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Decorating Tools
Looking for ideas and instruction on the multitude of ceramic decorating tools out there. The Decorating Tools section of Ceramic Arts Daily is the right place to be. Here we’ve gathered articles and information on decorating ceramic work from potters of all level of experience. You’ll find out how they use store-bought, found or even handmade decorating tools to make their work their own. And don't forget to download your free copy of the 2008 Ceramic Workshop Handbook: Clay Tools and Ceramic Studio Reference . This handy studio reference includes valuable technical references and great clay tools to help you with forming, surface decoration and firing. Plus, it has a comprehensive directory of manufacturers and suppliers that provide ceramic equipment, raw materials, clay tools and ceramic supplies.
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June 10, 2009
Brushwork on Ceramics: A Multitude of Decorative Possibilities for Pottery
Robin Hopper talks about the importance of a good brush and demonstrates one type of maiolica-style on-glaze decoration that can be created on pottery using different colored glazes, a brush and a slip trailer.
January 9, 2009
Ceramics Decorating Video: Slip Cones - Easy-to-Make Pottery Tools for Precise Slip Trailing
In today's video, ceramic artist Charan Sachar shows us how to make a foolproof and ergonomic slip trailer out of some inexpensive materials. Watch the video now! and then make some for yourself. We've also included some step-by-step written instruction on the process.
December 29, 2008
One of the things I really like about clay is how easily it meshes with printmaking, another art form I really dig. I remember making linocut prints back in grade school art class with Mrs. Duffy. It was one of my favorite projects and perhaps where my love of printmaking and texture first emerged. The January/February 2009 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated (hot off the presses!) got me thinking about linocuts again. Today, we'll present an excerpt from Annie Chrietzberg's article featuring potter Cynthia Guajardo's linocut technique, a fantastic method for creating repeatable customized texture on pottery.
December 24, 2008
Pencil Pushing: A Homemade Pottery Tool for Stippled Texture
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love when potters come up with clever homemade tools. When perusing the latest issue of Ceramics Monthly, I came across yet another great idea for a homemade texture tool for clay. It seems #2 pencils aren't just for standardized tests anymore! Studio potter Emily Rossheim and her apprentice Tom Marrinson use a bundle of them to create stippled texture on her work. Today, we'll explain how they create and use these low-tech but super cool tools. I don't know about you, but I'm already scanning my office looking for other things to bundle together for texture tools.
August 13, 2008
From the Laundry Room to the Clay Studio: Readers Share Clever Tips for Pottery Tools
Today we bring you a couple of great reader-submitted tips for ceramic tools. These tips involve items that you probably already own, but never thought to use for clay studio purposes. Following a laundry theme, ceramic artists Ken Magee of Talahassee, Florida, and Peggy Breidenbach of Indianapolis, Indiana, share ideas for repurposing tools usually used for drying clothes for use in the ceramics studio.
June 27, 2008
Pottery Decorating Video: Using Handmade Bisque Stamps to Apply Texture to Platter Rims
Today’s Video Tip of the Week comes to us from Mark Peters of Pine Root Pottery in North Carolina. Mark takes us, from start to finish, through the process of adding decorative texture to freshly thrown platter rims with bisque stamps. And he makes it look sooooo easy! This is another great technique if you use glazes that break or pool in texture. Give it a try! -Jennifer Harnetty, editor.
June 16, 2008
Polymer Clay Texture Stamps: Easy to Make Tools for Applying Texture to Ceramic Sculpture or Pottery
Virginia Cartwright's polymer clay stamps are quick and easy to make and even more durable than bisque stamps.
June 11, 2008
Rolling, Rolling, Rolling: Making Roulettes to Add Texture and Depth to Your Pottery
Ceramic artist Andi Fasimpaur explains her simple technique for making roulettes, or rolling stamps, for decorating pottery and ceramic sculpture.
May 21, 2008
Low-Tech Silk Screens: An Easy Way to Repeat Images on Ceramic Art
Today’s feature comes to us from Ceramic Arts Daily subscriber C.A. Sanger of Waterville, Kansas. She was inspired to send this technique when she read Brad Menninga's article “Making Custom Silk Screens for Ceramics,” which ran a couple of weeks ago. Sanger offers this tip as a way to make simple silk screens with inexpensive materials you might already have around the house or studio. Be sure to try combining this process with the technique explained in Susan Kotulak’s feature “From Flat to Round: Screen Printing Glaze Patterns onto Pottery.” I am sure it will open up new creative directions in your work!
May 7, 2008
Making Custom Silk Screens for Ceramics: Printing Process Opens Up Pottery Decorating Possibilities
So readers, after Monday’s feature From Flat to Round: Screen Printing Glaze Patterns onto Pottery, are you ready to try using foam to silk screen glaze onto pots? Well, as promised, today we are going to cover the steps in making a custom silk screen so you can be well on your way. Portland, Oregon, ceramic artist Brad Menninga explains the process below.
May 5, 2008
From Flat to Round: Screen Printing Glaze Patterns onto Pottery
Today’s ceramic technique was adapted from another artistic process: screen-printing textiles. Printing onto clay is not a new technique. A browse through the Pottery Making Illustrated back issues, including the most recent issue, turns up lots of articles on various ways to print on clay. But the following method was a new twist that I hadn't seen before. Though she had started out her artistic career as a potter, life’s twists and turns caused Susan Kotulak to shift gears and pursue textile arts. But the clay called her back and she now works actively in both media. It’s no surprise, then, that having this dual focus would eventually lead to the two processes influencing one another. This super cool technique ...
March 29, 2008
Peter Sharpe of Rimbey, Alberta, Canada, came up with this clever solution for glazing difficult-to-dip pots.
