Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Guido and sgraffito!

Guido poses and keeps me company while I dive into this coil-built bowl.
I like to use a Tombow watercolor pen... with a brush tip...to draw
guidelines on the underglazed surface.  And if I mess up?
Just grab a different color!  

Carving the design is great fun!
Although I have guidelines, I don't always follow them.
Spontaneously adding details is part of the joy,
as is watching the design appear bit by bit
The technique is also soothing and makes the time fly by.  Which is one of
the reasons I get to bed sooooo late.

After hours of carving it takes some time to
stretch out my ring finger (right hand.)  That's the one that had
trigger finger surgery in December.  I'm grateful that it doesn't hurt when I'm carving!

Can you find the 2 cats, 1 bug and 1 bird?


A side view as the bowl dries.
Here it sits on 2 boards so the bottom can dry more easily.
I also rotate it often, and turn it upside down on some foam.
These photos were all taken before the bisque (first) firing.  I'm thrilled to
report that it came through that firing just fine, and tomorrow I will glaze.



2 comments:

  1. You have a great model there, but I can only imagine how steep his fee is!

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  2. Haha! Rex, his joy comes in rolling in the bits of underglaze -covered clay I've carved. He then leaps away... before I can grab him... happily trailing bits of clay through the house. I'm sure he giggles.

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