Painting / Trailing Surfaces

[Chris Campbell]

Thanks for posting this Neil and for taking the time to read the study.

I have never had problems with Amaco commercial underglazes and I definitely push them past their recommended uses!

I also have several test tiles showing all of the underglazes I commonly use fired at 06 and 6, glazed and plain. I recommend this to all.

[Pugaboo]

I too use Amaco underglazes and am able to do an amazing amount of detail work with them. Now that I am more experienced I can do the color shifts in my head while I am painting to be able to know if this color that looks purple in the jar is actually dark blue. Most of the colors are pretty close though I have found the colors when dry but unfixed tend to be quite pale compared to the colors after firing and they look even better after clear glaze firing. I have not had many issues with them, and most issues I did have were due to my own learning how to use them. Now that I am more experienced I can pretty much do what I want with them and am working on painting portraits and detailed scenes on pottery currently. I use the Amaco zinc free clear over the underglazes. I have had some color shift issues with them when I used a different brand of clear. All in all I would recommend the Amaco underglazes to anyone looking to paint on pottery. I should note when I state Amaco underglazes I mean their LUGs not their velvets which so far of the ones I have tried I don't care for the surface and how it binds to the clay once dry. I like to paint, scratch, carve on anything from leather hard to bone dry (with a respirator) and I have found the velvets seem to sheer off in sections when carved through whereas I do not have this issue with any of the Amaco LUG underglazes. Others may love the velvets and dislike the LUGs.

 

I should also note that I really like the Lakeside pottery website and they have a lot of good information out there. If you haven't had a chance to check out their site do so its a great resource.

 

Oh! Just like Chris one of the first things I did was make color tiles with the underglazes which I keep hanging next to my drawing table. I did all the LUG line colors and did 1 stroke, 2 stroke, 3 stroke chips as well as each number of strokes glazed and un glazed. I learned a lot doing those color palettes and it's very useful to have them where I can glance at them while working.

 

Terry

[neilestrick]

We use Speedball underglazes in my studio. They are much less expensive than the other brands, and hold up well at cone 6. They typically come very thick in the bottle, so you have to thin them down, giving you even more bang for your buck. Every color is under $12 a pint, and many are $7-9 a pint. And if you get on the Clay-King.com email list, once or twice a year they sell them 1/2 price. The only color we have any issue with is the red. It tends to flux out more than the others, and can cause some bubbling of the clear glaze if it is applied too thick. Fixing that clear to work with the red is on my to-do list!

[Pugaboo]

Neil,

 

Good to know! Next time they have that sale I might just have to buy a few bottles to play with.

 

Terry

[neilestrick]

Thanks, Norm. Even on its own, that red tends to melt out a bit more, almost starts to gloss out a bit. I'll have to give the Coyote a try.

[TJR]

 

Ruth;

I paint on glazes all the time. In fact, all of my work is banded and  brush decorated. I use bamboo brushes that hold a lot of liquid. I paint oxides on bisque ware that has an unfired glaze on it. I glaze my pots, then let them sit for a day, then decorate over the glaze. Over the glaze you get a sharper line quality,as compared to decorating and then applying the glaze over that. The oxides need to flow, so you need to add just the right amount of water. A good starting point would be iron oxide plus a little Albany slip/Alberta slip. Try some designs on newspaper first. Check out my gallery for images. I apologize. I really need to update them.

TJR.

Great pots TJR!

Why do you add the Albany slip? To suspend  the oxide? Or to make  the oxide more Painterly?

 Benzine, I use oxides and underglazes on my glaze Both seem to work ok except one or two Blue underglazes which do not have the same melt as others. To these I add a bit of the Frit present in the underlying glaze, ot even someof the glaze itself and that seems to do the trick.

 

Ruth;

The Albany gives the iron a bit of dry strength. Otherwise it is just powder sitting on the rim. It also helps the iron to not settle like a rock before you brush it on. I always give it a stir with the brush before I paint-every single pot.

TJR.

[Babs]

 

 

Ruth;

I paint on glazes all the time. In fact, all of my work is banded and  brush decorated. I use bamboo brushes that hold a lot of liquid. I paint oxides on bisque ware that has an unfired glaze on it. I glaze my pots, then let them sit for a day, then decorate over the glaze. Over the glaze you get a sharper line quality,as compared to decorating and then applying the glaze over that. The oxides need to flow, so you need to add just the right amount of water. A good starting point would be iron oxide plus a little Albany slip/Alberta slip. Try some designs on newspaper first. Check out my gallery for images. I apologize. I really need to update them.

TJR.

Great pots TJR!

Why do you add the Albany slip? To suspend  the oxide? Or to make  the oxide more Painterly?

 Benzine, I use oxides and underglazes on my glaze Both seem to work ok except one or two Blue underglazes which do not have the same melt as others. To these I add a bit of the Frit present in the underlying glaze, ot even someof the glaze itself and that seems to do the trick.

 

Ruth;

The Albany gives the iron a bit of dry strength. Otherwise it is just powder sitting on the rim. It also helps the iron to not settle like a rock before you brush it on. I always give it a stir with the brush before I paint-every single pot.

TJR.

 

Thanks TJR I actually asked the question re. use of Albany slip, a rarer commodity these days, so can anyone suggest a substitute that will melt with the iron?

[neilestrick]

Redart would served the same purpose as Albany.

