Flat Brushable ^6 + glaze

[Rex Johnson]

Being originally a painter first, I'm looking at doing some 'painterly' pieces next time around.

I want something that can spread like paint and ends up a flat or semi-flat and opaque. Think 'house paint'.

I'll be firing to at least ^6.

I've used some of the ^5 Laguna  Versa glazes but not where I want to go surface -wise.

A base glaze that I could add colorants to or even a commercial type suggestion would help...

(Linda Styles) example:

[neilestrick]

Do you need food safety? If not, underglazes work great, and are very matte when fired. The can be thinned to use like watercolors, or left thick/more coats for greater opacity and stronger color.

[Rex Johnson]

No, don't need food safe specificallly, strickly art pieces, at least on the outside.

I can use something else in the quiver for inside glazing.

Strong color is a bonus!

Where do you go to buy a pallet of underglazes Neil?

[neilestrick]

Underglazes 'R' Us 

I buy Speedball brand underglazes, because they work well, and are quite cheap compared to Amaco and Coyote. Their Red and Royal Blue tend to flux out a bit and cause issues with glazes, but raw they should work fine. I have not found any other colors to be a problem. Lots of online retailers carry them.

[Rex Johnson]

They look like a good choice.

The representative swatches show a matt/gloss sample.

I'm wondering if the gloss represents them fired under a clear glaze...are they matt out of the bottle and fire matt?

[neilestrick]

Exactly.

[preeta]

I am a big Linda Styles fan too. I also believe she multi fires 

[Magnolia Mud Research]

 

My limited experience with painting in ceramics class:

1.   I was amazed some years back when an artist came by with a painting made on a bone dry clay plaque.  He wanted to know if he could fire the plaque in our cone 10 gas kiln.  No one really knew what the outcome would be, but our expectations were pretty low.  The fired plaque painting lost a lot of its brightness; and colors were generally different after the firing than before.  I don't remember if the paint was oil, water color, or acrylic.  However, the 'success' of his plaque inspired (on my part) a series of tests using various media normally used on paper and canvas but applied on bisque ware of various clay bodies.  My tests included oil pastels, oil paints, water color paint, acrylic paint, and school wax crayons.  Many burned off completely because the pigments were organic dyes;  the paints using pigments containing transition elements always produced some coloration.  I also learned that there are standardized pigment codes for artist paints that are "decoder rings" for transforming the ingredients in the paint to the elemental information needed to determine if the pigments will have a residual effect after firing.  Such a list shortens the number of tests.    I no longer have a copy of the 'decoder ring.' 

With careful documentation it should be possible to match a fired color to the coating applied before firing;   I did not go down that 'rabbit hole'.  

 

2.  I have used the AMACO Semi-Moist Underglaze pans (I consider them to be ceramic watercolors) to make paintings on ceramic ware.  They act just like watercolor painting on very dry thick watercolor paper.  The fired results are a dry image.  If a very thinly sprayed coat of low fire clear, or just a thin spray of baking soda solution, will add some gloss without making the surface  appear "glossy" or "glazed".  

3.  If you are firing at mid-range or lower, you can coat the regions of the pot to be "painted" with a slip of a cone-10+ clay body ( I use cone 10 porcelain for a white surface) to produce a semi-porous dry canvas (after the 'glaze firing') on which you can actually paint real watercolor or oil paintings [mixed-media work].

4.  A colleague a few years ago conducted a limited test set of blends of AMACO liquid underglazes with our studio cone 10 clear glaze.  I don't remember the details (I was not really interested in the test) other than the experiment was somewhat successful; the test was definitely not a disaster. 

LT 

[Gabby]

I use the Amaco underglazes all the time.  For a surface that doesn't need to be food safe, one coat of my clear looks fairly matte still. The more coats of clear, the glossier.

The Amaco underglazes can be purchased in "classroom sets" through Amazon or Blick's.

[preeta]

Food for Thought

hi Rex 

i thought I’d introduce you to one of my favourite artist at the moment whose work I want to copy

sorta along Linda styles line. 

http://craigunderhill.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-colour-of-water.html?m=1

it isn’t the colours that interest me. It’s his use of different marks. 

To me the key is transparency. I love the weathered look  -the layering not necessarily the colour. 

So next semester I am going to experiment with terra sig with mason stain colours and oxides too.  I’ve chosen terra sig because they don’t have to be glazed. Still comes out bright. Unlike slip. Or even underglazes. 

This is the first time I found a video which actually shows the technique 

i find I’m leaning away from glazes to slip/terra sig just coz I don’t want to deal with multifires  

This is the artist who inspired me to think about terra sig. no glaze except on rims 

https://www.andrewclarkpottery.com/shop/cup-with-control-knob-3

[Rex Johnson]

Thanks preeta. I do some sagar firings as well and my whole approach is all about the most direct  process sans the regimented routine of making.

I like that the video shows him working directly with the wet clay, and I assume he's using TS or some sort of underglaze.

Nice.