Monday

03.29.10 Update on Bay Tobiano "Enviado"

Making some slow progress on this piece!  The last time you saw this piece his basic pinto pattern and color had been laid in with underglazes.  Since then he was glazed, then I began building more color with china paints.

I've been using china paints for a little more than a year.  That I am using them at all is thanks to Karen Gerhardt who so kindly demonstrated their use and sent me home with a starter kit when Barry and I visited her Colorado studio in October of 2008.

On Karen's blog, "A Westerly View" she has shared many of her basic china painting techniques.  In her November 13, 2008 post about painting pintos she describes how she has become more bold in applying several layers of china paint at once.  I aspire to that!  Right now I'm still very timid, applying one thin layer at a time. 

Karen also described the process of wiping away china paint to reveal the glazed white areas underneath.  That's the basic process I use as well. In this photo of Enviado you can see a thin layer of china paint color on the right hand side of the white pattern; you can also see the individual brushstrokes that have removed that thin layer.

Progress is very slow at this rate!  But with each layer I'm gaining a better understanding of how the china paint colors interact with each other and how they build upon the underglaze colors that I've used as a base.  It's a bit like working with watercolors, the paints are so translucent.

They are also the devil to prepare -- it seems like I've been spending more time prepping paint than actually painting!  Karen has a lovely overview of paint prep in her  January 16, 2008 post.

I think I'm getting close to where I want this fellow's color saturation and shading to be. Just a few more layers and this pinto will be looking for a new home in early April!

~ Lynn
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4 comments:

  1. SharonMay 11, 2010 at 6:10 AM

    Hi Lynn

    I was wondering, i might be confused. are these resins ? and if so Im not sure I understand how you get them to look so nice with the paint I mean so shinny. Do you glaze them and fire them ?

    Or are these made of clay.

    thanks Sharon

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  2. Lynn A. FraleyMay 11, 2010 at 11:23 AM

    Hi Sharon,

    This is a slipcast ceramic, so yes, it's made of clay, painted in underglazes, glazed and fired. This particular sculpture, "Enviado", was also cast in resin and sold as a limited edition a few years ago.

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. SharonMay 12, 2010 at 12:18 AM

    Hi Lynn
    thanks for the fast reply. I under stand the process pf resin casting and mold making as I have had a go at it. But I havent been able to gat any resin casts to look like that. I think I know what slipcast is.

    thanks for the info

    do you mind telling me how you paint resins, if you paint resins that is

    thanks
    Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lynn A. FraleyMay 12, 2010 at 10:49 AM

    Sharon,

    The slipcasting process is quite different than that of casting resins. The molds are made from plaster of paris, and are designed completely differently than those made of silicone. That's a great topic for a future post.

    I haven't painted resins for awhile, in fact it's been more than a year since I painted couple of "Backbeat Thunder" resins:

    http://lafnbearstudio.blogspot.com/2009/02/22409-mardi-gras-day.html

    When I do paint resins, I use acrylics, colored pencil and pastels. Sure would be fun to get back to painting, but for now I have my hands full with new sculptures and the ceramics.

    ReplyDelete