Opinions please

Owl eyes...On the original owl I got a glossy deep black with a good glaze that is apparently so temp specific that I only achieved it one more time, despite trying repeatedly. So I thought ok...black fingernail polish would achieve the same results with a topping of crystal clear glaze. It is an acryic which seems to me perverse to do to clay, even tho i have been told repeatedly by teachers that it is ok to paint them. It tried a couple other ideas, one was to run the eyes through teh gas kiln and get a glazed black, but it is not the deep wet of the acrylic or the black glaze. So does it matter? Which would you prefer if you were getting a rocking owl. There is a deep shadow on the one owl, it is not black from anything else above that eye.

original owl


experiments



and big bowl came out nice I think


quail

Lovely pieces. Wish I had a talent like that.

I think that all the owls are adorable

Clearly I am of no help whatsoever...

Do you think it has to be that rich black or not? My heart says yes. I think I am going to change the whole design and goe to white owls. I haven't cleaned these up yet, still some scrubbing to get off the tar. THe speckled chest is out..you can't get the glaze in deep enough to do any good..rethinking that too. ONe day I will make the owl as it is, right now I am just following the path. These are not "it". Thanks for the kind words. I am frustrated and should just forget it and move on but I so want what I know it can be. THe little one sits there and smugly says haha I broke the mold and you know it.

The black is lovely... Maybe you should make a white owl for comparison?

They quails and bowl are beautiful...

THank you! I made the first three as a thank you for the woman that ordered the mica and gave it to me as a surprise. I had found it on line and shared with her the link, but coudlnt' afford to order it so it was just a wish. Just about a year later she surprised me. When i asked her what kind of bird she wanted, she said some quail and I thought uhoh.....they don't have the prettiest head or beak in the world and how do you do a creature with pattern, without pattern. SO this is what I came up with.

I like the orignal owl's eyes and in the second pic the middle owl's eyes best. I love how the gloosy deep black looks.

I really love your interpretation of quails The lines in your pieces are beautiful...they look adorable and graceful at the same time.

I want that inky thick black glaze to work out so bad...too hot, you get colors ranging from copper to lusters of gold red and purple...which is great, if both eyes would come out the same, but most of the time they don't. Too cold and it's flat. IT is suppose to be cone 4 for temp, but the white is cone 5 and that just seems to be enough to lose the black black. I have tried until it's just silly to keep trying to get it to come out right. Aw well...it keeps me making owls right? I can always fall back on the acrylic I guess, just seems to be cheating to me but since it is not a food preparation of ceramics maybe it really doesnt' matter. I think it would however make it worth less in the long run. Don't know.

Have you tried using a black underglaze with a clear glaze?

Yes I did ...I tried that, I also tried slip with a coat of clear. Nothing has come close.

Hmmm . . . I always had a really easy time with black glaze, but I used commercial glazes, usually Gare. That's one thing about the commercial glazes, the good ones are consistent and usually have a wider tolerance.

I'd be tempted to play with a deep, deep purple or even almost-black green underglaze with black glaze on top, for depth.

a raku kiln is not like an electric, consistency is not the norm, I might try another commercial black, i am getting low on this one anyway.

I do like the darker black color. Hope you can find something that works.

Consistency is the polar opposite of raku

Gare and Duncan glazes have always been extremely tolerant, in my experience as well as by reputation.