Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Sequences

I'm trying to figure out some sort of process that combines slip/underglaze with sgraffito and antiquing.  possibly covered in a clear glaze
there seem to be endless permutations.
In my navy and white series, I made a form, let dry, applied large areas of slip, and carved when damp.  bisque fired, then glazed with clear.  5 steps.

so there are various processes that can be applied at various stages of the piece based on hardness, such as:
1. when soft
 impressed decoration

2. When the clay is leather hard
carving on base clay
large areas of slip/underglaze
brush strokes of slip/underglaze
mishima
underglaze pencil drawing
sgraffito through slip/underglaze to the clay layer

3. when the clay is bone dry
large areas of slip/underglaze (dip or brush)
brush strokes of slip/underglaze
slip trailing
underglaze pencil drawing
sgraffito through slip/underglaze to the clay layer

cuerda seca


3. When the clay is bisque fired
before glazing:
"antiqued" with brushed on/off oxides or stains
re-application of slips or underglazes
    (can go directly to cone 6 firing without additional glaze)

4. raw glazed:
overglaze decoration with stains/oxides using brush or sprayer

overglaze decoration with underglazes
sgraffito through overglaze decoration to the glaze layer
layered glazes, dipped, brushed or trailed

5. cone 6 fired
decals or lustres
refire to a different temp
 
I made a table on word-perfect to summarize this, but am unable to copy it to this format.
It is important to note that some techniques can be repeated numerous times at each stage of dryness, ex. apply slip, let dry , apply more slip or underglaze, or you could re-bisque many times to fix the layers of underglaze decoration.  I also didn't include resists, since I'm not too interested in using them right now.
the techniques are all based on cone 6 electric kiln firing, so I haven't included such things as burnishing, waxing, or different atmospheres like pit firing, raku, soda or salt, flashing slips,
also, the above are all ceramic processes, and so I haven't written down the option of painting with "room temperature" paints, such as acrylics,

So in Practical terms, what I'm wanting to do is make a series of test tiles in order to find the sequences and combinations that create the color and texture that I desire in the finished pieces.
What I'm hoping to avoid are the several hour test tiles, -- those pieces that one blithely works through, assuming that what one envisions will really happen..... then the colors turn out to be quite different than expected, the underglazes are transluscent instead of opaque, etc, etc,

Also, I need to make them based on the processes that I enjoy doing!
i.e.  I like to carve leather hard clay, brush on colors, sgraffito through color, dip in glazes,
I do not like to: handle it too much when raw-glazed (dusty, smudges) no lustres (smelly, toxic)

Although this seems really simple, it is actually a lot to keep in mind, and the number of test tiles increases exponentially when you want to answer a question!

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