Painting with underglazes on to bisc ware- how to make them flow better

[EKasse 2]

Hi everyone - can anyone please help me work out how to paint with underglazes onto bisc ware -  how to stop the paint brush from dragging and sticking to the pot?

Is there something I can add to the underglazes (i'm using standard ones from ceramic suppliers - like  Amaco/Scarva) to help them flow better.

Ideally I'm trying to pain very thin lines smoothly.  I've got lots of different brushes to help however the dragging and sticking really doesn't help and i'm sure there's various things i could add to help with this but there's so many to choose from i get confused!  

Can any one help with this please?

thanks

Ela

ps: Am UK based

 

[Magnolia Mud Research 738]

1. add moisture to the bisque surface before brushing on the underglaze.

if 1 don't work enough, dilute the underglaze with some water.  

use brushes that hold a lot of fluid;  for fine lines, use brushes that have fine tip and hold a lot of fluid.   

practice, practice, practice.   

LT
 

[Hulk 865]

Hi Ela!

For smooth thin lines, likely you'll get some detailed responses*, for several regular forum contributors do some very detailed underglaze work.

You might try a tool like Xiem precision applicator - a squeeze bulb fitted with a small tube.

I do use underglazes, but not for any fine/detailed work - filling chatter marks and carving, and patterns with stencils/tape. I find  picking up some water in the brush before picking up a bit of underglaze helps; the water is pulled in by the thirsty clay, and the underglaze can slide quite a bit before grabbing. For small brushed lines, perhaps an oxide wash?

Any road, am interested to see what others will offer...

*network went down, now it's back!

[liambesaw 2,920]

I've always used underglaze on leather hard work because it's so frustrating to apply on bisque and you can't remove mistakes.  I also use a lot of underglaze transfers and they don't really work on bisque.

That said, what has worked for me is spraying the surface with a spray bottle until the surface takes about one second to absorb the water, at that point you have a pretty good buffer of moisture to help keep the brush from sticking, but not too much where the underglaze runs or spreads.  A pretty fine line, and spraying more sometimes causes it to run afterward.

[Rebekah Krieger 207]

I have found it easier to  apply to cheese hard surface vs bisque. The brush on bisque seems to absorb too quickly to get good lines. 
also, I have seen some do majolicia  base before brushwork and it appears to flow better, although I have not tried it. 

[Callie Beller Diesel 2,707]

The Majolica painters I know of tend to have binders in the glaze that keep it from shifting as it’s painted on. Or they spray the glaze surface with laundry starch for the same effect. I don’t know that that would be a good approach for underglaze on bisque though.

[JohnnyK 722]

As far as brushes for fine lines on dampened bisque, you might look into the pinstriping brushes that automotive and motorcycle artists use for the fine line painting they do...

[Bill Kielb 1,241]

On 3/16/2021 at 11:21 AM, EKasse said:

Ideally I'm trying to pain very thin lines smoothly.  I've got lots of different brushes to help however the dragging and sticking really doesn't help and i'm sure there's various things i could add to help with this but there's so many to choose from i get confused!  

Can any one help with this please?

Mainly practice and it’s not for everyone actually. Depends on how much patience you have to practice. Some pics below all are painted on bisque, some have background underglaze bisque on first except for the cookie jar which was greenware I believe. These may or may not be fine enough for your use but are all freehand and given more time and patience can be finer in most cases.

Good brushes, thin the underglaze as necessary, load your brush and practice.

Edited March 27 by Bill Kielb