Linda Arbuckle on sat 5 feb 00
Tammy, in response to your majolica questions...
People I've spoken with using lowfire whiteware handbuilt or thrown pots
are bisquing a bit higher than usual. The white talc body is still quite
porous at the temperatures for terracotta bisque (about 06), and they
found firing higher helped eliminate white dotting in the glaze from a
thick glaze application. On thin slipcast ware, this may not be a
problem.
You can use any viscous opaque white glaze. Majolica glazes are very
thick when melted and don't move in the firing, so the line quality and
detail stay where you placed them. I believe Amaco LG11 is suitable if
you're not mixing your own glaze. Other glaze companies probably have
something similar.
> Will I still get a watercolor like effect with this?
>
Yes, but it's on top of the glaze instead of under it. It's like doing
watercolor on blotter paper. Direction and speed of the brush mark can
show. Loading the brush with more than one color is interesting as it
mixes in the stroke.
> When I line the designs w/ black do I do this at the very end of each design c
> before wax resisting?, or, can I scribe through the final piece to the
> original white glaze. Then paint over scribed areas w/ my black pigment
> and blotting clean? Would I get a jagged line by scribing?
>
I put areas of color down, draw the black lines over, then wax resist.
As you surmised, the scratched line through the wax will have a
sgraffito line quality different than a brushed line. It would work both
ways, but give visually different results, like the difference between
Greek red and black ware (brushed line vs. sgraffito to develop the
image).
Some of the EZ Strokes will probably work. I'd suggest you do a test
tile first. Some colors may be too refractory (i.e. leave a rough
surface). Same is true of Amaco Velvets. Amaco makes a line of majolica
decorating colors (GDC or Glaze Decorating Color series) that all work
for majolica. Several other companies are developing these as well.
Books that may be of interest: Creative Pottery by Michelle Coakes; The
New Maiolica by Matthias Ostermann; Tin-Glazed Earthenware by Daphne
Carnegy; Surface Decoration for Low-fire Ceramics by Lynn Peters.
If you check CeramicsWeb, Education, Articles on a variety of Ceramic
topics, I have some handouts about majolica posted.
Happy decorating.
Linda
--
Linda Arbuckle, Assoc. Prof.
Univ of FL
School of Art and Art History
P.O. Box 115801, Gainesville, FL 32611-5801
(352) 392-0201 x 219
e-mail: arbuck@ufl.edu
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