Final Project (teapot) principles of design

• contrast - light colored body (white) with darker handle, spout, and feet
• form - created a donut-like shape teapot with a hole in the middle
• emphasis - emphasized the unique shape of the teapot and its hole
• texture - aimed to create a smooth texture like real teapots
• pattern/lines - created an assortment of lines/swirls on the body to make the pot look less plain

Sgraffito principles of design

• proportion - tried to make the sgraffito world map as proportionate as I can to a real globe
• form - made the mug as circular as i can to imitate the earth
• contrast - dark colored underglaze contrasts greatly with the light color of the clay; white handle also contrasts the dark underglaze of the main body
• space - space when of continents carefully measured

Hard Slab principles of design

• texture - imprinted a flowery texture onto teh slabs of clay using a texture tool; makes the surface uneven
• emphasis - emphasis on the large flower handle; glazed it pink
• balance - overall balance of the hard slab, everything in good proportion
• color - used under glaze to glaze it many different colors
• harmony - everything is nature-related or flowery, makes it seem unified

Soft slab principles of design

•  form - overall shape of the ceramic piece makes a head
• emphasis - attempt to emphasize the nose and tongue by making it a contrasting, light color compared to the rest of the mug
• balance - the parts of the mug balance each other to form a proportional cartoony face
• value - used different color glazes

• form - made the mug a slanted shape
• emphasis - emphasized the handle (much lighter color)
• proportion - the leaves were in proportion to the vine
• rhythm - lines and vines (haha rhyme) creates a unique rhythm or movement in this mug

• pattern - made small and large circles, made thick and thin coils, and repeated that throughout the entire mug
• proportion/size - made a smaller mug inside the larger mug to create a contrast in proportion and size
• texture through applicay - the surface of the mug is uneven
• space - space between the mugs one inside of the other

Pinch pot principles of design

Some principles of design used

• Balance - entire elephant proportions balanced, nothing too big nor too small
• Form - overall shape of the elephant (animal) carefully thought about
• Texture - i wanted to make it to have a smooth texture, so I used a sponge
• Space - area between ears and between front legs relates to the emotion i tried to have the elephant convey

Coil Pot principles of design

The principles of design influenced my project. For some of the layers in my coil pot I used the pattern design. For example, I made balls of clay of different sizes and repeated it as a pattern throughout the layer of the coil pot. Also, to balance the coil pot design out, I made thin coils and thick coils. Another principle of design I used was emphasis. I wanted to emphasize the squiggly coil layer, so I made it larger and put larger gaps in between the spaces to make it stand out more compared to the other coil layers. That also related to the principle of design of space

Hard Slab Process

Originally, for my hard slab piece, I wanted to make a design using the glazes. However, I realized that we had to put texture on it, so I ended up not doing it. First, made a paper model of my hard slab. I made it a cube shape. Then,  I rolled out slabs of clay and imprinted my texture on with one of the texture tools. Then, I traced a square piece of clay out using my paper model. Next, I left it out to dry between pieces of newspaper (newspaper would absorb the moisture from the clay). I repeated the same process for 6 more slabs. I stacked them up between pieces of newspaper and left it in a plastic bag over a one week holiday. When i came back, the newspaper was stuck on the clay and it was all gross looking. So, I restarted my project. However, this time, after making the slabs, I still would leave them between pieces of newspaper, but I would also blow dry them with a blowdryer to prevent the newspaper from sticking onto the slabs of paper. When i attached the hard slabs of clay together, I used metal knife and tried my best to cut at a 45 degree angle on the edges of the slabs. Then, I scored and slipped the slabs while they were leather hard (ceramic golden rule) and attached a strip of clay on the inside for support. I did that until I formed a cube. Then, to cut the box open to make a lid, I made a curved cut with a knife to make the lid stay in place. Then, I added support again to the lid. I used small pieces of clay and atttached them together to make a flower. I also made a lily pad and used the applicay technique and put it on the top. Then, I also scored and slipped the flower on top to make the handle. I incised a little pond around the lily pad. Then, I set this piece of greenware out to dry until it reached bone dry and fired it in the kiln.

