two methods for planning surface design on pottery

Glazing can be SO daunting. There are so many options and techniques to choose from, and I often can’t just choose one, or 5 for that matter. I find that it helps to play and sketch before I make any final glaze decisions. I do use a sketch book for this, but once I think I know what direction I want to go in, I use a couple of methods to do a trial run before I actually apply glaze to the pot.

Short tutorial on 2 glaze prep techniques.

To gain some practice and inspiration, sometimes I’ll use water and various brushes to experiment on the surface of bisqueware to get a sense of how different marks, doodles, or shapes might work on the surface. I’ll then use the selected brush with either glaze, underglaze, or wax resist to brush a design on the pot. The water gets absorbed by the pot, and evaporates out so you can toy around multiple times with the same pot using different brushes.

Another method for playing with ideas is to simply grab a pencil and draw on the pot. I can be more precise with my marks, and can paint underglaze within the lines for more intricate designs. The pencil markings will burn out once the pot is fired so there’s no need to worry about those lines showing up once the pot is finished.