are apparent.

If your oil paints are "runny" you may leach them by placing a dab on cardstock. The excess liquid will leach out into the paper.

Take a tiny dab of your color of leached oil paint and add it to a paint cup of TLS. Swirl and mix with a skewer or toothpick.

Swirl and mix. If color is correct, proceed on to your next color.

Add tiny amounts of additional oil paint to make your tint or shade darker.

When all of your colors are mixed you are ready to paint.

On flat surfaces you can build up thick layers, but on vertical surfaces, the TLS will slump and run.

When preparing to marble a design, drop small dollops of paint, lifting the brush slowly so that the last bit falls onto the dot or pulls back into the brush. Then take a straight pin or needle, and from the center out, draw the pin through the lines and dots.

If working on mosaic structures, TLS mixed with powdered pigments (PearlEx or Midnight Pearls for example) create a thicker, pasty material that can be grouted in between baked polymer clay tiles and then re-baked to set.

Multiple bakings create very interesting effects when adding colored TLS to other polymer clay items, whether vessels, jewelry, or transfer items affixed in a cabochon of polymer clay.

For a patina, add Sculpey Diluent to colors, and stipple , leaving some of the base clay showing. Bake in stages. Stipple with a darker color and then with a lighter one, baking in between to set the earlier colors.

For a glossy surface, apply the TLS thickly enough so that it flows together and do not add diluent. Thinning with diluent and dabbing on a thin coating leaves a powdery matte surface.

Backfilling is another neat technique to use on carved raw clay or scored baked clay. Fill a craft syringe with the colored TLS and squeeze into the depressions. You may want to heatset with a heatgun to prevent running before actual baking.

You can also drizzle TLS on a piece hot out of the oven. The heat instantly sets it for dimensional effects. Then re-bake so that the TLS won't crumble.

NOTE: Check out Jody Bishel's Master Artisan Tape from Mindstorm. She is the premier TLS pioneer!