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what kind of clay-type material doesn't need to be fired?
I want to make hand-painted brooches. I don't want to get a kiln and I don't know anyone who has one. I made some the other night out of sculpey but I think that's probably a chintzy material to use.
Can anyone think of a material I can use that wouldn't require firing? Thanks!
First, "firing" is not the same as "oven baking."
Firing refers mostly to earthen/ceramic clays and involves tremendously high heat and usually a kiln.
Oven-baking usually refers to polymer clays (like Sculpey though it's probably the "worst" of the brands/lines of polymer clay when used alone), and the temperature needed to harden it is only around 250-275 degrees.
"Air dry" clays can be made from various materials and fillers but will all be water-based so they will dry naturally in the air as they lose their water (but can also be heated a bit just to speed up that drying process).
Polymer clays otoh *require* heat in order to do the chemical reaction (polymerization) which makes them hard, and they will never harden/dry just in the air.
So...you could use an air-dry clay or a polymer clay.
Air-dry clays come in various types, and also in various qualities (re their smoothness, final strength, weight, etc). If you go that route, I'd suggest buying Creative Paperclay or making bread clay (or perhaps salt dough clay) at home. You can probably just paint on it after it dries, but you might want to add a coat of white gesso first (a highly opaque acrylic paint often used as a base coat), then paint. If you don't cover the entire air-dry item with a permanent paint by the end, you'll also need to seal the whole thing afterwards to prevent problems from later moisture and/or bugs if grain based.
(Air dry clays will also shrink while drying as well as needing to be sealed, and may be quite lightweight depending on type.)
Lots of polymer clayers also paint (or draw) on polymer clay though, and some sell their pieces for Big Bucks so don't assume it's a "chintzy" material in itself. Just like any other material, it can be used to produce fantastic highly-art results or very simple non-sophisticated results depending on the person using it.
Polymer clayers often do use the Sculpey lines of polymer clay though because they're cheap (for making whole sculpts, for example) like flesh-colored SuperSculpey, or because one of them has a fair amount of tooth/porosity once cured so great for using good-quality colored pencils on (original white Sculpey in a box).
The 3 main Sculpeys are more brittle in any thin or projecting areas though than other lines of polymer clay, so some items may need armatures inside the clay for strength or have a top layer over used a stronger clay, and/or be baked a long time which can give more strength too (often done with SuperSculpey till it turns brownish).
Polymer clay can be painted/drawn on with various materials too like acrylic or other paints, colored pencils, alcohol inks, pastels, and even with the clay itself thinned down to paintable consistency or with liquid polymer clay that's been tinted, etc. Here are just a few examples of those things:
Prismacolor pencils http://www.kathleendustin.com/gallery/archive/archive.php
http://www.pbase.com/revbyrd/polyclay_paintings
alcohol inks (work like watercolors but don't sink into the clay):
http://www.sdpcg.org/Sandy%20Camp%208/sc8jc92.jpg
http://www.npcg.org/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=64&g2_itemId=1314&g2_GALLERYSID=78e4a4de5c7673654063d3791ed5ed45
Genesis "oil" paints on clay:
http://www.tinidril.com/lotr/gandalf_polymerpainting.jpg
"Transfers" of drawings and paintings, etc., can also be applied to polymer clay in various ways (before curing or after).
If you're interested in those techniques, you can find more examples and lessons, etc., on these pages of my polymer clay "encyclopedia" site:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/paints.htm (various kinds of colorants, and also Preparing the Clay for Painting)
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/letters_inks.htm > Alcohol Inks
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/transfers.htm
Diane B.
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