How to Make Color-Blocked Illustrations with Underglaze Maya Rumsey

As Melissa Maya explains in the December 2022 issue of Ceramics Monthly, "I try to balance clean, simple lines while allowing my hand as an artist and maker to show through." I'd say she does this perfectly!

In today's post, an excerpt from that issue of Ceramics Monthly, Melissa explains how she creates her beautiful surfaces by mixing underglazes while painting on the pot, giving the colors a lovely swirly effect. You'll also learn how she enhances the drawings with slip-trailed lines, wax resist, and glaze. –Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor

PS. To learn how she makes her mugs, see the December 2022 issue of Ceramics Monthly!

Adding Surface Designs

The decorating phase for any pieces that will have drawings on them begins after the bisque firing. Using a 2B pencil, I sketch out my design on the mug (1). The pencil lines act as a guide when adding underglaze colors. I work with AMACO Velvet Underglazes. I use paintbrushes that have a beveled edge on the end of the handle for large areas. These brushes give me the ability to scoop up more underglaze and use the beveled edge to spread it where I would like it (2). For some of the designs, I mix the colors on the pot to create a swirled effect. To do that, I paint the first color in a thick layer, then add the second color while the first color is still wet. Before it dries, I use the brush to swirl the two colors together (3). 

After the underglaze is dry, I use the underglaze pen from Axner/Laguna with an extra-fine tip to apply black lines around the forms. Typically the underglaze will be a bit too thick when poured into the bottle on the underglaze pen, so I add a few drops of water at a time until it flows smoothly (4). I can carefully wipe away little mistakes if needed, but try to avoid that. I find those little bumps and wobbles to be evidence of the artist’s hand, and so I leave them.

After decorating the mugs, I go over my designs with Aftosa wax resist. I put the wax around the whole design, so that the underglaze is left raw and there is a halo effect around the design where the dark clay will show through (5). I apply it in a pretty thick layer and let it dry for at least 12 hours (preferably more). When the mugs are ready, I dip them into glazes that I mix myself (6). I use a damp sponge to clean up any stray glaze on the waxed areas (7). One of the main glazes I’m using is a white matte glaze from Jen Allen that I saw in a past issue of Ceramics Monthly. After testing it, I realized that on my clay body, when fired to cone 6 with a slow-cool program, this glaze turns out glossy and drippy, mostly off white with toasty brown coming through. This is why I call it my “Toast” glaze. It looks very different on Jen’s work! When I add 5% 6600 Mason stain to it, the glaze turns into a beautiful satin-matte black. Finally, after the cone-6 firing, I wet sand all of the unglazed areas. A mug is born!

the author Maya Rumsey is from Toledo, Ohio, and graduated with a BFA from Bowling Green State University in 2008. She now lives with her husband and two daughters in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where she works in her basement studio. To learn more, visit melissa-maya-pottery.myshopify.com or follow her on Instagram @melissamayapottery.