QotW: Are you Dipper, Pourer, Sprayer, sponger, squirter, or Brusher?

[Pres]

Yesterday I was at a local apple orchard, that is a neat place in our area. It has a great weekend luncheon menu, with a great apple chicken salad, and quiche which my wife loves. It also has a variety of food items nick knacks and other things along with the work of a potter. Looking at her work, I got to thinking about how many of us pour, dip, spray, splatter, or squirt bottle our glazes on as opposed to the brushing on of glazes either in large strokes or intricate patterns. I love to dip glazes now, over top of stained textures with overlapping sloppy drips that I spray multiple layers of other glazes over to build up the surface. My parents were hobby folks in the day, and would painstakingly brush each hand, sleeve, and smile of the Santa Mugs, or the pitchers and vases that they hand decorated. Of course they were cast bisqueware, and it was relaxing and gratifying when they came out looking exactly how they expected. For me, that amount of hours for one piece is tiresome and boring, but we still have and treasure those pieces they made so many years ago at Hickam AFB.

QotW: Are you Dipper, Pourer, Sprayer, sponger, squirter, or Brusher? Please elaborate, include pictures if you can.

 

best,

Pres

[Russ]

95% dipper 5% sprayer.   Most of my spraying is with an underglaze followed by a clear overglaze. This is on sculpture pieces that have a whole lot of other things going on and then masked with wax resist.  Spraying and dipping give a much more even and smoother coat than brushing.

[Hulk]

Mostly pour in/out and dip.
A bit of brushing to fill chatter marks, touch up spots, and decorative marking; ear syringe for filling and then sucking out hollow knobs; squeeze bottle for glazing inside foot rings and squirt pour the outside of ware too big to dip!

Planning to do some glazing this week, will circle back with images...

I've done some spraying when attending Wheel I and Wheel II at the (previously) local JC Ceramic lab; not set up to spray at home just yet, and IF/when I am, it will be for effect, not main glazing procedure...

[Denice]

I usually spray larger pots,  dip dishes, poured glaze on 1200 tiles, and a lot of fine brushing  a little bit of  sponging.  I have a turkey baster at the ready for my next adventure in clay.   I am still trying to finish my mural,  I fired  sky back ground tiles a couple of weeks ago and hated them.   Fortunately I made two sets of tiles for the sky,  I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.  I have four vertical feet of a three dimensional landscape finished.  My husband and son (visiting us from Costa Rica)  said it doesn't look to bad,   I am my own worse critic but there appraisal confirmed mine.  Between major remodeling on our house and many house guests it is a wonder I get any work done.  I am about to fire some new test tiles for this project.  Fingers crossed.      Denice

[JohnnyK]

I am a brusher...that's how I first learned to glaze, and I've been doing so ever since. I don't produce enough to warrant the expense of the dipping glazes, nor do I have the space to store all the buckets. Granted, the brushing process is tedious and time consuming, but I couldn't get the Glaze FX that I produce by dipping. I primarily use Amaco's Potters Choice and Celadon glazes, and for the colors I use the most, I buy gallons, but I am starting to venture into mixing my own glazes. While buying glazes by the pint is relatively expensive, it gives me the opportunity to experiment with colors and layering to determine if buying gallons is feasible. Amaco has an excellent collection of layering outcomes with virtually all of their glazes and I use the works of other potters to help with layering endeavors. If I see something I like, I try to reproduce it initially with glazes I have in stock. If I find it particularly intriguing, and I don't have stock, I'll buy what I need to experiment., usually with positive outcomes...

[Chilly]

Brusher, followed by pouring in/out.  Never use enough of amy glaze to justify quantity needed for dipping.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

99% Dipping, with some squirt bottle use on pots of a certain size. I don’t have the facilities or equipment to spray, and dipping gets a quick, easy application. I make enough stuff that brushing would be very impractical.

 

[Rae Reich]

100% dipping and pouring, until I got a spray booth. Much experimenting to decide when it worked well and when, not. Maybe 85/15 after that. Brushing and airbrush for effects/decoration. 

[Pres]

Before I transitioned to mixing my own from scratch, I used to order ART and Minnesota Clay glazes in 25# bags. This allowed me to mix what I needed from year to year, and not have problems with the glazes drying out or getting had in the bottom of a jar. This was long before Amaco came out with their Potters Choice line of glazes. I noticed that they offer these premixed and bulk bags also. If I were still using premixed glazes they would be a good option.

 

best,

Pres

[LeeU]

I learned how to dip. pour, & spray but now I mostly just brush, sometimes sponge, unless I want a certain effect like making a spatter. 

