Fiona Bakewell 

 

Line Drawing

Richard first showed us how to wet-pack enamel inside marked lines. He had prepared a blank with white, (counter-enamelled), and on this he drew his design with a "Pentel" permanent marker. Blue or black are the best colours.

 

The enamel is mixed with "gummy water" (very dilute Polycell or Klyr Fire) and wet-packed inside the lines. The lines act as a control and stop the enamels from bleeding into each other. A colourful fish shape soon took shape. After drying, it was fired at 700 - 750°C and the Pentel lines fired away leaving the white enamel behind.

 

Carbon Drawing came next. For this, the design is traced on to a white enamelled blank using carbon paper. Not all carbon papers work - waxy ones seem to be the best, but it really is a case of trial and error. The design is then wet-packed as before, between the lines, but these will turn brown on firing. They can be left like this, or outlined in fine-line black for greater emphasis. Another colourful abstract appeared!

 

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