Painting Techniques
HOW TO CLEAN GREENWARE
Using a sharp cleaning tool, remove the seam lines on the greenware by scraping them off diagonally being sure not to gouge the ware. Re-carve any detail removed during the scraping process. Gently sand over the seam lines with a sander. With a dust brush, brush the dust from the greenware then take a damp sponge and go over the seam lines and other surface that needs smoothing. If you see the “hard” spot, place a little slip on your sponge and cover over the spot.
HOW TO BASE COAT (BC)
Base coats need to be as smooth as possible. Do not apply too much paint at one time. You want to cover the piece completely filling in the detail. If you BC a textured items, paint in the direction of the detail, not against the detail. Two thin, smooth coats are always best for coverage.
HOW TO DRY BRUSH
Apply color to the tip of the brush. Remove excess and work the paint INTO the brush by stroking it back and forth across a piece of paper or old blue jeans. Apply color to the desired areas by going across the ridges of the detail, keeping out of the crevices. Repeat process until desired effect is achieved, allowing paint to dry between coats. Clean brushes and be sure they are dry before each use.
HOW TO APPLY GLITTER
When using a loose glitter, you will need first to apply a glue or liquid glitter or snow. This will need to be wet. Sprinkle on the loose glitter. It will adhere to the glue and will deepen the glittery affect. When using a liquid glitter, just paint it on top of a Base Coat. This may require several coats to achieve desired effect. Be sure to let the glitter dry thoroughly.
HOW TO APPLY NON-FIRED SNOW
Mix well before using adding white stain if too thick to apply. Use the appropriate cleaning tool, brush, palette knife or tweezers to apply snow to the desired areas. Apply glitter over snow while wet and let it dry overnight. Clean brushes with soap and water.
HOW TO APPLY DECALS
Place decals in warm water, allowing the decal time to release itself from it’s paper backing. When loose, gently pick it up and place in desired location on the piece. Hold in place with a finger and remove the backing by sliding it from underneath the decal. Keep the decal secure and using a “squee-gee” (a small piece of rubber with a beveled edge), remove air bubbles and excess water to the edge of the decal picking up the water with a paper towel.
NOTE: If all the water is not removed or if there is an air pocket, your decal will not fire correctly. Anywhere the decal is not attached to the glaze; the decal will fire away.
Ceramic Terms and Abbreviations Glossary
HL-HIGHLIGHT: This term is often used to indicate dry brushing or rouging with a VERY light hand. When you highlight with a color product, your goal is to gingerly dry brush or rouge this color in a designated area for a subtle coloring effect. The HL abbreviation is also used in techniques to designate eye highlights. To create an eye HL, apply a dot of given color using a stylus to the upper section of the iris. When highlighting eyes, be careful to place the dot of color in the same position and angle on both the left and right eye.
LINE: Using a detail brush, paint lines of color onto indicated areas.
PAINT: Use a brush of appropriate size to carefully and completely apply the indicated color products to designated areas.
PB-PAT BACK: After applying the indicated Intense Translucent, use a cloth (old t-shirt) or quality paper towel and wipe or pat back the applied color to desired intensity. If a less intense color is desired, use water or Antique Media to pat back color.
ROUGE: Use a quality paper towel or soft cloth (old t-shirt) wrapped around an index finger to apply an additional Intense Translucent color to an initial color, by tipping the towel/ cloth wrapped finger with a small amount of the selected Intense Translucent from you pallet. Rub the color first onto a clean area of your pallet and then onto the desired area of the piece. The rouged color will HL the raised areas while leaving the crevices with initial color. This can be accomplished in small areas by using a Q-tip.
SHADE: This term is used to refer to the small stroke of color placed below the pupil in the iris of an eye. A thin slash of color should be placed along the contour of the pupil at a direct angle below a HL dot. The HL dot indicates a reflection of light from the eye surface and a slash of color below indicates the light shining through the pupil into the iris.
STIPPLE: Dip a small round dry brush into indicated color product and wipe some of the color back out of the brush onto a paper towel. Using a up and down “pouncing” motion apply the color to the piece.
STREAK: To create “streaks” of color on the indicated areas, apply color in random strokes using a small filbert brush loaded with color product.
TIP: Apply indicated color to the tip section of indicated ceramic piece. (Usually used in techniques concerning feathers.)
TOUCH-UP: Apply the given color onto the indicated area to conceal any incidental color overflows or strokes common in wet brushing and dry brushing.
WB-WETBRUSH: Like dry brushing, this technique requires the wiping out of color product from a stiff round brush. However, in wet brushing, you will leave a considerable amount of color in your brush. The goal in wet brushing is to create a smooth intense color with less graduation from light to dark than in dry brushing. This technique is selected many times when the artist wants to bring a dark smooth surface up to a bright intensity without the “chalky-ness” often accompanying dry brushing.
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