How To Carve Clay

Hand Building Pottery Project Ideas for Teachers and Artists.

How to carve clay. While the clay is fairly wet place the stamp where you want your carving to go and gently push the stamp to create your outline. A common question from beginners is how to make clay. Many clay ceramic art projects using techniques and clay construction methods.

When carving air-dry clay it is important that you dont use a lot of force. Mixing stains into into a clay body most effective with a light clay body appeals to a lot of people because it opens up many opportunities for developing more precise patterning than is possible with glaze. After the central area is complete he proceeds to carve the pattern in each section of the perimeter area on the plate again one line at a time.

10 Trace a drawing of a motif onto the surface using a pointed wooden tool. Make sure that your piece is completely dry coat the surface level of clay with water using a damp brush. 12 Bevel the outlines with the Kemper tool then carve the petals with a Zebra tool.

Recesses can also be created by pinching the clay digging out with your thumb and forefinger. The top layer will get softer and carving will become more uniform and smooth. With this method you can use various tools including steel wax carvers.

11 Use a Kemper carving tool to deepen the traced lines. In todays video Curt Benzle demonstrates a simple way to create texture and pattern on a vessel by layering and carving colored slips. Water is applied as a lubricant to facilitate the carving.

You can use rough-grit sandpaper to remove more material and fine-grit sandpaper to remove less. The process will be easier if you wet the clay first. A fascinating documentary film showing how British artist Victoria Ellis carves a fine bas relief figurative clay mural.