Since I knew about it – it was around the time I started to major in architecture, casting (either with concrete or plaster) has been my favorite way of craft. I love the transformation of the state of material (from powder to liquid to solid) and the tactile feeling of cool, chalky surface of the cured concrete.

I like the feeling of raw concrete, but this time wanted to experiment coloring it. There are products made especially for the purpose (such as Quikrete’s Liquid Cement Color), but any water-based paint will work well too.

The beauty of concrete is that you can integrate different kinds of additives – not just coloring, but such as sand, small rocks, and yes, even sparkle. I love the stretch of sidewalk in our neighborhood that literally sparkles at night because of certain particles – I’m assuming tiny mirror chips.

Once you have played around a bit, you can apply the results to various other projects. Have fun!

Materials
  • rockite concrete powder
  • acrylic paint
  • vegetable oil to coat a mold
  • water
Tools
  • container to mix the concrete and water
  • mold (I used a plastic container)
  • brush to spread vegetable oil
  • plastic spoon to stir the mixture
Tip
  • I tried coloring with food coloring, but it didn’t work – the final concrete wouldn’t completely cure, and ended up crumbling. I once saw a direction for coloring concrete using food coloring, but it wasn’t using rockite concrete.
Direction
  1. Brush on vegetable oil inside of the mold. Mix in acrylic paints in the water. The ratio of concrete powder to water is about 4:1 – the finished mixture should resemble thick pancake batter.

2. Pour the mixture into the mold. It should cure in about an hour. It’s ready to be taken out when the surface of concrete seems dry and it’s cool to the touch.

3. Carefully take out the concrete. After a little bit of jiggling, it should release easily.

colored concrete next to the uncolored one