I’m currently using air dry clay as a substitute for ceramics since I don’t have access to the professional tools yet. However, I would like to make my pieces feel more like ceramics, or just “nicer” in general. After letting them dry throughly and sanding them to get out any bumps, I use acrylic paint.

These are my questions: - Ceramics often have this glossy finish (the glaze). Is there a way to achieve this with painted air dry clay as well, for instance with a high gloss finish varnish? Or could I even go in with epoxy resin?

• The acrylic paint - since it’s kinda like plastic - doesn’t feel “hard” like ceramics would. Would an acrylic paint varnish fix this, aka make it feel harder and more robust? Or would (again) epoxy resin help here? I just don’t like that “gummy” acrylic paint feel on the pieces :/

I hope this made sense! Any advice is greatly appreciated :))