Slip Trailing and Layering Ceramic Underglaze to Create a Patina Layer and sand your underglaze decoration to create a patina on your surface! Erin Furimsky

There are a ton of fun underglaze decoration techniques out there. And the technique in today's video is another fine example, and one I hadn't seen before filming Erin Furimsky's  Layered Surfaces video. So, I thought it would be a good underglaze decoration technique to share.

In this technique, after slip trailing some patterns on a piece and letting it dry, Erin paints a couple of layers of different colored pottery underglazes on top. After everything dries to bone dry, she sands and scrapes away at the layers creating an effect similar in appearance to layered and peeling paint. And it is gorgeous. If you've never tried this underglaze decoration technique before, you'll definitely want to put it on your list of things to try! – Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor

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This clip was excerpted from Layered Surfaces, which is available in the Ceramic Arts Network Shop!

More Underglaze Decoration Techniques to Try!

Underglaze Definition: Underglazes, or engobes, are colored slips formulated to have low drying shrinkage, allowing application to leather hard, bone-dry, or bisque-fired surfaces before glazing. Underglaze is such a wonderful and versatile material to have in the ceramic studio. From the sgraffito technique to an underglaze watercolor painting technique, to using stencils on pottery to mask off certain areas or patterns (as Erin did on the cup she was decorating in this video), the sky is the limit for underglaze decoration. And what's great about underglazes is that they can be used on greenware or bisqueware. If you have any interest in making your own underglaze from scratch, check out this post in the archives on how to make underglaze!

 

The image shown above shows the fired result of this technique with a clear glaze coat over the top.

To learn more about Erin Furimsky or see images of her work, please visit www.erinfurimsky.com.

**First published in 2011.