Before glazing it, I rinsed it with water to remove any dust stuck on it (ceramic golden rule) (did it with my other ceramic pieces too). Then I used underglaze to glaze it. Pink for the flower, green for the lily pad, blue for the water, and the rest was blackish. For the body of the box, I tried to make more of the black come of when I wiped it down with a sponge for the design to show, but the black was kind of stubborn and stayed on. So, I stuck with that "newspaper" kind of design. Then, I put on 2-3 layers of clear glaze over everything to give it a glossy look.

Soft Slab 3rd Mug

For this last soft slab mug, I decided to make more of a pattern design. First, I rolled out a slab of clay  using the slab roller and used a circular object to trace the base. After that, I rolled out another slab of clay and cut a large strip of clay to make the body. I repeated that to make a smaller mug inside the larger mug. To attach the bases to the strips of clay, I scored and slipped them, then moved the clay around that area to get rid of the mark. I also scored and slipped the smaller mug onto the larger mug. But for those two mugs, I didn't completely join the ends together to make the body. I overlapped the ends of the clay to emphasize that area. To make my design, I pinched off peaces of clay and rolled them into balls. Then, I flattened them, and scored and slipped them onto the body of the mug. I repeated that to make other circular pieces of clay and used applicay. To seperate it from the other patterend design I made with strips/coils of clay, I rolled out thin coils to act as "barriers" between them. To create contrast, I made large and small circles and thick and thin coils. For the two handles, I rolled out two larger coils and stuck by scoring and slipping it on both sides of the mug. I used a sponge to smooth out the clay. I used a needle tool to remove bits and pieces of clay in gaps. I left this piece of greenware out to dry until it reached bone dry state, and then I fired it in the kiln.

(as you can see, as I was making this mug, I would put it on a banding wheel to make it easier for me to construct it)

After it was fired, it became bisqueware. I put on glaze (the kinds of glaze I used you can see in my sketchbook) and aimed to create a reddish kind of piece. When I fired it a second time, I asked mr swinehart to prop up this mug because i was afraid that the glaze might flow. I didn't flow ( I think) so that was good.

My project kind of turned out the way I wanted. The colors didn't completely turn out the way I wanted it to, but it was somewhat similar to what i had in mind.

Final Project Vocabulary with process & Research

Vocabulary: (other vocabulary may be integrated in other posts)

• To make the main body of the teapot, I started off with using hard slabs (slabs of clay that are leather hard - some moisture evaporated) and soft slabs (slabs of clay that are easily bent, flexible). I made donuts out of hard slabs. The surrounding clay to connect it to make it one large donut were made up of soft slabs.
• I used a paddle and my hands to squish and get my teapot to the shape I wanted it to.
• I also used two small hard slabs to make a T-shape for the lid. Then, I used a portion of a coil (rolled out snake-like piece of clay) to make the top of the lid.
• I used a coil to make the spout, and then I cut it in half and scraped the inside away with a ribbon tool to make an opening for the water to come out of a teapot. Then, I used the applicay technique to make the spout thicker at the bottom and thinner at the top. I used a needle tool and scored and slipped (marking the clay and putting watered down clay) it to the pot.
• Next, I rolled out coils and to make the handle. I had a longer coil for the main part of the handle, and I had shorter coils to support the main part of the handle. I used the blowdryer to make the coils leather hard, and then I scored and slipped them all together.
• I used a sponge to smooth it out and made "feet" for the donut teapot so that it can stand up better.
• Lastly, I fired it in the kiln, where it went from greenware to bisqueware.
• After firing it in the kiln, I used a white  underglaze for the body and used regular glazes for the spout, handle, and feet.
• Then, I put clear glaze over the white underglaze
• I also glazed on lines and swirls onto the body to make it less plain

