5 ways to add colour to your Powertex art

I use a variety of Powertex products in my art. As a beginner, some of the products might be unfamiliar to you too. Here’s a quick guide to choosing colour products for your Powertex mixed media art or craft.

Powder pigments – Powercolor and Colortricx

These intense pigments are dry when purchased. They can be mixed with a liquid binder to make a paint. Using Easy Varnish as the binder mixes a weatherproof and hardwearing paint. You can mix your own colours with the intensity you want. Colortricx pigments are pearl and metallic colours.

This paint is perfect for a dry brushing technique to highlight textures in fabric sculpture and mixed media art. After creating your base with a single colour of Powertex it can be daunting to start! Dive in and layer up different colours and shades for best results. I prefer to use these pigments on a dark Powertex base, black, bronze, lead, red or blue.

These can also be mixed into Powertex Universal Medium and Easy Structure to add colour but here are 5 ways I use powder pigments.

Bister sprays and granules

Bister is my favourite of the Powertex range. The colours are muted and not to everyone’s taste but the ready mixed sprays and granules create really unique effects.

Bister inks are best used on a lighter coloured Powertex base. I recommend Ivory, White or Yellow Ochre. Use the sprays generously and let the inks run into the textures. Wipe away highlights with a sponge. Bister is not permanent and I like to finish with a spray varnish.

If you want to get more out of your Bister, try my Bister Masterclass download and make unique Powertex Bister art.

Acrylic paint

Acrylic paint is a great way to add bright pops of colour to your Powertex art. This paint works best on a White or Ivory Powertex base. Layer up for best results, blend colours and be sure your Powertex base is dry first.

Acrylic ink

Inks work best on Ivory or White Powertex but if you have opaque acrylic inks they will still add colour to a darker layer. Use on any type of textures from fabric sculpture to structured canvas art. Blend inks on the surface or layer transparent colours.

Powertex Universal Medium

It’s worth remembering that Powertex Universal Medium is fully mixable. It’s available in 12 colours but it’s possible to mix your own for your project. Using a coloured base can put a different energy into your project and is great for you if you’re ready to add more colour to your projects.

For sculpture projects, a darker colour can be a more convenient base as it adds to the shadows. Try mixing a dark blue, red or purple for something different in your figure sculptures.

I hope you have found these tutor tips helpful. There’s lots of information here on the blog for beginners to Powertex. If you are new to Powertex start with my top tips for beginners.