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Advice on how to achieve particular glaze effects


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I'm just starting to look at experimenting with glazes and try mixing my own rather than using store bought as I have done previously. I've spent a lot of time reading the basic theory, been through John Britts online glaze course and also his midfire glazes book. Whilst I have plenty to get on experimenting with I have seen some ceramics online where I don't even know how to start to get similar glaze effects.

I've attached a couple of examples of the styles that interested me. My initial thoughts in both cases were multiple glazes layered, the white/brown example has a look like some brown glaze on the rim has run into the white on the main body, however I would have thought this would give obvious runs in terms of texture too whilst this is a flat finish. My other thought was maybe a wash of some sort on the rim which then ran into the glaze.

In the white/blue example towards the rim it also has some vertical lines in the glaze which looked a bit like runs. The blue speckling effect in this also eludes me as how this could be achieved, whether it is a property of a specific glaze used or has been added on top as an oxide maybe? it looks quite random so I wasn't sure it was added on top

I'm very keen to experiment in these kind of styles but I just don't know where to start at the moment so I'm hoping someone with more experience can give me a nudge in the right direction.

I am using porcelain in oxidation and aiming for cone 6/7 glazes (hence the JB midrange glazes book). Any tips would be appreciated.

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Just taking a guess at this but the first one looks like it could be Strontium Crystal Magic Cool as a base glaze with another glaze sprayed overtop. Google Strontium Crystal Magic and you'll see all lots of mottled, runny, interesting effects.  Recipe for it is on Glazy. There is a warm and a cool version of it.

1 hour ago, Julia.B said:

the white/brown example has a look like some brown glaze on the rim has run into the white on the main body, however I would have thought this would give obvious runs in terms of texture too whilst this is a flat finish.

Matte glazes can be runny. One way to get them is by slow cooling the kiln with a fluid glaze that is high in one of the alkaline earth minerals, calcium, magnesium, barium (not recommended for functional work) or strontium, to develop a matte or semi-matte microcrystalline surface and yet can still be very fluid. I agree it looks like a high iron gloss glaze on the rim.

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2 hours ago, Julia.B said:

I'm just starting to look at experimenting with glazes and try mixing my own rather than using store bought as I have done previously. I've spent a lot of time reading the basic theory, been through John Britts online glaze course and also his midfire glazes book. Whilst I have plenty to get on experimenting with I have seen some ceramics online where I don't even know how to start to get similar glaze effects.

I've attached a couple of examples of the styles that interested me. My initial thoughts in both cases were multiple glazes layered, the white/brown example has a look like some brown glaze on the rim has run into the white on the main body, however I would have thought this would give obvious runs in terms of texture too whilst this is a flat finish. My other thought was maybe a wash of some sort on the rim which then ran into the glaze.

In the white/blue example towards the rim it also has some vertical lines in the glaze which looked a bit like runs. The blue speckling effect in this also eludes me as how this could be achieved, whether it is a property of a specific glaze used or has been added on top as an oxide maybe? it looks quite random so I wasn't sure it was added on top

I'm very keen to experiment in these kind of styles but I just don't know where to start at the moment so I'm hoping someone with more experience can give me a nudge in the right direction.

I am using porcelain in oxidation and aiming for cone 6/7 glazes (hence the JB midrange glazes book). Any tips would be appreciated.

IMG_4140.JPG

IMG_4142.JPG

Are you trying to replicate the matte effect or the drippy effect (or both).

 

Matte glazes are fairly easy to make, I think that first picture has two glazes, one along the rim, the other is covering the entire body. Try this recipe if you want a good matte-https://glazy.org/recipes/2419 

 

A dip of a faux temmoku around the rim could give you a cool effect.

 

Drippy glazes, such as the one in the last picture, are almost always achieved by putting two or more glazes on top of one another. I did a glaze combo a while ago, produced my favorite glaze results ever. Going to start doing it again now that I am firing back at cone 6. It is two glazes, both with high amounts of silica, on top of one another. Some glazes don't do this well, the base glaze is a faux temmoku, so the iron also helps with melting. You have to experiment with it.

 

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Thank you both for your responses they are very helpful. One thing that I am still struggling with is how to know what glazes to layer in this way, particularly in the brown and white example the brown is very drippy/runny.

What I don't understand is how to get this effect without the top glaze having actual surface drips/runs in it that you can feel on the surface of the pot (like paint runs), in this example it has the runs but the surface texture of the pot looks flat so the glazes ran together but then cooled to a level surface. Are there any material properties I should be looking for in the 2 glazes being layered in order to ensure they will cool more flat without obvious layers/drips in texture? If it is a case of having similar base materials in the glaze or similar melting points  for example that would be very helpful to me rather than just testing lots of different glazes layered.

Thanks again for your help.

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4 hours ago, Julia.B said:

What I don't understand is how to get this effect without the top glaze having actual surface drips/runs in it that you can feel on the surface of the pot (like paint runs), in this example it has the runs but the surface texture of the pot looks flat so the glazes ran together but then cooled to a level surface. Are there any material properties I should be looking for in the 2 glazes being layered in order to ensure they will cool more flat without obvious layers/drips in texture? If it is a case of having similar base materials in the glaze or similar melting points  for example ...

If both glazes are mature and melted there shouldn't be raised drips/runs. Glazes with dissimilar bases will create more visual texture than glazes with the same or similar bases. Gloss over matte or vice versa for example. 

4 hours ago, Julia.B said:

rather than just testing lots of different glazes layered

Oh, I wish this were possible! Narrow it down by looking for dissimilar recipes / formula but there will be lots of testing to be done.

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On 5/22/2020 at 7:45 AM, Julia.B said:

One thing that I am still struggling with is how to know what glazes to layer in this way, particularly in the brown and white example the brown is very drippy/runny.

Brown glazes for cone 6 are mostly faux temmokus. Temmokus are very runny (My kiln shelves have found that out the hard way) However, a common misconception is that this glaze will be thicker than that of the bottom glaze, in your case that bottom glaze would be a white, which is most often not true. 

 

Let me explain a little more. When you layer 1,2,3, some even 4 glazes on the rim of the piece, all of the glaze will melt downward as they get to their respective peak temperatures. When these glazes melt, they do not stay in the same position as they were dipped (sort of), they begin to *mix together* (I say that lightly because it is sometimes not the case). Below is an image of a piece with commercial glazes, this is from last year, someone wanted a set in the color combo. The second picture, you can see what that layered glaze looked like pre-fired- Multiple rim dips. Because these all had a similar melting temp, they were able to form a heterozygous (as in, you can make out the colors still), yet smooth and glossy finish. The third is another example of rim layering, this being the same combination in my past reply.

 

That picture I attached was a poor example of a more subtle mixture of layered glaze, but I assure you it is smooth to the touch.

 

My best advice if you dislike testing glazes is to just buy commercial glazes. It is far from the best decision, but I understand why people do it, better consistency and easier (in the short term, that is.)

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