WHERE TO BUYFIMO Professional Oven-bake Clay
True Yellow, True Red, True Magenta, True Green,
and True Blue, 57 g (2 oz.) blocks: $3.
FIMO professional True Colours Blending Kit: $22.
Staedtler, http://www.staedtler.com; Local or online polymer-
clay suppliershttp://www.ArtJewelryMag.com 11
One of my favorite classes in art school was color theory. We
learned how to use only one warm and one cool shade each
of red, yellow, and blue gouache (plus white and black) to
study color. When I first tried Staedtler’s new FIMO Professional
True Colours system, I immediately equated it with those color-
theory exercises and mixing colors of paint on a palette. One
thing that can mess up what you think will be a good mixture
of clay is not knowing what combination of colors (and their
temperature, opacity, etc.) were used to make a particular color
of prepackaged clay. Well, FIMO takes the guesswork out of
mixing by using only one pigment per color. Yellow, red, ma-
genta, blue, and green (plus white and black) — what you see
is what you get!
If you’re one of those people who love recipes for mixing
specific colors of clay, Staedtler has you covered. They have
done the heavy lifting, and put together a stunning chart of
175 c o l o r s (below) — and include mixing instructions for each
color. I’m more of an “eyeball-it” kind of person when it comes
to color, but I also love categorizing and making samples, so I
wanted to give the color-mixing chart a try. I dived right in and
started mixing up a range of colors.
If you can open it without tearing it (I was a little too excited
and ripped mine), the thicker plastic packaging is resealable, mak-
ing it easy to store unused clay. As with the other colors in the
FIMO Professional line (formerly FIMO classic), the True Colours
were a little crumbly at first, but quickly became easy to work with
when conditioned. Make sure you condition the clay thoroughly,
however: chunks of clay stuck to my roller and work surface if it
wasn’t completely conditioned when I tried to roll it out. This clay
is soft, but not too soft, holds detail well, and is just an all-around
joy to work with. The pigment does tend to stick to your hands
a bit, so wash your hands between colors.
I decided to mix up a few colors of the main color wheel/
row following the chart instructions. This row contains a range
of colors (24 including the packaged clay) created by mixing
colors straight from the package in various ratios, and is the
FIMO True Colours
Polymer Clay
PRODUCT REVIEW
base for all additional tints and shades. To make the main color
wheel, condition each color of clay, roll them all out to the same
thickness, and use a shape cutter to cut the correct number of
shapes for the color you’re trying to achieve (for MIII, that’s three
magenta and two blue). Mix the clay until it’s evenly blended.
Then, if you want it lighter or darker, add white or black, again
following the chart.
What’s great is that this mixing system works for whatever
quantity of a color you need. Only need a bit? Use small shape
cutters and roll the clay thin. Need a color in bulk? Roll the clay
thick and use a cookie cutter! It’s an adaptable — and most
importantly, repeatable — color-mixing system I’m excited
to add to my stash. —Annie PenningtonEDITOR
TESTED