How to attach a custom sprig mold скачать в хорошем качестве

How to attach a custom sprig mold

Hi everyone! I get a lot of requests to make custom sprig molds with logos, words, phrases or designs. I want to show you how you can use one of these custom sprig molds on your own pottery. I’m starting with an already flat piece of my clay that I’ve rolled to approximately ¼ inch thick in my slab roller, but if you don’t’ have a slab roller, you can also use a rolling pin. Smooth one side of your slab using a soft rib, like a red Mud tools rib. I leave the canvas texture on the other side of my slab. Apply a generous amount of corn starch to the smooth side of the clay and turn it over onto the sprig mold. Lay a piece of cling wrap over the clay and place everything in between two pieces of canvas. My sprig molds are about ½ inch thick, so I set the slab roller height to just above this mark to get a decent backing. It’s important to have a backing so that the whole design can be removed from the mold intact. My slab roller markings are at ½ inch, then 5/8 inch, so I set it right in the middle of these two marks. Send it through the roller only once, that’s all that’s needed. Remove the cling wrap and carefully remove the clay from the mold. I have a mug here that I threw yesterday, trimmed today and it’s ready for the handle and the sprig. I have the sprig I just made and it’s ready to attach to the mug. Trim a rough outline around the design, removing any excess clay. Place the sprig on the mug and align it to where you want it placed. Use a pin tool to outline this shape on the mug. Remove the sprig to score and slip this area. Put the sprig in place with the outline and press gently over the design to adhere. I don’t press down on the excess clay around it because I want to remove it. Using a pin tool, trace the letters and start removing the excess clay. The amount of excess clay you trim here is your preference. You can leave an outside shape, or you can trim to the edges of the letters, which is what I prefer. However, I don’t remove the clay from areas like the inside of an o, a, e or small loops like here on the h or s. After the excess clay is removed, I use my pin tool to smooth out the surface of the mug. Now, here’s what I really like about using sprig molds. There’s a lot of flexibility in design, you can use part or all of the sprig, move pieces around. Clay is recyclable! You can use the sprig mold over and over again. This is especially appealing to me because I used to use vinyl as a glaze resist and you can’t reuse vinyl, so as a production artist, I was creating a lot of waste. Once the design looks the way you want it, and all excess clay has been removed, take a brush and smooth over any rough areas as well as up to the edges of letters or designs. For tight spaces, you can use a smaller brush. Depending on the glaze you use, the low-lying areas like on the inside of the o or the loops in the h and s will be filled with glaze. Decorating your designs is entirely up to you. I typically wipe any glaze off the surface since I use a white stoneware, it contrasts nicely with most of my glazes. I do get the occasional request to leave the letters glazed.