In this video, I'm going to share some easy to remember
brush glazing tips with you that will help you with the basics of brush glazing.
Hi, Marie here with a brush glazing tips video for you. Pottery making, in general, can be confusing
at times and the glazing part is no different I'm going to run through the preparation for glazing
as well as clays that can affect your final piece drying times. Brushes to use and more
brush glazing can be a bit time consuming but still one of the most popular ways to glaze
because of all the different designs you can create with all the different types of brushes.
Follow along as I help you be a little less confused
and give you some confidence in knowing that you can accomplish the same thing.
Just like all my other videos all the supplies and other links mentioned in this video are listed for
you in the description below. Okay, let's go. We'll start with clay and glaze compatibility.
Properly glazed pottery starts with making sure the clay and the glaze get along and bond well.
When choosing your glaze make sure it's compatible with your clay. They have to be
able to expand and contract together in the kiln to prevent crazing bubbling or even cracking.
The most important part of choosing your clay and glaze is making sure the firing temperature range
or cone size of your clay matches the firing temperature range or cone size of your glaze.
To check out some of the clays and glazes that work well together check out my best clays and
best glazes. I left links for you down below in the show notes. Properly bisque firing your clay.
Bisque firing turns your clay into ceramic which makes it less fragile and easy to work with.
It also makes your pottery porous and helps the glaze adhere and absorb into your pottery,
so it's best to go with cone 04. Most potter's biscuit cone 06 to o4
although 04 is recommended to ensure all gases have been eliminated from your clay.
. Oil repels glaze. That's why wax resist works so great. To
ensure your glaze adheres to your pottery keep any lotions or oils off of your bisqueware.
Even the oils from your hands can prevent the glaze from soaking into the piece
causing your glaze to lift crawl and even create bare spots.
For the best results when handling your bisqueware keep your hands clean and dry or wear gloves
throughout the glazing process to keep any oils or dirt from getting onto your bisqueware.
Sanding your bisqueware.
Any rough edges pointy bumps or sharp spots will show on your beautifully glazed pottery. You can
use sandpaper to smooth it out before glazing. Make sure you wear a dust mask or you can get your
pottery and sandpaper wet. You want to sand in the same direction that you've made your pottery.
Clean your bisqueware before glazing. You never want to skip this step.
Always use a clean damp sponge to get any dust or debris off your pottery before glazing
to ensure that the glaze bonds nicely to your piece. Keep your bottoms glaze-free.
Wax resist works very well. It seems to take more time to apply
with the wax resist and actually it takes less time than trying to wipe it off of your pottery.
I have some Iron Stone
Amaco and
let's say I accidentally get some on the bottom of my pottery that I didn't put wax resist on
Then put the Iron Stone on the wax resist area. With the wax resist it wipes
right off and you won't have any stain on the bottom of your pottery.
If you try and get it off
without the wax resist,
it most likely will not come all the way off and you will have a stain on the bottom of your
pottery. Now keep in mind if you don't use wax resist and you get glaze on the bottom of your
pottery, the glaze will come off. It'll take a little longer and it may leave a stain behind.
Take notes, take notes, take notes. Did I say take notes enough?
I can't tell you how many times I've heard I forgot to write it down, or I wish I would have
written that glaze recipe down. Unless you have a great memory you'll have to write down your glaze
applications. I use this little photograph book. It's great because I can place all of my recipes
right in the photograph slot and it has a little space to put notes in.
This one was obviously bad I have it crossed off and put bad one frosted turquoise did not move.
So these are important little notes that you can write so you make sure you don't duplicate it.
This one is nice could do four blue all over. So you always want to have your little notes
on the side. Nice one. Where you'd have your favorites. Then I have them numbered
and I took pictures of them and put the number right below the picture.
Choosing the right brush. When brush glazing one size does not fit all. At the least,
you want a nice soft brush that will hold a good amount of glaze. I have different
types and sizes of brushes for different sizes of pottery and different techniques.
Hack brushes are great for glazing your pottery. They're nice and soft and they
hold the extra glaze that's needed to cover your pottery more evenly.
You'll want different sizes for your different sized pottery.
Fan brushes also have the ability to cover large areas smoothly and evenly and small areas too.
They're nice and soft and they hold the glaze well also. So of course you'll need different sizes for
different size pottery. I also have the stiffer fan brushes these are great if you
want to make streak patterns on purpose and of course you want different sizes.
Don't forget your detail brushes to decorate with, and to get into those
tiny little hard-to-reach spots. I must say these brushes rarely lose their bristles.
A little when I first got them but hardly any ever since which is pretty good. Mix your Glaze Well.
