Overview of Ceramic Finishes
A brief look into finishes for a ceramic artwork
When we talk about finishes in ceramic or pottery we mean all the treatments that can be applied as a coating over the surface of the artwork. I love how there are endless possibilities in this. We can literally do whatever our imagination allow us to think about. The limit is just whatever you can think of.
In school we are thought that there are just a set amount of options, I personally think because of the capacity of the said school or course we happen to take.
Back in Italy when I was doing ceramic in high school I was given barely one option and I was never really satisfied with the results.
I feel lucky to be able to have the “freedom” of now do whatever I want with my ceramic pieces. This post in just a quick overview on what can be used to finish a ceramic piece from a customer standpoint so its very synthetic and straight to the point. I will to also cover the how-to process of every each of those methods in posts that will come next. This list is not all inclusive. There are many methods and finishes I don’t personally use so I’m not talking about them in this post.
I came up with a subdivision of all finishes in just 2 macro-categories: Cold finishes, and Fired finishes.
COLD FINISHES
With cold finishes its intended every kind of coating that can be applied over a piece of ceramic that will not require firing in the kiln. This finishes can be of every type and kind, from acrylic paint, wood stain, bee wax, watercolors and so on. There’s not a list on what can be applied on because every artistic medium can be a good option. Those finishes are only for ceramic pieces that are not going to be in contact with food, so they aren’t food safe. The pro of cold finishes is that we can layer them and see the result instantly. Its like painting on a 3d object. I like to use cold finishes in sculptures, animal figurines, decorative objects, candle holders and so on. The look can be opaque or matte if left bare painted. We can also create eggshell finishes with bee wax or wood wax, or shiny with shellac. As I said I love to use this methods because allows me to create a great result that will be faster to accomplish with an endless range of opportunities.
FIRED FINISHES
While I consider cold finishes like anarchy, fired finishes I picture them being like a dictatorship. There are strict rules and if you commit a mistake there is no way back. Okay this sounds very dramatic I admit it. I think it capture the essence of it tho. Fired finished can be glazes, under-glazes, oxides, and many other finishes. The rabbit hole of glazes and fired finishes also present many options, but in this post I will concentrate mainly on what I can achieve in my studio. A glaze coating is generally applied on a piece of ceramic that already when thru a first firing called bisque. This ensure that our piece will be enough porous to absorb a little bit of glaze. The glaze will fill the pores of the semi-fired object with a glass like substance that will melt in the kiln and will give you the typical shiny effect. This melting process sometimes can go wrong and we can not really come back from it. Glazes need to be used to make a ceramic item waterproof and food safe. Even tho most of glazes are shiny we can have matte options too and those won’t be food safe most of the time.
The glazes I use are lead free so they are safe to use in contact with food. We can have a variety of color that can be overlapped for crate different effects and results.
Another fired finish I use in my studio are under-glazes. Those are more like paint, they are applied on a piece of ceramic that’s not yet glazed. We can do fine details with them, like writings and decorations. We can apply those at different stages of the process. Before the first firing, or contemporary to the glaze firing before the glaze coating. As the name explain they are applied under the glaze which is usually clear for let the color show, but it can be also used under different color of glazes for create interesting effects. They can also be left unglazed for a muted / pastel effect but that’s not what I usually recommend.
Fired finishes compared to the cold ones are extremely more durable. This is due to the actual double firing process that will create a glass like coating. You won’t be able to remove it with some sand paper as you could with cold finishes. This is not necessarily a terrible point for the cold finishes. You won’t really do a harsh daily use of an item that’s meant to sit on a shelf. This is why you should not be too worried about this aspect. Every item I make I always consider the use it will have and make sure to apply the appropriate finish so it will be always amazing.