I absolutely adore color and the more I can put on my pottery, the happier I am. I have experimented around with many different techniques to decorate pottery but there are two that I keep coming back to over and over. Underglaze painting on Pottery and Sgraffito Carving.

Many times it is a combination of both! 

Please note this post may contain affiliate links and I may earn a commission if you click them and make a purchase.  This is, of course, at no cost to you, and I only share products that I use and love myself.

I loves sgraffito carving mugs,  plates and bowls. 

It’s how I express myself creatively. It’s how I found my artistic voice.

Many of my designs lend well to the high contrast black and white from sgraffito carving, black from the underglaze and white from the clay but every once in a while I just feel the need to add more color to a piece.

Or Sometimes I look at the bare white clay piece of Greenware (Dry and Unfired) and just decide to paint on my pottery.

For both of these techniques, I use Underglaze.

If you want to read more about my Sgraffito work you can do so here.

• Facebook
• Pinterest

Let’s add some color

I prefer to do all my underglaze painting on dry greenware.

If I am adding color to a carved piece (I carve at a leather hard stage) I will let the piece completely dry before adding additional colors. I find that the colors stay brighter.

If I am just painting on a piece I let the piece get good and dry.

Opaque or Translucent Underglaze painting

How many layers of color I add are determined by how opaque or translucent I want my color to be, If I want a washed-out, watercolor effect I may thin down the underglaze with water. If I want opaque color I will add up to three layers of the color.

My Underglaze of choice is Amaco Velvets. I have tried a few other brands but I keep coming back to them. For my work, I have some favorite colors.

My Favorite Colors Black (of course) – Jet Black V-361 Intense Yellow V-391 Baby blue V-325 Medium blue V-326 Chartreuse green V-343 Leaf Green V-354 Turquoise Blue V-327 Violet V-380 Red V-382 Bright Red V-387 Flame Orange V-389 White

Facebook Pinterest Facebook Pinterest An Easy way to start your underglaze journey would be to purchase a kit such as this one. It doesn’t contain all of my favorite colors but it contains some pretty ones!!  These are 2-ounce jars and are perfect for experimenting with.   You can also get any color you want in 2-ounce jars (or pints) . See them on Amazon

I have a lot more colors than these but these are the ones that I use constantly. You have seen my work and you know I love color. These colors all blend so well together.

There are a few underglaze colors that I have lots of trouble with, like royal blue! For me, it turns too dark and many times it bubbles up during glaze firing so now I avoid it.

Greens also tend to give me a lot of trouble. They seem to burn out on me at cone 5 and turn brown. Making my own green by mixing yellow or chartreuse with a bit of blue seems to work better.

Making these tiny dishes was a fun way for me to test various underglaze combinations. I could see which colors looked great layered and which ones disappeared into each other.

• Facebook
• Pinterest

 

These tiny dishes are a wonderful way to experiment with various layers of underglaze.

Making a Color Paint Palette

Although Amaco makes an underglaze palette I decided that I would make my own so that I could fill it with the colors I use.

I wanted one that had a cover so that the underglazes would stay usable and wet. I bought this Airtight Watercolor palette on Amazon.

I really like it although my underglazes still dry out! (So much for airtight). The wells are not that deep so I can refresh them as often as needed. There is lots of mixing space too, which is really nice. When I start a new batch of underglaze painting I lightly mist the wells of dry underglaze and allow them to become workable again.

When doing the artwork, I prefer a more watercolor look. Amaco underglazes are pretty thick out of the bottle so I water them down a bit in the mixing tray. Experiment around to get your look. The more coats you use, the more opaque the colors become.

Once all my pieces are carved and painted it’s time to bisque fire, glaze, and fire.

I bisque my pieces to cone 04. After Bisque firing, if you see a spot that needs a bit of retouching, its ok to add some underglaze. You don’t have to rebisque!  I do this quite often on my sgrafitto work if there are some weird spots in the black.

Underglaze is not a “glaze” and if you are making functional pottery you should use a clear glaze to seal it. For the final glaze (cone 5) I currently use Kittens Clear which I mix up myself. If you are a potter, you can find the recipe on glazy.org. 

I love the matte look of Amaco Velvets that have been fully fired without clear glaze though and sometimes use that look in my coffee mugs. If I want to do that though I need to make sure I glaze the inside of the mug and always water-test it after firing. ( Fill it with water and let it sit a few hours to see if it weeps or leaks)

I hope I have covered enough to give you an idea of how I work and maybe inspire you to give it a try.

Feel free to comment or ask any questions in the comment field below