IMAGE TRANSFER - Clay

Lesson Plan #41
IMAGE TRANSFER
by Paul Andrew Wandless
Now you can take advantage of the monoprinting technique with your ceramic art by following this lesson. “Paint” with underglazes and slips (your ink) onto a plaster bat (your plexiglass). The plaster bat absorbs the water from the underglazes giving
you the ability to build a more complex image/design or layer your colors over a period of time. Unlike working directly on clay
slabs that need to be kept in the greenware stage to work on, you want the underglaze to dry on the plaster bats and are in no
rush to finish. You have the luxury of time to paint the underglazes on the surface and can stop and start as often as you like
over as long a period of time as you need. When you are finished with your image, pour any casting slip (your “paper”) over the
image to rehydrate the underglazes and they will be absorbed (transferred) to the face of the cast clay slab. So just as paper
absorbs or lifts the ink from the plate to be pulled as a print, the casting slip will absorb and lift the underglaze image from the
plaster slab to be pulled as a clay print.
Lesson Plan Goals and Objectives
Tools & Materials
AMACO® Underglazes
(V) Velvet Underglazes
(LUG) Liquid Underglazes
Semi-Moist Underglazes
AMACO® White Underglaze
AMACO® Teacher‘s Palette Glazes
AMACO® Sedona Red Clay No. 67 (45131A)–
Low Fire Cone 05
AMACO® Sedona Red Casting Slip No. 67-S (45163K)
AMACO® Underglazes Applicator (11261H or 11263K)
AMACO® Fettling Knife (11192H)
Glaze Brushes
Plaster Bat
Tape
Pencil
Water
AMACO® Synthetic Sponge (11239J)
Draw a design onto plaster with ceramic underglazes
suitable for transfer onto a ceramic slab for firing.
Drawing and painting techniques will be reversed as
foreground painting precedes background.
Students will learn to draw a layered design suitable for transfer, which will incorporate a reversal of drawing and painting
techniques, such as required in monoprintmaking.
National Visual Arts Standards
Understand and apply media, techniques, and processes.
Make connections between visual arts and other disciplines.
Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter,
symbols, and ideas.
Technique
Image Transfer: How to Make a Clay Monoprint
1. Mask out the print area on
the plaster with tape.
5. Use AMACO® Semi-Moist
Underglazes like watercolors
to create shades on the figure.
Remember you are working
in reverse.
2. Sketch your design. Remember, the image and text
will be reversed in the transfer
process. This way of drawing
will become more comfortable with practice.
6. Use 2-3 coats of AMACO®
Teacher‘s Palette (TP) glazes
in areas where you want a
gloss finish which pops from
the matte background colors.
3. Use AMACO® Underglazes
in a squeeze applicator to create permanent outlines. Use
water to erase or soften your
outlines.
7. Apply the background
colors for the figure.
4. Use a damp sponge to
8. Cover details.
erase or soften your pencil
lines. Pencil lines will also
burn out during firing.
9. Background colors are
complete.
16. Remove the tape masks
10. Apply face background.
17. Clean borders shown.
11. Finish face background.
18. Apply new tape.
12. Create the backdrop
19. Apply white Underglaze
13. With AMACO® Semi-
20. Once complete, remove
14. Moisten and let the color
21. Create a clay dam (or
15. Apply flowing under-
22. Apply slip to the edges
behind the figure and around
head.
Moist Underglazes, streak the
background into the Godhead halo.
run to create the flowing
backdrop.
glazes to darken and add
more complexity to the
background.
and then clean the borders
where there was some runoff.
to the entire image. This layer
helps to create an illusion of
dimension.
the tape borders and allow
the image to dry. When dry
to the touch, proceed to the
next step.
mold box) for the casting slip
to be poured into. Roll out a
clay slab approximately 3/8"
thick, then cut into 1" strips.
of clay strips for creating a
strong bond when attaching
to the plaster bat.
23. Attach clay strips to the
26. Allow casting slip to
24. Finished dam shown.
27. Layer plastic wrap on
25. Pour casting slip over the
28. Fire to cone 05.
surface of the plaster slab
around the image to build
your dam.
harden (approx. 15 minutes).
When slip is firm to the touch,
remove clay dam with fettling
knife. Lift one corner of hardened slip to see if it is strong
enough to remove.
clay print, then cardboard
(or drywall or plywood). Hold
layers firmly together, carefully flip over. Remove plaster
bat. Allow clay print to dry
completely before firing.
image to desired thickness.
Start from one end to the
other. Thin casting slip will
level out on its own. Thick
casting slip will need to be
leveled with a spreader.
Glossary
Casting Slip: A slurry of clay and additives mixed in water
with deflocculating agents and used for casting in molds.
Clay Dam: Dam created from clay strips to hold back or contain a volume of liquid casting slip.
Clay Slab: Clay rolled out flat.
Fire: To heat the clay in a kiln at a very high temperature
until it is hard and it becomes ceramic.
Monoprinting: A printmaking process where only one
image can be created and printed.
Underglaze: Liquid colored clay that is put on ceramics before
a glaze is applied. It has no flux (glass former) therefore it stays
exactly where you put it and does not flow. It is great for painting and decorating.
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