Simple Plaster Mixture Recipe/Tutorial (3 Ingredients Only)
When I decided to be a 3D artist and create plaster art and beautiful plaster sculptures, my very first dilemma was how to create my texture paste. I scoured the internet and social media for tips and tricks, and quickly became overwhelmed by the varying techniques used by artists all over the world.
It became clear to me that as a beginner, I needed to hone in on a clear goal and find a simple, affordable process of achieving that goal.
What was my goal? How to prevent plaster from setting in minutes so that I could work with it for as long as I need. If you’ve ever mixed plaster with water (as I did), you’ll realize that it sets rock hard in about 15-20 minutes. So my goal became finding a cost effective way to stop this process.
After some trial and error, I found that adding some white acrylic paint and elmer’s glue (or similar craft glue) to my plaster mixture resulted in the creamiest plaster mixture that stayed usable for as long as I needed. I’ve kept my mixture for up to 2 months without any issues, so this is really perfect for plaster art/plaster sculptures, which can take weeks to make. I don’t use measurements for my mixtures but I also have a video tutorial with measurements for anyone who’ll find that to be helpful.
A few things to keep in mind
The more paint and glue you add, the creamier your mixture will become (you’ll get a feel for your preference the more you mix)
Store your mixture in an airtight container. The mixture will start to dry out if exposed to air, I also like to spritz with water to keep it moist while working.
Mix thoroughly, otherwise you’ll have clumps of plaster that set in your mixture
Listed below are all my favorite materials for my easy plaster mixture. You can also watch my plaster mixture tutorial here and see my process.
Plaster mixture materials