Rethinking the concept of a resist and what makes it work, or not work, opens up a whole new world of possibilities for resist decoration. This led me to the use of “permeable” resists. Resists that sort of resist and sort of don’t; that block while still allowing some interaction with the surface underneath. Once you understand how resists create barriers, you can broaden your resist decorating palette and use their special characteristics in your work.
Non-Traditional Water Resists
What materials repel water? Think about all the different materials that contain waxes, oils, or greases, including the oil from your skin. Soften any of these resists by warming them a little, and the quality of the line changes. Here are some hard and soft resist materials you can try.
Hard Resists
Lipstick—makes a nice greasy line
Eyebrow pencil
Wax crayon—creates a scratchy line
Butcher’s grease pencil or china marker
Chunk of wax or a candle—produces a similar line to the china marker, and you can adjust the width of the line by choosing bigger or smaller pieces
Oil pastels—similar line to wax but fatter, and you can use them sideways
Bar of soap
Leftover chocolate—different kinds of chocolate make different kinds of lines; the harder, the scratchier; the softer, the fatter the line
Soft Resists
Full-strength white glue, wood glue, acrylic glue—trail like slip or dilute for brushing
Acrylic floor polish
Acrylic artist’s medium
Liquid beeswax
Paste wax or Vaseline—good for smudgy marks when applied with a cloth or fingers
Any oils—they can be brushed, smudged, or spattered
Paper Resists
While paper resists won’t work on bisqueware, where I do most of my decoration, tape does and comes in many different forms and widths. Pin-striping tapes come in thin widths and are very flexible. Stickers are also an option. If you want a shape or thickness in a tape or sticker that isn’t available, cut the exact shape you want out of paper, glue it to the pot with diluted white glue, and smooth it down with a rubber rib. You could also cut your design out of self-adhesive shelf paper or even masking tape.
Colored Resists
The cuerda-seca technique, which originated in Persia and eventually moved to Spain, is the technique of creating an open design using wax, oil, or grease containing manganese or iron. The defined areas are then filled with colored glazes. When the work is fired, the resist keeps the colors separated and leaves a black or brown line between them.
Expand on this technique by adding any under- or overglaze colorant to any of the liquid resists mentioned above.
Many of the hard resists, such as crayons, pastels, and lipsticks, are colored with the same oxides used in ceramics, and will often leave a colored trace when they melt.
Paper cutouts or torn strips soaked in a solution of diluted white glue and a colorant also leave behind a trace of the colorant contained in the glue.
Pressure Resists
Think of tie-dyeing. Wrapping different materials around your piece can provide different effects.
Tightly wrapped string, rubber bands, or even plastic wrap (rolled into a “string” or left flat) resist water to differing extents.
Fuzzy strings (e.g., sisal) can leave a distinctive mark. If the string is absorbent, try soaking it in terra sigillata, a colorant, or even a liquid resist, squeezing it out a bit to avoid drips. Carefully wrap the pot with it and then apply further decoration, slip, glaze, or terra sigillata.
Use strings made of natural materials that can either be removed before firing or left to burn out in the kiln.
Experiment with absorbent and nonabsorbent materials. Try using string or rubber bands to hold open-weave cloth against the pot.
Application
Treat liquid or soft resist materials like any other decorating material. They are the same as oxides, colorants, terra sigillatas, slips, or glazes, and you can use any means you think of to apply them to a surface—dip, pour, spatter, spray, splash, squirt, or brush. Also, consider that tools can often leave the most interesting marks. Look for orphaned tools: balding brushes, spitting sprayers, decrepit sponges, ragged bits of cloth, or loose bits of string.
Safety
Most of the materials discussed are safe to use. All natural materials should burn out safely in your kiln, although you need a good venting system if you’re firing indoors. Paper, tape, and natural strings can either be left in place or removed as you wish. Left on, the ash residue can leave interesting traces. Plastics like acrylics and floor finishes require adequate ventilation. Trailed white glue and pin-striping tape should be removed before firing.
Testing Alternative Resists
The items tested are listed at the end of each row. The first column shows the resist applied to a bisque surface. In the middle column, the tiles have been dipped in a soda solution on the left side and dipped in a 1:10 terra-sigillata and soda solution on the right side, leaving the center portion untreated. In the third column, the tiles have been fired to 1652°F (900°C) with newspapers and wrapped in heavy-duty aluminum foil saggars, in a well-ventilated electric kiln. After firing, a stripe of acrylic floor finish was applied to show how color and contrast can be enhanced.
