Pottery Tips and Techniques
Selecting Pottery Supplies
Having the right supplies and equipment makes all the difference.
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Be sure and select a good assortment of brushes for your projects.
Start with a 3/0 detail.
No. 2
No. 6
No. 8 flat
No. 3 pointed round
No. 5 round.
Try a variety of synthetic and natural bristles, because this is really a matter of personal preference.
Select acrylic paints for painting ceramics.
They are the easiest to use because they offer good coverage, dry quickly and clean up with soap and water.
Purchase 2 oz. bottles, which are the standard size.
Although some colors are available in 8 oz. bottles, those big bottles are cumbersome, but you can save some of the smaller bottles and pour paint from the bigger bottles into them.
Choose the truest shades you can find: Ceramcoat's Opaque Red is more red than Cinnamon, for instance.
You'll find that each company makes several shades of each color.
Begin with black, red, blue, yellow, green, silver, gold, flesh tone and white.
With these, you can mix just about any shade you'll need.
Most important when mixing, measure how much of each color you put in to make the color you want and above all keep notes, cause believe me you will not remember!!!!
Tips
Brushes come in round bristle and flat bristle styles as well as stipplers, fans, shaders, filberts and other styles.They are sized by number; the lower the number, the smaller the brush tip.
A No. 1 is 3/32 inch around, whereas a No. 14 is 3/16 inch.
Brush handles are either hardwood or acrylic.
Hardwood ones are dipped in primer, lacquer and varnish, then stamped with the name of the manufacturer, the series and the size.
Ferrules - the part that holds the bristles to the handle are usually metal and the better ones are seamless and have a double crimp to hold them in place.
Bristles come in many forms.
There are some very good synthetic bristles available, including taklon and nylon.
Natural Bristles are from animal sources such as hog, squirrel, weasel and ox.
Avoid Camel Hair Brushes as they don't hold acrylic paint very well.
With your new brushes gently work the stiff bristles with your fingers under warm running water to remove the sizing that manufacturers put in to protect their shape.
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