Reflection
I liked the outcome of my teapot. This is one of the few projects that I actually find decent. (But I predict I'm going to make it worse with the glaze) Anyways, I really liked the donut shape and thought it was pretty creative, so I decided to make it. However, as I was trying to make my wheel look more like a donut, it didn't really work. The insides began to fall and collapse in because of the lack of support inside. I tried to fix it, but it didn't work, so I made that indented part part of my design. I indented that part even more to make it look more intentional and less like a mistake. Who knew that your mistakes can be part of your design. I had trouble thinking for ideas for my handle. I wanted to integrate a chain as part of my handle, but it didn't work out that well. So, I stuck with something simple and made a simple but decent handle out of coils. Also, originally, my spout was a really simple thin one, so I added clay to emphasize it a little more. I was afraid that after it was fired, the part that I applied on will break off, but thankfully it stayed on. I put a good amount of slip and spread the clay like butter all over the place. I wanted to integrate the chains I made somewhere in my project, but I couldn't find a good place for it, so I fired it separately.

Next time, if I were to make a teapot again, I would plan a bit better so that I don't have to waste as much time thinking about what I should do. Also, I should try to provide better support with clay to the insides of the teapot. I did my best, but there were some parts I could not reach that lacked sufficient support. Also, I would make the feet of the teapot better, because it looks like two fat pieces of clay that randomly got stuck on. Overall, I'm pretty glad my teapot turned out okay.

Sgrafitto Vocabulary with Process and Research

Vocabulary: (other vocabulary is integrated in other posts)

• Sgraffito - scratching away at a layer of glaze or underglaze to reveal the contrasting clay underneath
• I used the pinch method where I got a piece of clay wedged it to remove the air bubbles, and pocked my finger in it to create a pot. I created 2 of those pots and combined them together. Then, I carved into the ball to create an opening and to make it a functional ceramic piece (able to be used in daily life)
• Then, I made a handle for the mug/cup, but unfortunately, the handle snapped off because I didn't score (marking up the clay) and slip (watered down clay that acts like glue) very well, and also because the handle is unable to support the mug (too heavy)
• I covered my greenware (unfired piece of clay) with underglaze. I put 3 coats of black underglaze on the body and white underglaze for the handle.
• Then, I used the sgraffito technique and attempted to make a world map on it.
• After that, I left my ceramic piece out until it was bone dry (all moisture evaporated from the ceramic piece) and fired it in the kiln (hot thing-like oven).
• After it is fired, it became bisqueware. I put a few layers of clear glaze over the body and the handle.
• It needs to be fired once more to get the glossy look of the clear glaze.

Reflection

Not sure if its bad luck or poor craftsmanship, I had to restart on this sgraffito project due to cracks. Originally, I made a coil pot with a fat body and thin neck. I covered that with underglaze. However, when I left it out to dry, it cracked, and so I completely started over with another project. I made a ball using two pinch pots. I wanted to make a globe, but I forgot that it had to be functional, so I ended up carving a hole in my ball to make a "mug". So, I settled to make a worldmap mug. The walls were pretty thick because I compacted it when making a ball. After covering it with underglaze, it cracked yet again. I didn't have the time to redo it again, so I just stuck with it and prayed that it wouldn't crack to the point of it falling apart. Thankfully, it didn't. :) I did my world map sgraffito on it. It was pretty hard to get the details, but I tried my best. I tried to get the proportions right, but I'm pretty sure the Europe and Asia I sgraffitoed on was larger than it was supposed to be. As I was doing it, I was careless and held the handle, accidentally breaking the main part of the handle apart. Oops. I also accidentally set my mug down too hard, and the bottom part of the handle broke apart too. Oh well. I broke a golden rule of ceramics and didnt handle my ceramic piece with two hands. So, I plan on sticking it back together after everything is fired.

Next time, if I were to do this kind of project again, I would be more careful when constructing it to prevent cracks and broken handles from occurring. Also, I would think through my project and plan even more to again prevent other mistakes. Doing sgraffito was pretty fun, but it was also time consuming for my part.