Conclusion
I hope you’re getting the idea. The list can go on and on. Basically, anything that makes a barrier against water or smoke works in some way, and each one has its own special character. Think about trying these techniques at different stages of the pot’s or the decoration’s development. There are a lot of ideas here, but I seriously doubt that I’ve exhausted all the possibilities. The chart above reveals the effects different resists have on a clay surface that has been smoke fired in a saggar.
Excerpted from, “Pièce de Résistance! The world beyond wax resist” by Russel Fouts, which originally appeared in the July/August 2006 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated.
We understand your email address is private. You will receive emails and newsletters from Ceramic Arts Network. We will never share your information except as outlined in our privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Please enjoy this complimentary article for the month.
For unlimited access to Pottery Making Illustrated premium content, please subscribe.
We understand your email address is private. You will receive emails and newsletters from Ceramic Arts Network. We will never share your information except as outlined in our privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Subscribe to Pottery Making Illustrated
Rethinking the concept of a resist and what makes it work, or not work, opens up a whole new world of possibilities for resist decoration. This led me to the use of “permeable” resists. Resists that sort of resist and sort of don’t; that block while still allowing some interaction with the surface underneath. Once you understand how resists create barriers, you can broaden your resist decorating palette and use their special characteristics in your work.
Non-Traditional Water Resists
What materials repel water? Think about all the different materials that contain waxes, oils, or greases, including the oil from your skin. Soften any of these resists by warming them a little, and the quality of the line changes. Here are some hard and soft resist materials you can try.
Hard Resists
Soft Resists
Paper Resists
While paper resists won’t work on bisqueware, where I do most of my decoration, tape does and comes in many different forms and widths. Pin-striping tapes come in thin widths and are very flexible. Stickers are also an option. If you want a shape or thickness in a tape or sticker that isn’t available, cut the exact shape you want out of paper, glue it to the pot with diluted white glue, and smooth it down with a rubber rib. You could also cut your design out of self-adhesive shelf paper or even masking tape.
Colored Resists
The cuerda-seca technique, which originated in Persia and eventually moved to Spain, is the technique of creating an open design using wax, oil, or grease containing manganese or iron. The defined areas are then filled with colored glazes. When the work is fired, the resist keeps the colors separated and leaves a black or brown line between them.
Pressure Resists
Think of tie-dyeing. Wrapping different materials around your piece can provide different effects.
Application
Treat liquid or soft resist materials like any other decorating material. They are the same as oxides, colorants, terra sigillatas, slips, or glazes, and you can use any means you think of to apply them to a surface—dip, pour, spatter, spray, splash, squirt, or brush. Also, consider that tools can often leave the most interesting marks. Look for orphaned tools: balding brushes, spitting sprayers, decrepit sponges, ragged bits of cloth, or loose bits of string.
Safety
Most of the materials discussed are safe to use. All natural materials should burn out safely in your kiln, although you need a good venting system if you’re firing indoors. Paper, tape, and natural strings can either be left in place or removed as you wish. Left on, the ash residue can leave interesting traces. Plastics like acrylics and floor finishes require adequate ventilation. Trailed white glue and pin-striping tape should be removed before firing.
Testing Alternative Resists
The items tested are listed at the end of each row. The first column shows the resist applied to a bisque surface. In the middle column, the tiles have been dipped in a soda solution on the left side and dipped in a 1:10 terra-sigillata and soda solution on the right side, leaving the center portion untreated. In the third column, the tiles have been fired to 1652°F (900°C) with newspapers and wrapped in heavy-duty aluminum foil saggars, in a well-ventilated electric kiln. After firing, a stripe of acrylic floor finish was applied to show how color and contrast can be enhanced.
Conclusion
I hope you’re getting the idea. The list can go on and on. Basically, anything that makes a barrier against water or smoke works in some way, and each one has its own special character. Think about trying these techniques at different stages of the pot’s or the decoration’s development. There are a lot of ideas here, but I seriously doubt that I’ve exhausted all the possibilities. The chart above reveals the effects different resists have on a clay surface that has been smoke fired in a saggar.
Excerpted from, “Pièce de Résistance! The world beyond wax resist” by Russel Fouts, which originally appeared in the July/August 2006 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated.
September/October 2025: Table of Contents
Must-Reads from Pottery Making Illustrated
Unfamiliar with any terms in this article? Browse our glossary of pottery terms!
Click the cover image to return to the Table of Contents