19 posts filed under technique.
Pottery slip is just clay and water blended to a cream. Here are the three recipes that matter — joining slip, decorating slip and casting slip — and the ratios for each.
Coloured slip is white slip plus a stain or oxide, measured by dry weight. Here are the percentages that work, how to test them, and how to keep colours consistent between batches.
Dipping, pouring and brushing glaze onto bisque ware, with the preparation and thickness checks that decide whether the result is even or patchy.
Mixing your own glaze from a recipe: the equipment, the weighing discipline, sieving, testing and the safety rules that come with handling dry glaze materials.
Slaking, sieving, settling and drying dug clay into a throwable body, plus the test firing that tells you what temperature it can actually take.
Polymer clay does not dry out, but heat, sunlight and the wrong plastics ruin it. Here is how to store opened blocks, mixed colours and finished canes.
Conditioning, armatures, building in stages, smoothing and baking. The practical sequence for making a polymer clay figure that does not sag or crack.
Salt dough, cornstarch clay and cold porcelain, with quantities, method and honest notes on what each one is good for and where it fails.
Air-dry clay begins drying the moment the packet opens. Double-wrapping, a damp sponge and an airtight box will keep an opened block workable for months.
Foam clay is a lightweight air-dry material used for cosplay armour and props. Here is how to apply it, how long it takes to dry, and how to sand and seal it.
Monster Clay is an oil-based sculpting clay that softens with heat and never dries. Here is how to warm it, build with it, and take a mould from a finished sculpt.
Building small clay figures: proportion, armatures, joining limbs, hollowing for firing, and the drying rules that keep thin parts attached.
The working sequence experienced sculptors use — armature, masses, proportion, refinement, detail — and the specific habits that make each stage go faster.
A complete first pot without a wheel: pinching or coiling the form, joining, drying, bisque firing and glazing, with the decision points explained.
A ladder of clay projects from a pinch pot to a lidded jar, with what each one teaches and the specific difficulty to expect from it.
Handles fall off weeks later because the join was made between clay at two different moisture levels. Here is the method that survives drying and firing.
Centering is a bracing problem, not a strength problem. Use the wheel speed, a locked stance and two clear pressure moves to centre clay reliably.
Wedging removes air and evens out moisture and particle alignment. Learn the ram's head and spiral methods, and how to tell when the clay is ready.
A pinch pot needs no equipment and teaches wall thickness, compression and drying in one sitting. Here is the method and the three mistakes to avoid.