I saw many cool sgraffitto projects on the shelves, but I didn't touch them (ceramics golden rule).

Final Project Inspiration / Research

Final project inspiration/research

I was looking through pictures of creative teapots when I saw one with a  hole. I thought it was really cool and wanted to make something like that. I looked on youtube or something regarding how to make a donut-shaped teapot. The ones I saw used the wheel. I don’t know how to use the wheel, so I figured out how to make it using hard slabs and soft slabs. The circular shape of the teapot was quite unique to me. I also liked how thin and long spouts looked on a donut-shaped teapot, so I decided to imitate it slightly. I thought about making the donut itself a handle (like you stick your hand through and hold it), but I ended up making a handle for it.

I also thought about making a biographical totem pole like the native Americans did. I thought about making animal heads or faces as the design. But in the end, I didn’t create a totem pole mainly because of glazing. I’m really bad at glazing and to create the vibrant colors like native American totem poles will be difficult.

(Here are some more donut pictures that inspired me.)

(I thought about making a real donut)

Sgrafitto Inspiration / Research

Sgrafitto inspiration/research

I thought about making either some sort of pattern design or a focus on a main object. I like trees, so I thought about making one. I saw a few pretty cool sgrafitto trees on the internet and was inspired by that.

I also came across a sgrafitto artist. They use many different bright colors to create a scene on a mug, plate, or simply on any piece of ceramic piece. Unfortunately, I cannot find the site again. But, the ceramic piece that I really liked from that artist was an underwater theme. There were blue whales on it. She cleverly used the scrafitto technique to illustrate the waves. I also thought about doing something similar to that – having an animal on the pot and giving it a repeating patterned background.

A few other pieces of sgrafitto art stood out to me, and I thought about imitating the style of those pieces. For example, some of them had rims or borders with designs on them. Also, for one of the ceramic pieces (pictured above), a portion of the piece seems like its gray colored. However, that illusion is caused by the spacing in between the underglaze. I thought about doing something like that.

Hard Slab Inspiration

I find an interest in tape art. Pretty much, I like art that is more arts and crafts-sy. I was thinking about what I wanted to make, and that idea popped into my head. My main design will be from glazing. After the hard slab sculpture is fired in the kiln, I glaze the areas where I want my lines to be, then I put tape over it. After, I will remove any excess glaze with a sponge and glaze the spaces in. I was inspired by whatever I saw years ago. Again, Pinterest had a lot of cool ideas regarding tape art. Some artists created an animal out of the tape. I might use that idea. However, we are required to use texture on the box, so using tape over that might not be the best option.

I also thought about doing a yin-yang thing relating to what we learnt in Asian Studies before, but I decided against it.

I also thought about doing a nature theme with a large flower as the handle. The texture and the lid will mainly be the design of the box. I might integrate a pond into the lid.

Hard Slab Introduction

Objectives:

• To experiment with leather-hard pieces of clay to form a sculpture

Materials:

• Clay
• Sponge
• Watered-down clay (slip)
• Ceramic tools

Procedure:

1. Draw out your design onto a sheet of paper and cut it out
2. Roll a slab of clay out
3. Wait until the slab is leather-hard (use a blowdryer)
4. Using the score and slip method, stick them together.

Pinch Pot Process (March 17, 2015)

I finally glazed my elephant. Originally, I planned on mixing glazes together to create a more unique effect. I thought about using these combinations.

However, I didn't read the sheet clearly and put too many layers of the base glaze. I thought about just adding more of the top layer of glaze, but apparently, too many layers of glaze can cause the glaze to peel off. So, I just stuck with the one color of glaze. I applied "blue midnight" (fired cone 5-6) onto the elephant 3 times (3 layers). Well, a blue elephant will match the mood of a timid, possibly blue (sad) elephant. 

glaze not dried yet

glaze dried

Soft Slab Process (March 17, 2015)

The second mug I created focused more on a nature theme. I wanted to create vines and have leaves. I also wanted to incise a tree. So I did just that.