[Bam2015]

Dip, but I have only been using clear glazes the past couple of years so I am now mixing my own glazes. 

[Hulk]

Images from this week's glazing.
I'll charge up the "real" camera for next.
There's just enough light in the Studio for working at the wheel, but not so much at the workbench and glazing table*.

Bowl, where liner glaze has been poured in, then (carefully, somewhat slowly, two or three turns) swirled about so there's glaze right up to the edge, then poured out, wait, wait, then, holding the bowl upside down, dip the edge.
At about two o'clock, there's slight overlap ridge, which past experience says will be almost imperceptible on this white stoneware.

 

Mug, where liner glaze has been poured in, then poured out.
I try to grasp the mug the same way each time; pouring past the handle is almost last, where the angle is greater/greatest and hence the handle doesn't get tagged.
The leading edge of the pour comes around, then follows the initial trailing edge, leaving a fairly uniform coating.
A full "wind up" of the lower arm almost does it; I grasp with the right, steady with the left, then shuffle the grip just afore the end, where the rotation is slowEst.
After outpour, wait, wait, then dip the edge, run the drip around and around, wet a finger and smooth any drips when they are still shiny wet, but the surrounding glaze layer is losing its sheen. A smoothed drip is visible here; again, past experience says it'll be fine.
The top of the handle often gets a kiss of glaze when the rim is dipped - typically I'll just leave it there.
 

Liner glazed jars have been waxed on the rim and down the inside ~3/4"
From there, I run a razor knife around the rim and sponge away remaining liner glaze (credit Tony Hansen's article and video clip on liner glazing).
The chattery marks are filled with glaze or underglaze, which provides some highlight/contrast and to ensure the cuts are wetted with glaze all the way to the bottom.

Aiming for a thicker layer of glaze on and just below the rim, as that's where it seems to thin the most, gravity...

Next, outside glazing!
 

*Picked up a hanging LED shoplight yesterday, that should help.
The pending remodel to include flush mount LED fixtures in the ceiling...

Edited November 12, 2023 by Hulk
minor edity

[Pyewackette]

I'd like to be a sprayer but boy those spray booths are spendy, and I seem to be the wrong kind of handy to try to build one.  I don't grok pumps!

Edited November 16, 2023 by Pyewackette

[Hulk]

Here the outside (upside for lids) has been dipped.

Inverted, the glaze goes up the inside as the trapped air is compressed, however, it doesn't stick, for the liner is waxed from the lip to about 3/4" down.

After the dip, an initial swipe with a sponge* to catch the biggest drops of glaze beaded up on the wax prevents them from sliding down the wax when the pot is righted, there.
Then, any remaining droplets are easily caught, no hurry, for they are beaded up on the wax.

For the dip, I'm lowering these (careful not to "burp" any air out!) smoothly to full depth, retrieving to the upper limit of chatter marking, then lowering to the lower limit of the chatter marks (not all the way to the foot!) afore withdrawing the piece - steady, not too fast! - shake, shake, run the drip around, sponge the big droplets off the wax, right the piece, etc. 

Varying the speed of withdrawal can make for interesting banding, particularly with transparent and semi-transparent glazes...
Upside down dip, simple way to control glaze thickness - thinner near the foot, thicker near the lip.

Where the glaze is "watery" (for my glazes, specific gravity 1.41 to 1.46, depending on the glaze) enough, I don't have to hurry to prevent too thick a layer, and, And, where the glaze is "gel" enough**, it does not run, drip, sag.

Waxing, cutting and cleaning for the sharp boundary at the lip is a bit of trouble, however, I like the look.
I'm taping off the foot, as I like the clean sharp edge there too. The tape provides a handle as well. I'm removing the tape while the glaze is still moist - less dust.
The area within the foot ring, I'm using a squirt bottle, level with a wet finger, sponge* away any oops, done.
 

*Where a big sponge is too much, cut the "right" size and shape from a big'n! ...still thanking Bill Van Gilder for that tip, thanks Bill!

** per often mentioned (by me!) adjust that thixotropy!
See Tony Hansen's articles on dipping glaze, thixotropy, etc. and Thixotropy and How to Gel a Ceramic Glaze (digitalfire.com)

 

[Joseph Fireborn]

Pour inside, spray outside.  I will say spraying is a labor of love. Takes a lot longer to spray a pot than dip it, and it can be difficult to get consistent results. Dipping is definitely a better method. I need to embrace it more.

[Pres]

I pour outside, finger swipe, spray through stencils. . . weeds, found objects. . . .lace, artificial branches etc, all over textured surfaces that break the glaze even more.

 

best,

Pres