A Bit Of Painting

It's been a while since I've been able to do any work on my ceramics. However I had a day last week and I was able to work on two pieces. Excuse the bad photos lol I didn't take them for this post, I take photos of my work as I go so I can later document the colours I've used or mixed, in the event that I want to recreate a colour, style or method. All of these pieces have only been underglazed, once they've been clear glazed and fired the colours will be really bright and pop!

                 

This is a strawberry themed oil burner that I started previously, but ran out of time and was unable to get finished. Because of the dullness of underglazes, you can't really tell that the background colour is yellow. I've since finished it and it just needs to be clear glazed and fired.

            

After finishing the oil burner I started on a mug that's in the theme of The Mexican Day Of The Dead or Dia de Muertos. I have only just started this piece and it's very rough lol so no judgments please lol Ceramics and the glazes are a weird medium to work with..... The colours are very deceiving and because the pieces are often painted in a layering style, in the early stages - especially if you're a beginner, you might be tempted to look at it and think 'This looks like crap! Or What on earth have I painted?!?!?'. It isn't until it all comes together after multiple firings, underglazes and glazes that it actually takes shape and starts to resemble what you have in your minds eye. Understanding the way they work, getting used to the process just takes time, trial and yes... Error! lol

So with this mug, I have painted a bold red heart on the opposite side to the handle and on either side of the mug is a sugar skull. I've only partially painted their faces, the outline that you can see is just lead pencil to assist me with keeping them roughly the same size. Thankfully the lead pencil burns off during the firing process lol Some pieces can get quite messy with all the scribble lol As you can see there's quite a few scribble and doodle lines on this mug, some will be painted on, some will be ignored and left to fire off. I just draw on the piece as ideas come to me, some ideas get trumped by others lol

This Dia de Muertos mug will also have have product called French Dimensions by Duncan Ceramics applied. It's basically an underglaze that works the same way puffy paints do. I'll use them to create bright swirls of colour and accents. When the mug is being fired the French Dimensions will puff up giving a raised textural effect. I really like them, they're easy to use and give a great effect!

While on the topic of The Mexican Day Of The Dead, I'm wanting to paint a plate in a similar style. Due to plates being flat I'm wanting more symmetrical looking skulls, so I spent a good chunk of a day trying to create 'the perfectly' shaped skull template lol I've not created a template before, so I'll see how it goes lol

This is another piece I finished before the oil burner, it just needs to be clear glazed and fired. It's a goblet/cocktail style piece, again this photo wasn't taken to be inserted into a blog post! If it was I would have cleaned up my desk a bit! lol

Okkie dokie ! I'll be off! I'll catch you next time! :)