First, I wedged a piece of clay, then I rolled a slab out with the slab roller. I used a needle tool to trace the net of the mug out. I wet it with water to prevent it from cracking, then I rolled it into the desired shape and size. I scored and slipped the sides together and moved the clay around in that area to remove the crack. Then, I rolled out another slab of clay to make the base. I traced the size of the mug's base onto the slab and cut it out using a needle tool. I scored and slipped that onto the mug and moved the clay in that area. I removed clay using a knife to create a slant in the mug. The top of the mug slants down then curves back up. I decorated my mug with vines. I rolled out a thin coil and scored and slipped it onto the mug. I created 3 of those "vines". Then, I added leaves to two of those vines. To make the leaves, I flattened a ball of clay and pinched the sides to make it pointy. I scored and slipped it on. For one of the vines with leaves, I smoothed it out with a wooden knife to make it "connected". Then, I incised a tree onto one of the empty places. I did it 3 times to try to get it right. Originally, I used a needle tool, but there were tiny balls of clay that would form. So, I used a pencil, but it was to thick. So I ended up using a knife first, then going over it with a pencil. It ended up better. Then, I added a whole lot of stripes. Originally, I had planned for it to only be in one area. But then, I went crazy with the striped lines and put them everywhere. Bad choice. I should have stuck with doing it in one place. Now, my mug's an eyeful. Oh well. Perhaps it will turn out better after I glaze it. (no it didnt)

This mug was made by adding clay and incising.

After it was fired in the kiln again, I glazed it. It didn't have enough layers of glaze, so it didn't turn out like the light color it was supposed to. The leaves turned out kind of black, when it was supposed to be more of a dark green kind of color. (99 percent of the time i ruin my project with glaze)

Soft Slab Process (March 10, 2015)

I made the body of my mug with a rolling pin. I wedged a ball of clay and rolled it into a ball. Then, I stuck a rolling pin through the clay, and rolled it until the walls of the mug were even and of good thickness. I cut of any excess clay. I rolled out a slab of clay, and traced the bottom of the body of the mug onto the clay. Then, I used a needle tool to cut it out. I scored the bottom of the mug and the base of the mug, the applied slip to stick them together. I "moved" the clay around in that area to remove the line. I wanted to make a more of a unique mug, so I decided to squish the sides of the mug a bit. It turned out to be a pointy-ish mug. I am constantly fascinated by nature. So, I decided to make a volcano. As I stuck on lava onto the mug, I changed my mind and decided to go with a more humorous theme. I changed and made a person's head instead. The "lava" became hair. To make the hair, I rolled out clay, cut it, and flattened it. Then, I scored and slipped it onto the mug. I added eyes (glasses), a nose, and incised a mouth. I used circles and a tiny bit of clay to make the glasses and a ball of clay to make the nose. I scored and slipped those onto the mug. Then, I stuck a tongue in the mouth. I thought about making ears as the handle of the mug. Then it'll kind of be like a baby sippy cup with handles on the side. I thought it would be more interesting if I made a handle out of coils combined together. I rolled out thin pieces of coil and combined it together to form a handle. I attached the handle onto the side of the face. Finally, I polished up and smoothed it out. Then I left it out for it to reach bone-dry stage for it to fire in the kiln. I think it turned out pretty well.

This one was made mainly with adding clay and incising.

After it was fired in the kiln, I put glaze on it. (the diff. types of glaze i used you can read about in my sketchbook). Before putting it in the kiln, I made sure that the bottom was clear of glaze, or it would stick to the bottom of the kin. (ceramic golden rule) I made my project even worse. It looked like it had some kind of deadly skin disease. I caused it to have a skin disease because I didn't put the layers of glaze on very evenly. The places where it is darker is due to not putting enough glze on it. The hair and sunglasses and handle (I think) turned out okay, but the nose, tongue, and skin turned out kinda bad. After this, I learned to be more careful when glazing.

