Basic ceramic terms - glazes

"Butterbean", cast in earthenware ceramic and decorated with ceramic underglaze. Sculpted by Sarah Minkiewicz and produced in china by Blackberry Lane.

In the pottery world, what model horse artists call finish work is called surface decoration, or just decoration. This can be confusing; in the context of models, we are more likely to think of decoration in relation to breed turnout, like the ribbons and rosettes used for draft horses. (Creating those in ceramic is a whole other topic!) 

In the model horse collecting community, fired ceramic work is called glazing. The more common mixed media approach used to finish plastic and resin models is referred to as cold-painting. For a model to qualify to show in the china division or china specialty shows, the finish has to be entirely fired; no part of the model may be cold-painted. Glazing is further divided into realistic glaze and art glaze. Realistic glazing has the same end-goal as cold-painting, which is to reproduce real horse coloring as closely as possible. Art glazing uses colored pottery glazes. It is the china horse world’s equivalent of decorator colors. 

Realistic glazing

When creating realistic finishes on fired ceramic, there are two basic approaches: underglaze and overglaze. The name indicates where the color goes relative to the clear glaze. In ceramic underglazing, the colors are applied first, and the clear glaze goes over them. With overglazing, the clear glaze is applied first, and the colors are applied over it.

Excalibur, finished at the Pour Horse Pottery using underglazes

Animal Artistry Morgan, finished using overglazes

Overglazing, which is also known as china painting, is commonly used by European potteries. Underglaze is traditional for American pottery. Hagen-Renaker and Pour Horse Pottery utilized underglaze. It is also possible to combine the two approaches, using overglaze to add details to pieces primarily done in underglaze. 

Art glazing

Realistic glazing utilizes clear glazes in glossy, satin or matte finishes. With art glazing, the colors are part of the glaze. While almost all realistic glazing is done in the low-fire range, art glazes can be either low-fire or mid-range.

Because it is important to preserve the sculpting detail in art glazed pieces, the most common type of glaze used for this is a translucent glaze. The pigments in these glazes pull away from the high points (known as breaking) and pool in the recessed areas. 

Peritia, cast in stoneware (mid-range) and finished with an Amaco Celadon glaze.

Why do these terms matter?

It might seem excessive to learn the correct pottery terms when all you want to do is glaze some china horses. The reason it matters is that all the tools and materials needed are specific to the cone range, clay, and glazes being used. They all have to "fit" for it to work.

With that in mind, here are the specifics for the work I do here at Blackberry Lane:

Cones: Almost all of my work is done between Cone 06 and Cone 04, so it is low-fire. The only exceptions are the art glazed medallions, which are sometimes fired in the mid-range (typically Cone 5). 

Clay: I cast primarily in white earthenware. Occasionally I cast horses in mid-range porcelain and medallions in stoneware. 

Glazes: For realistic horse colors, I work entirely in underglaze.

Now that we are all "talking the same language," I will get more into the details of which products I use and how I get the effects that I do. I'll also cover some of the equipment and skills a newcomer will need to start glazing china horses.