Dave Gayman on wed 17 apr 02
Once a respected pro (well, at least my two kids thought my stuff was okay,
and so did a small circle of regular buyers), I'm now embarking on
Ceramics: The Hobby. In other words, having tumbled from the Peaks and
Cliffs of The Real Potter, I'm falling into the Valley of The Dabblers*.
As a production guy, I dipped, poured, sprayed and otherwise did glazing
that was more or less automatically even in application. Now, when glazing
with brushes using commercial glazes, I'm having a hell of a time.
What's the right brush? I've run across project sheets that talk about fan
brushes, but the ones I see locally look like flats that have been run over
-- scraggly things with lots of air between each bristle. Do these things
actually work? (Actually, I can answer this one, I guess: buy one and try
it.)
Since what I'm making is small, hake brushes won't really work.
What's the right technique?
Dave
*Don't get me wrong -- I've met some mighty nice people in this valley, and
as I approach senility, the fine landscape made up of smooth ways and
gentle hills seems like just the right thing -- not to mention being able
to buy any color, any surface, and any effect right off the shelf.
Snail Scott on wed 17 apr 02
At 11:35 AM 4/17/02 -0400, you wrote:
Now, when glazing
>with brushes using commercial glazes, I'm having a hell of a time.
>What's the right [small] brush?
I like Japanese-style sumi brushes. Not the
really expensive ones, but the medium-priced
ones. Skip the cheapos.
-Snail
Michele Williams on thu 18 apr 02
Dave,
There was a post a while back about keeping roadkill tails for brush hairs.
Well, it may not have been so far off.
I don't really make my own tools much, but since I can't afford the "artsy"
brushes, I just had to be creative.
I got inexpensive hair brushes and cut the daylights out of them. Trim the
hairs down to any size or length you want. Since they're inexpensive, you
can trim flats, angles, points, 1 hairs, 1 hairs, etc. and get as small as
you want. And you can spend more money on the bigger brushes.
You can get the cheapo Japanese brushes and tape some of the bristles out
of the way (back up against the handle).
I've taken some of those wedge-shaped cosmetic sponges (true cheapo foam
ones, the 50-for-a-dollar kind) and trimmed them with small scissors to
shapes and angles and taped them to toothpicks and stick-sticks (yeah, go
visit your local tree & bush).
Don't overlook how a folded leaf can sometimes be a slip trailer. Waxy
leaves don't absorb the moisture, they end in a fine point if you choose
that kind, and you can use a dr's syringe, too. Same thing for glaze
patternings.
I also have some stems of the areca palm that I wouldn't trade for anything
because the patterning they can do is incredible. I just cut the dry stems
in various places and see what pattern comes up in the clay. I've gotten
Mickey Mouse's head, duck feet, horse/cow hoofprints, a camel hoofprint,
catpaws, crescents of various kinds, ovals with a circle at one end. Those
stems have a curved side, and I'd bet you would be able to do some painting
with that by beating the dry stem tip down to its fibers. (Hmm, gonna go
try that today!) I'll let you know how that goes.
Anyway, don't think you have to go Expensive to get something workable.
Michele Williams
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Gayman"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 11:35 AM
Subject: Ex-reduction stoneware pro needs help as low-fire newbie
> Once a respected pro (well, at least my two kids thought my stuff was
okay,
> and so did a small circle of regular buyers), I'm now embarking on
> Ceramics: The Hobby. In other words, having tumbled from the Peaks and
> Cliffs of The Real Potter, I'm falling into the Valley of The Dabblers*.
>
> As a production guy, I dipped, poured, sprayed and otherwise did glazing
> that was more or less automatically even in application. Now, when
glazing
> with brushes using commercial glazes, I'm having a hell of a time.
>
> What's the right brush? I've run across project sheets that talk about
fan
> brushes, but the ones I see locally look like flats that have been run
over
> -- scraggly things with lots of air between each bristle. Do these things
> actually work? (Actually, I can answer this one, I guess: buy one and
try
> it.)
>
> Since what I'm making is small, hake brushes won't really work.
>
> What's the right technique?
>
> Dave
>
> *Don't get me wrong -- I've met some mighty nice people in this valley,
and
> as I approach senility, the fine landscape made up of smooth ways and
> gentle hills seems like just the right thing -- not to mention being able
> to buy any color, any surface, and any effect right off the shelf.
>
>
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