Some suggestions for a fun (and easy) way to produce an effective semi art deco piece that always seems to draw attention.
Start with a plain piece of porcelain, some electrical tape, and a good sharp craft knife.
It seems to work no matter where the tape is placed, but it’s important to stretch the tape and apply pressure to make sure there are no bubbles or loose bits. It’s probably better not to have all squares, and it’s nice to have some lines diagonal, and a curve or two. It’s also important to make sure all ‘bits’ to be painted are enclosed by tape, (no open ends).
Once that’s done or even as you add tape sections – use your craft knife to cut into the straight sides of the tape. Triangles, squares, and if you have a good knife curves too. Save some of these pieces and stick them opposite where they have been cut out from. Thus adding to the interest, but taking care not to be too busy. Depends what you like.
You can also wipe out lines and curves in the wet paint but again be careful not to overdo it and make it too busy.
I like to stick to just a couple of complimentary colours and some black and gold.
Next is to mark where each colour will go before you start dabbing. Sometimes this can take quite a while. But it can look quite good same colour adjacent.
Mix as you would for wet grounding – I call it dabbing – and I use a copaiba based medium. (I use Alexanders because it’s what I’ve always used). Mix to a pouring cream consistency – depending a little on the colours you’re using. (test first)
If you can wait for it to dry before you peel off the tape it’s less likely to cause accidents. However if you can’t wait, and you have a slip – make it into a feature by wiping out a bit of design in that area. Dots, lines, little triangles and anything else you can think of. If you save some wet paint and their sponges until you’re finished you can also repair most slips.
Now if it’s dry and you are confident go ahead and do the pen work, or fire it and do the pen work next time.
The pen work is really just doodling in the white bits.
Enjoy, and don’t forget to let me know how you improve on this.