[MikeFaul]

Babs/Neil - while you're on and before I get to bed ( it's 11pm in the UK) - quick response if possible. Can I fire my already bisqued pieces which have an oxide wash in places, to fix the oxide before glazing. As this will be 3 firings in total, and trying to keep costs down, how low could the 2nd firing be?

I fired some tests of sprigs we finished with a rutile wash over Amaco Velour Black underglaze, diluted to form a wash of sorts. We're trying to create the look of embossed distressed leather. Both are in a ^6 glaze firing, which we'll unload on Monday morning. The sprig is on the exterior of a cup, not a food bearing surface. We've fixed these two separately at ^6 (on bisque), and in bisque (on greenware) at ^06, ^05, and ^04, without issue.

 

I thinned the underglaze with 2 parts water to one part glaze (approximate), I wanted it to run around in all the detail crevices of the texture. I then sponged it off the ridges and high points. We diluted the rutile wash a good bit, maybe 6 parts water to one part base wash. Then applied it over the underglaze. As the under glaze was not fixed it reactivated, and I used a brush to blur it into the rutile. The kiln should be down firing as I type this, so we'll know soon enough if it works.

 

We used a copper was previously with inconsistent color formation, especially in conjunction with the rutile wash.

 

[EDIT] I've also rebisque fired bisque ware to fix underglaze and washes without issue on subsequent glaze firings.

[MikeFaul]

Also, are there two different conversations on this thread? I feel like I'm reading in stereo. :-)

[bciskepottery]

Mike -- I think you'll find, from time to time (or more often), that discussions seem to wander a bit.  Not so much stereo, but . . . maybe Babel or the school cafeteria at lunchtime?  Not a bad thing.  Just a life on the bulletin board or whatever they call these things. 

[MikeFaul]

Mike -- I think you'll find, from time to time (or more often), that discussions seem to wander a bit.  Not so much stereo, but . . . maybe Babel or the school cafeteria at lunchtime?  Not a bad thing.  Just a life on the bulletin board or whatever they call these things.

 

Didn't think it was bad, more amusing and hard to follow... But, that's just me...

[TJR]

 

 

 

Ruth;

I paint on glazes all the time. In fact, all of my work is banded and  brush decorated. I use bamboo brushes that hold a lot of liquid. I paint oxides on bisque ware that has an unfired glaze on it. I glaze my pots, then let them sit for a day, then decorate over the glaze. Over the glaze you get a sharper line quality,as compared to decorating and then applying the glaze over that. The oxides need to flow, so you need to add just the right amount of water. A good starting point would be iron oxide plus a little Albany slip/Alberta slip. Try some designs on newspaper first. Check out my gallery for images. I apologize. I really need to update them.

TJR.

Great pots TJR!

Why do you add the Albany slip? To suspend  the oxide? Or to make  the oxide more Painterly?

 Benzine, I use oxides and underglazes on my glaze Both seem to work ok except one or two Blue underglazes which do not have the same melt as others. To these I add a bit of the Frit present in the underlying glaze, ot even someof the glaze itself and that seems to do the trick.

 

Ruth;

The Albany gives the iron a bit of dry strength. Otherwise it is just powder sitting on the rim. It also helps the iron to not settle like a rock before you brush it on. I always give it a stir with the brush before I paint-every single pot.

TJR.

 

Thanks TJR I actually asked the question re. use of Albany slip, a rarer commodity these days, so can anyone suggest a substitute that will melt with the iron?

 

Any dark clay. .I have to go to my studio to look, but any clay that will bring trace elements of iron along with it. Red Art,is good, but a bit coarse, ball clay even.

TJR.

[Shuli]

I've read that glycerin is supposed to make glazes more flowing.  That's something I want to try since I want to start combining my calligraphy with my ceramics and I don't want my brush to run out of glaze in the middle of a word!  Has anyone else tried glycerin?

 

Some artists use syringes from the medical industry for slip/glaze trailing as they get a very fine, controlled line with those.  It's an interesting idea but I'm not sure where I would get medical syringes.

[bciskepottery]

You might be able to find syringes at a farm co-op. 

[stephsteph]

hi all. i've found 2 techniques which work pretty well for slip trailing, using bulb applicators.  You will still need to adjust the water content/fluidity of your underglaze or stain to work properly with the orifice size..a runny watery stain solution will run out of any size tip, while a too viscous underglaze won't fee properly and will alternately  blop, spit and splat.

 

i use bulb applicatora primarily to fill recessed areas. i i am doing lettering i still like to recess the lettering and fill it.

 

for  medium -large scale i use a  large rubber bulb applicator and modify it by cutting off  most of the tip and inserting a glass eye dropper end 9remove the typical black squeeze rubber from the eyedropper.  the glass should fit very snugly into the rubber of the bulb.you can  put electric tape around the joint if you want. the eyedropper end  gives a pretty precise tip and allows tou to use the bulb applicator with good efficiency for somewhat thick lines or if you need to fill large areas.

 

for detail work i have tried a number of different products but finally invested in a Xiem bulb applicator system, and i am glad i did. i have a commission i am currently working on and i used squeeze bottle with various tips, which worked K, but the Xiem, which is a bulb applicator with different size tips, works so much better. it allow much finer control of  squeeze pressure. it also is much more ergonomic. you might not notice this unless you have to do hundreds and hundreds of pieces. with the bottles, my  thumb/forefinger muscles stareted to cramp eventually, with the bulb , they can relax much more.

 

this is a nice,precise way to apply. i am using Laguna underglaze thinned a bit with water.

 

Stephani Stephenson

http://www.revivaltileworks.com

http://www.archi-terracotta.com