Creative Paperclay® air dry modeling material: How to Make a Heart Pendant for a String Necklace Using a Paint Blocking Technique

Hello and happy Friday everyone, Cinnamon here and I am going to show you how I created this pendant using a paint blocking technique with artist tape. I chose the Pan African Flag design to celebrate Black History Month, but you could apply this technique to any design that you would like.

Supplies:
Creative Paperclay®
artist tape or masking tape
Sand paper
Skewer
Leather string for a necklace
Thin 22 gauge wire
Acrylic paint
Sealer, Varnish

Start with the amount of clay that you would like to use for your piece. Since this piece is small, I didn't use any type of filler to cut down on the amount of clay that I would use as I normally would. Create the shape of your choice and smooth it out as much as you possibly can, I chose a heart.

Make the hole for your string with your skewer before the piece dries. Make as many adjustments to the hole as you need. Set the piece aside to dry for at least 24 hours or until it feels dry to the touch.

When the piece is dry, this would be the perfect time to sand it. I am happy with the imperfections of this heart so I chose to leave it as is.

I painted this first with a layer of black paint. I chose black for the underpainting so that it could show a bit through the top layer for a rustic worn look. Set the piece aside to allow coat of paint to dry.

After the coat of paint is dry to the touch, use artist tape to block out any part of the heart that you don't want to paint on by accident. I like to use artist tape because it is designed to not damage paper if you remove it from artwork. You could sub it out for masking tape as well but just make sure to be extra careful when you are removing it. I blocked out the middle of the piece with the artist tape so that I could get perfectly straight lines on the top and bottom.

I painted the top and bottom with a dry brush technique so that the black layer underneath could show through.

When the paint dries pull the artist tape up to see if any of the paint layers needs to be touched up again. If you are happy with the finish, spray your piece with protective coating and set it aside to dry.

I had a wide flat leather string, so I was not able to tie a knot in it as I could if it was a thinner piece. I had to improvise by wrapping a piece of wire around the base to pull the strings in the front and back together and also separate them in the front as shown in the second photo so that the pendant would lay flat.