Details

Parent Category: Technical Articles from Journal Back Copies

Category: Technical Articles 1998

Joan Bolton King

Your experiments with sgraffito in liquid white enamel may already have given you an understanding of the effects produced by varying the depth of the enamel and the hardness of firing.

A useful series of tests

Nevertheless, it is worth undertaking an exercise with nine identical small pieces of copper. Cover them (by dipping in): 3 thickly, 3 to a medium depth and 3 thinly (using a water mix). When dry scribe 'THIN', and 'THICK' as appropriate into the enamel coat and add 'LOW FIRE', MEDIUM FIRE' and 'HIGH FIRE' to one of each thickness - then observe the way the enamel and lettering react to the specific types of firing. Keep these results for reference and, if you intend to try out different liquid enamels, it is useful to have noted the make on the reverse of the piece.

Of particular interest is the way greens and browns appear in thin coats and the metallic sheens developed with high firing. Sgraffito may lose its precise outlines and the overall outcome become less predictable, but designs can capitalise on the possible effects.

Log in to read more....