Skinner blend

Skinner blend flower beads (google images)

Mr. Judith Skinner introduced so that it is named after him. It is a very useful  and most beautiful technique that allow us to create a sheet of clay with a smooth blend between two or more colors. It is possible to make a Skinner Blend using a roller pin which is non sticky n spreads evenly. Spread the conditioned units of many colors clay in a particular manner into a sheet with the roller then fold it. Roll it again .Again and again you should do until you get a nice blend. Unless be careful , all colors will blend together n end up with a new color :-(. But a pasta machine simplifies the process.

Pasta Machine

Your palms can relax until…

The resultant color is representative of the type of shades you'll see in the middle of a Skinner Blend between those two colors. Analogous colors usually blend well.  On the other hand, complementary colors (colors on opposite sides of the color wheel) tend to merge into brown.

I explain.. Once you've chosen your colors:-

Condition the colors of clay separately.

Roll each color of clay into a sheet that is approximately 1/8" thick (use the thickest setting on your pasta machine).

Cut across each sheet diagonally to create two triangles. Somewhat "skinny" or "tall" triangles are usually preferred. (You can cut the sheets separately or stack them, make a singe diagonal cut, and peel the layers apart.)

Take one triangle of each color and fit them together to create a whole square or rectangle (depending on the shape of the triangles). Press the touching seams of the two triangles together.

Blend the clay by rolling it through the pasta machine on the thickest setting or rolling with a brayer. After feeding it through the pasta machine the first time, fold the sheet in half, bringing the bottom edge up even with the top. Flatten the folded edge slightly to keep your sheet neat. Feed the doubled sheet into the pasta machine, folded edge first. (This helps prevent air from becoming trapped in the clay, which leads to unsightly bubbles.) If you are rolling by hand, try to flatten the slab of clay only until it reaches its original thickness (about 1/8").

Repeat this process (rolling and folding) numerous times, being sure to fold in the same direction (bottom to top) and put the clay into the pasta machine folded side first. The first several passes through the pasta machine will not appear to make much difference in the clay, but if you keep at it, you'll begin to see a change. The magic number seems to be twenty, but it may vary somewhat. Stop when you are happy with the degree of blend.
This is a wonderful picture describing the effect I found on web . Don't know the author :(

(Image courtesy : Google)

There are many ways to modify the look of your blend. Try blending more than two colors, placing strips of white clay between colors, and varying the proportions of the triangles (long and skinny vs. short and fat).

I stopped with this much as required for my project, you go further to achieve prettiest blend

Good night
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