Go ahead! Break the rules…
It’s not uncommon for someone to call us asking if it’s okay to add more or less of a pigment to achieve a colour they’re seeking.
In this post, I’m giving you permission to break the rules. A typical conversation often yields one of two questions:
Can I add more pigment to intensify one of your standard colours?
Is it all right if I add less pigment to lighten a colour?
In both cases, the answer is often yes.
In the case of heavy colour packs like Bryce Canyon, Palomino Valley, Painted Desert, or Sugarloaf White, it isn’t a good idea to increase the pigment load. You can comfortably divide the colour pack, though, often for amazing results.
It’s funny the way many of our customers try to follow instructions to a tee, not feeling safe enough to deviate from what they’ve been told is the “right way” to use our product. Customers trust that what we tell them is THE way things should be done. Often, that’s true. The methods we suggest in our instructions are the tried and true methods that have yielded good results across a wide geographic range, as well as with a diverse demographic audience (largely professional plasterers vs. first-time users).
There are certain qualities inherent in our product, though, that allow for creativity and some flexibility, and colour is one of them. When you read our instructions, which tell you (in most cases) to combine a bag of plaster with one bag of pigment, understand that those suggestions are given so you’ll get a specific end result colour. You can opt to take your own route and create a different colour. Depending on your comfort level, it could be as simple as deciding, “I really like Chesapeake Bay, but it’s too rich. I’m going to blend one colour pack among 4 bags of clay to create a lighter version.” In other cases, we have some artisans who are comfortable mixing 3 and 4 pigments together to create a brand new color completely different than would have been achievable with just one of our colour packs alone.
If you decide to “break the rules” and adjust a colour on your own, make sure you consider a few things, most importantly cost and pigment weight.
If you’re increasing the amount of pigment, ask yourself – Is it cost effective? Here’s a good example to consider: A popular request is for an intense version of Wild Horse Smoke that would require upwards of 6 colour packs per bucket of clay. I don’t know about you, but I would be very hesitant to purchase that many colour packs if I felt I could achieve the same look at a smaller cost. It’s far less expensive to have your dealer contact us to have a large quantity of pigment packaged as one colour pack and shipped to your location.
Your other consideration is making sure you don’t exceed the pigment weight/clay plaster ratio. You want to stay under 1 kg of pigment per batch of clay. There are certain exceptions depending on the pigment, type of application, geographic region, and other factors, but this is a tried and true number for many reasons.
We encourage you to keep calling to talk about your color options. Many times, I’ve already tried to achieve the type of colour you’re seeking, and can either do it for you, or I can better advise you on how to start the process on your own.
I hope this post has boosted your confidence to break the rules and explore some new colour options!
