Painting on pottery that has already been fired to bisque is a fairly easy process, however just like anything else there is a right way and a wrong way to accomplish your ultimate goal.
The very first thing you do when you select the piece you are going to be painting is wipe it down with a damp sponge. Make sure that the sponge isn’t soaking wet. You just want it to be damp enough to get the dust off. 
Next, check the piece to make sure that there aren’t any hairline cracks in the bisque that could potentially damage your piece during firing. If you see a crack it is best to select a different piece to be on the safe side.
Then, check to see if there are any rough spots. Sometimes there may be some excess clay that wasn’t cleaned off when it was in the green ware state. This doesn’t happen often, but if it should, get a medium grade all purpose piece of sandpaper and lightly smooth out the bump. Now you are ready to start creating your design.
The first decision you are going to have to make is whether you are going to leave the background of your piece unpainted or are you going to paint the background a color. The reason this is important to decide early on is because you can sketch your design onto your piece with a #2 soft pencil. Pencil will burn away during the firing process. If you are not going to paint your background, you can sketch your design directly onto the bisque. If you are going to paint your background first, then you don’t want to sketch your design until the paint is fully dry. Your designs can be drawn freehand or they can be traced on using a stencil. You can also transfer your designs on with graphite paper. First you draw your design on tracing paper and then put the graphite paper between the tracing paper and your piece of bisque. Make sure you place the graphite paper with the right side down or the pattern won’t transfer. Test it first on a piece of paper. It works the same way carbon paper does. Take your pencil and with medium pressure go over the design that is on your tracing paper. Voila! When you lift up the tracing paper and graphite paper your design will be transferred right onto your bisque. Now you can paint. It’s almost like paint by number. So easy!
Choose the tools you are going to use. A variety of aids are available to help you make your life easier especially for the artistically challenged. Sponges can give you a faux finished look , stencils can help you draw a difficult shape, and rubber stamps can help you create designs you never thought possible. Masking tape can assist you in painting stripes. No need to worry about going out of the lines. Just remove the tape and you will have a perfectly straight edge.
Next, you are ready to choose your colors. Let’s talk about paint for a minute. There are several different companies that manufacture non-toxic paints for bisque. These paints are known as under glazes. These products are all pretty similar from the leading manufacturers. Your decision which paint to use will be a personal choice based usually on color selection. Some of the paints are thicker than others, but they all produce the same end result. It’s what you are most comfortable using. These relatively new products are designed to produce three different looks with the same paint. If you apply only one coat of paint, you will get sheer coverage. You will see your brushstrokes after the piece is glazed and fired. It’s almost a watercolor kind of look. If you apply two coats of paint the fired result will be semi opaque coverage. Finally, if you apply three coats of paint your finished product will have very solid opaque coverage. The choice is yours depending how you want your piece to look when it is completed. The most important thing to remember is to let the paint dry in between the coats. If you don’t, wet paint will remove wet paint. If you apply a fresh coat while the underneath coat is still wet it will just move the paint all around. You might as well do just 1 coat and save yourself the time and trouble. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE!
Always apply the paint from the lightest color to the darkest. Dark colors show up better over light colors. Light colors over dark are not as vibrant. You will need more coats of the lighter color to show up over dark. There are advanced techniques to achieve a dark background with light detail, but that will be discussed at a different time.
Should you make a mistake, do not panic! Everything can be corrected. These paints are completely erasable with a pink eraser or they can be scraped off or sanded off once the paints are dry. DO NOT wipe the paint off with a damp sponge. Since the bisque is very porous it will soak right in and stain your piece. Once it stains it is almost impossible to remove the paint. This happens most often with very dark colors such as Black, Navy Blue, Brown, Dark Greens etc. Be on the safe side and wait until the paint dries before you try and remove it.
Once you are satisfied with how your piece looks, you can clean up any little boo boo’ s with a cleaning tool or sand paper. Remember this is a hand painted work of art and it is not supposed to be perfect. That’s the beauty of it. You will be very surprised when you see your first fired piece. It is going to look significantly better than before it was fired.
You are now ready to sign your masterpiece. There are several different ways to do this. First, you can sign with an under glaze pencil. This is a permanent pencil that will not burn away during firing. You can sign your name using paint and a fine paint brush, or you can use a squeeze bottle with a fine metal tip. Some people find this easier to use than a paintbrush. Artists like to sign their name by scraping it into the paint with a special tool. This is called sgrafitto Whichever way you choose, the piece is undeniably yours. Your very own original work of art.
TOP
