Wanda Holmes on thu 10 oct 02
Snail wrote: "Try using engobes with mason stains"
Snail, I just dry out scraps of my claybody, crush them into fine
particles and mix them with water to consistency I want. To that I add
mason stains for color. How would using an engobe improve what I am
doing? What exactly is an engobe???
Thanks,
Wanda
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On
Behalf Of Snail Scott
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 9:23 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: June's glazes
At 08:29 PM 10/9/02 -0600, you wrote:
>For now, I'm just going to
>paint acrylics on after firing cone 9, which we always do, but want to
>find something to give pastel colors...may change to ^6 ...
Try using engobes with mason stains
Snail Scott on fri 11 oct 02
At 03:39 PM 10/10/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Snail wrote: "Try using engobes with mason stains"
>
>Snail, I just dry out scraps of my claybody, crush them into fine
>particles and mix them with water to consistency I want. To that I add
>mason stains for color. How would using an engobe improve what I am
>doing? What exactly is an engobe???
>
Basically, engobes are that range of stuff that
fall compositionally between clay (slip) and
glaze. Not as vitreous as glazes, but modified
from being merely slip by the inclusion of
(for instance) calcined ingredients to control
green shrinkage, or fluxes to contol the degree
of vitrification.
Slips are best for applying to wet clay, since the
shrinkages will be compatible. And they pretty much
look like clay, after they're fired. Using an engobe
instead allows you to choose when you apply your
surface, depending on the shrinkage of the recipe.
Engobes can be applied to dry clay and even bisque,
without cracking off as a slip often will, giving
greater flexibility in your surface options. And
the surface sheen can be modified to anything from
dusty-dry looking to smooth and almost matte-glaze
looking, giving more options for the final look
and feel of the piece. You can make an engobe to
look just like your slip after it's fired, but one
that will allow it to be applied at another time
in the process. Or one that goes on wet clay like
your slip, but fires to a smoother surface.
Slips are a really handy thing, but they only
allow a particular range of possibilities. Engobes
are like 'Slip-Plus', filling all the niches that
plain unmodified slips can't quite fill. If a slip
is just what you need, by all means stick with it.
Engobes just expand your options a bit, as another
type of fired but non-glazed surface.
-Snail
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