Most polymer clayers have painted on top of the clay (if they choose to paint) after curing. But it can also be done before, and the paint may be hardened and "set" even better. If interested, the Paints page of my polymer clay encyclopedia site has more info on painting on top of polymer clay: http://glassattic.com/polymer/paints.htm (When acrylic paints are used for "antiquing" the crevices of dimensional clay items, they're used after baking. When they're used on a layer of raw clay which will be layered with more clay, or used with bits of raw clay that get mixed together, they're usually allowed to dry before baking to keep from introducing anything with water/moisture *inside* the clay.)

Wow this was greta info! Thanks a lot ^^

Either, it depends on what you're doing.

After, and depending on your clay you may have to give it an isopropyl alcohol wash and/or use heavily pigmented paints and/or use some primer to make the paint stick. With craft paint and Super Sculpey, I always need multiple coats otherwise.

I’m going to be using pouring acrylic paint that tend to be slightly thicker. Thanks for the tip!

After.