It's best to run your glaze through a strainer first to catch any clumps or
foreign particles that may have gotten into your glaze.
It's best to catch this in your strainer then on your brush or on your pottery.
Then mix your glaze well. I found an electric mixer works the best.
It's quick and easy to use. Don't ever lift your mixer out of the glaze you don't want any
air bubbles to get into your glaze. You want to give your glaze another little mix right
before glazing each piece. Even though the bottle glazes are more stable mixing your glaze often
is still a good habit to get into and ensures a nice even consistency in your
glaze. Stay organized and work on one glaze at a time.
It gets very cluttered and confusing and because glazes don't show their true colors until after
they've been fired you can easily get them mixed up. There. That's a lot better. You're only gonna
glaze one piece at a time anyway, so you might as well stay more organized and less cluttered.
It makes it a lot easier and more efficient to glaze. And don't forget to write your notes down.
You want to glaze the inside of your pottery first. You don't want to handle the glazed
areas too much. If you glaze the outside first your chances of leaving marks and
messing up the outside of your piece will go way up. Banding wheels. Banding wheels are fun. They
make it easier for you to decorate your pottery so you don't have to handle your pottery as much.
You can hold your brush in place and spin the banding wheel to get a nice even coat.
It works pretty good once you get the hang of it. Don't get stingy.
One of the biggest problems with brushing on glazes
is the light coverage and streaking. This is one of my earlier pieces.
I should have put more glaze on the outside. I did on the inside and it turned out pretty good.
But the outside needed a thicker coat.
And this one as well. Your brush should be loaded so the glaze flows right on.
Change direction with each coat whenever possible. This helps to prevent streaking
when brushing on your glaze. It's best if you change the direction of your brush strokes
with each coat. For the first coat, you can go horizontally then for the second vertically.
Then you can apply your third coat horizontally.
This technique helps to get rid of any streak marks and evens out the thickness of your glaze.
Any new viewers to the channel make sure you introduce yourself down below in the comments
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what kind of videos you'd like to see I read all of my comments and appreciate all of them.
Proper drying time between coats. Make sure your glaze is dry before applying another coat.
You don't want to take a chance and hurry the process.
Once the glaze is dry to the touch you can apply another coat.
Check the thickness of your glaze. It's important to know how much glaze you've applied.
Not too thick or not too thin. To check the thickness you can use your fingernail.
And it should be the thickness of a t-shirt. That's good, and then just smooth it over.
Two rinse bowls for your brushes. It's good to have two bowls with sponges in them.
The sponges help get the glaze off of your brush. Always use the first bowl for the initial cleaning
then the second bowl so any glaze isn't left behind in your brush.
See the difference.
Make sure all of the glaze is off the bottom of your pottery before putting it into the kiln.
Wipe the bottom off with a clean damp sponge.
See how nicely the wax resist worked. Completely dry your glazed pottery before loading it into
the kiln. It's just as important to allow your glaze pieces to dry as it is with your greenware.
If the glaze is not dry it will be cold to the touch. Make sure it's room temperature
before you fire it up in the kiln. Glaze does dry fast but to be on the safe side it's worth
letting your pottery dry overnight before loading it into the kiln. Remember kilns hate moisture.
Shelf protection. Most beginners are afraid to lay their glaze on too
thick. Having a cookie under your pottery or kiln wash helps a lot.
Cookies are about a quarter of an inch thick and should be at least a quarter of an inch
larger than the foot of your piece all the way around. You don't want your cookie to be
too big because it will take up a lot of the real estate in your kiln.
Cookies give you a little more confidence that you don't have to worry about the
dreaded dripping glaze melting onto your kiln shelf. I have a video on making cookies
I left a link for you in the description below.
Kiln wash also helps to protect your shelves from dripping glaze. For more information check
out my article on protecting your kiln shelf. I left a link for you in the description below
Have a handheld rotary tool handy. If you happen to load your glaze on too thick,
not all is lost. You can grind it off with a handheld rotary tool.
This has come in handy on more than several occasions. The diamond bits work the best
on glaze. Before you grind any glaze off of your pottery make sure you have eye protection for any
glazed bits that might fly up into your face while you're grinding. Also never forget your dust mask.
You can also use your rotary tool to sand down any sharp edges before glazing. When
starting out on your glazing journey just like runny glaze you'll be all over the place.
By following these glazing tips I shared your success rate hopefully will improve. Remember all
the supplies and any other links mentioned in this video are listed for you in the show notes below.
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I build my list of videos to create based on feedback from viewers like you.
You watching helps me to create more videos. Now head on over to my how to choose your clay video
or how to make and use where boards video. If you do I get to play with more clay. Let's stay dirty.