Coil Pot Reflection

What I Learnt
One of the main things I learned was how to use the extruder. It's pretty easy to use. All you do is put clay into the opening and push the lever down. However, cleaning it up and changing the template was more difficult. Secondly, when I wanted to bend my coils into different shapes, some of the time, it would end up cracking. That really annoyed and bothered me. So, I learned that before you bend the coils, you should wipe it down with a sponge. It cracked because as I rolled it, my hands would take away the moisture from the coils, making them more prone to cracking. For me, that reduced the risk of having cracks in the coil. Thirdly, I learnt that you need to have a solid base to build more layers. I wanted to put a squiggly coil design near the bottom, but Mr. Swinehart advised that I put it near the top because it may not be able to support a lot of weight. It is important to take into account the placement of the coils. Lastly, I learnt that I should be more accurate when working with coils. I made a squiggly coil design, but the squiggles weren't all the same height. As a result, I had to fill up the empty spaces with other designs.

Design Reflection
I wanted to integrate my design as a part of the coils. I didn't put any extra designs on the outside. I didn't incise, excise, carve, or add clay onto the pot. I had a few coil ideas I wanted to integrate into the pot. A few of them were - the squiggly design, a braided design, and balls of clay. Originally, I wanted to use 3 coils and braid them into a single, larger coil. However, as I tried to braid the coils, it started cracking a lot, so I stuck with two and simply twisted them. Also, I originally planned on making the layer of balls of clay all the same size. But, I thought it would be more interesting if I made them different sizes. Some of the other layers on my pot were more like "stabilization" layers. Those coils are supposed to make the pot more stable and not as flimsy. Some layers of my coil pot were thought of carefully, and others were created in a spur. 

(Note: vocab is integrated into the process)

Pinch Pot Reflection

What I Learnt
I made an elephant out of 4 pinch pots and combined them together. I learned that squirting water onto your project is useful, but if you squirt too much, it can do more harm than good. Before, I squirted too much water onto the head, and the trunk broke off. So, now, I pay closer attention to the amount of water I spray on. Secondly, I learnt how to properly fuse together pieces of clay. I'm not supposed to rub at the crack and try to make it disappear. I'm supposed to "move the clay" in that area and then smooth it out. In 3D art, I just tried to make the line disappear, and that resulted in a crack after firing. Thirdly, I improved my technique when using the ceramic tools. I learned how to use a needle tool better and the things that other tools (such as the ribbon tool and wooden rib) can do. Another large problem I faced was that after it was fired in the kiln, apparently an elementary ceramic piece melted onto my piece, so the elephant was stuck onto it. It cracked when we tried to remove the melted piece of ceramics from my elephant using a hammer or something. Also, I learned that glazes cannot be trusted when I used them. It may look like a certain color on the picture, but after I used it, it never (or rarely) turns out that color. It is because I don't put the proper amount of layers of glaze. Blue midnight turned out black.

Design Reflection
I pretty much stuck to the design I had in the first place. I only changed one thing about it. I changed the form and shape of the elephant's ears. I was afraid that if I had the ears out and they were too thin, it will collapse. Also, I wanted to have the elephant illustrate an emotion - a timid, shy one. So, I had the ears flop down and cover parts of his face. That was the only change in my design.

(Note: vocab is integrated into the process)

Soft Slab Inspiration

I am continuously fascinated by nature. In one of my previous projects, I wanted to use a "seasons" theme, but I didn't. I might use that theme to make four mugs/cups, having each of them represent a season.

As I looked through images on Google, I found a few interesting mugs. One mug had designs around the rim. Another one had waveish textures on the main part of the mug. This inspired me to possibly do something similar and to not simply create a plain mug.

I found this site: http://www.veniceclayartists.com/ceramic-mug-shots/ . This blog contains the work of many different artists. The textures, shapes, and designs of the different mugs showcased inspired some of the designs I came up with for my own mug. I really like how a few of the artists mixed together glazes to create cool effects. Others had interesting mug shapes.