GARTH JOHNSON MFA 2000

THE JOY OF LOW-LOW FIRE

My mission within the ceramics world is to explore the realm of low-low fire work, particularly china painting and decals. For years, I searched for a way to put illustrations on my work, muddling through majolica, stumbling through cone 6, until the solution came to me in the form of a group of china painters in Lincoln, Nebraska. This was a revelation for me, and I focused all of my efforts on learning to paint little African violets on saucers and cups.

WHY CHINA PAINT?

For the uninitiated, china paints are a combination of some sort of flux (traditionally, lead), silica, and a colorant (stains or oxides). China paints generally come pre-mixed, in powder form, and must be ground with a vehicle (usually some form of oil) until they reach a paintable consistency. Then, the china paint can be applied to the ceramic piece, and fired (generally between cone 018 and 016). What this means to you, the ceramic artist, is that you can china paint on any piece of glazed ceramic ware, and the results will be WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET! No more painting on 3 coats of a runny, gray glaze to get blue, simply apply china paint, and fire!

AN IDIOTS…erm...CERAMIC ARTIST’S GUIDE TO CHINA PAINTING

There are as many rules to china painting as there are china painters. Many beginners are paralyzed with fear by all of the dogmas and strictures of the medium, but I have news for you… IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!!! China painting is simply a great way to put color on ceramic ware. PERIOD! Before you start, you will need some supplies, which can easily be found online through one of the china painting portals on the internet. The truth of the matter is that the members of the china painting community are very web-savvy, and put other ceramic media to shame in their mastery of computers. One of the most comprehensive sites, as of this writing, is http://porcelainpainters.com you can find online lessons, links, and a gallery of china painted work there. The World Organization of China painters website is http://www.theshop.net/wocporg/. Some places to get supplies are Mr. And Mrs. Of Dallas http://www.mrandmrsofdallas.com, Ann Cline, http://anncline.com, and my personal favorite, Rynne China in Detroit http://www.rynnechina.com/. (1-800-468-1987). It should be noted that Rynne carries the highest quality china paints that I am aware of–as used by Kurt Weiser, Matt Nolen, and other discerning china painters worldwide.

SOME SUPPLIES YOU MIGHT NEED…

There are a few essential china painting supplies that you should have. They’ll make your life much easier.

PAPER TOWELS–try to find a lint-free variety such as BRAWNY, or use blue shop towels, which are available at any hardware store.

BABY OIL–You will use the baby oil as a medium. Substitutions can include mineral oil, motor oil, 3-in1 sewing machine oil, or if you’re feeling extravagant, a commercial oil such as Rynne’s "Painting/Mixing Medium".

PALETTE KNIFE–this is a long, flexible version of a painting palette knife, used for mixing the oil with the medium.

GRINDING GLASS–a piece of thick, plate glass, sandblasted on one side to mix the china paint on.

BRUSHES–I recommend nice, natural sable brushes, but anything can be used in a pinch. I’ve used anything from the rattiest acrylic brushes to the finest natural bristle.

RUBBING ALCOHOL–used to clean your piece before painting.

TURPENOID NATURAL–not as non-toxic as the manufacturer would have you believe, but definitely the kindest solvent I’ve run across for brush cleaning. Available at most art supply stores.

LET’S GET STARTED!

Almost any glazed ceramic piece can be china painted. A matte surface will yield a matte finish, while a shiny surface will yield a shiny finish (make sense?).

1. First, let’s mix the china paint: Take as much powdered china paint as you think you will need (a little goes a loooong way), and put it on your grinding glass. Add the oil, a few drops at a time to the china paint, and use the palette knife to mix the two in a circular, grinding motion. Keep grinding and adding oil until the china paint is smooth, and about the consistency of toothpaste.
2. Wipe off your glazed piece with some rubbing alcohol applied to a paper towel. This will help take any of the oil, dust, and fingerprints that have accumulated on the surface. You’re ready to paint!
3. To pick some pigment up on the brush, first dip it in the oil, and squeegee the excess oil out with a fingertip onto the grinding glass. "Wiggle" the brush through your mixed china paint, saturating the brush. Then, simply paint your piece any way that you want to. You can use rough brush strokes, or meticulously, smoothly paint your pieces. China paint’s big advantage is that if you mess up, it can be immediately fixed by wiping the piece off.
4. It is difficult, nigh impossible to layer colors in a single firing–someone pointed out to me that china painting is akin to painting with butter. After you apply one color, clean your brush in the turpenoid, and repeat the process with the oil for the next color. China paints will always be somewhat translucent, no matter how thick you paint with them, so consider the possibility of doing multiple firings, layering different colors on top of each other with each firing. Again, what you see is what you get. Try mixing the china paints with each other. It will work most of the time, but oranges, yellows, and reds are tough to mix–they might fire out if combined.
5. Speaking of firing, once you have a piece ready for the first firing, use these guidelines as a general rule of thumb (not an absolute way of life). Blues, browns, greens, and darker colors like to be fired hotter (around cone 16), while reds, oranges, and yellows like to be fired at cone 018 (they contain colorants such as cadmium, that are much more unstable, and will burn out at higher temperatures). Place the piece in a kiln–be sure to prop the lid open during the firing–the colors need oxygen during the firing to retain their brilliance. Fire at a medium speed–the firing speed all depends on what you are firing. Handmade porcelain tends to crack during fast firings–obey the general guidelines that you would use for other firings. That said, for most of my work I fire like a banshee. I have done cone 016 firings in 6 hours flat, from cool to unloading.
6. When your piece is out of the kiln, the colors should be smooth and translucent. If they are dull and opaque, they are probably underfired. If they lose their color, they were either applied too thin, or overfired. Don’t fear either of these outcomes–you can always apply more china paint and refire the pieces. If the china paint is flaking off of your piece, chances are, you are putting the china paint on too thick. You are applying what is, in essence, a glass to the surface of your glazed work. It can only hold so much china paint. Your china paint may feel slightly rough to the touch. This can be solved by sanding the piece lightly with a fine-grained wet-dry sandpaper, or better yet, foam sanding pads.
7. Break the rules! Try anything. I’ve achieved very interesting results by mixing different low-fluxing ceramic materials with the china paint. Of particular interest is lithium carbonate. Some others to try are barium carbonate and nepheline syenite. Be careful working with any of these materials. Much of the china paint being produced today avoids using lead, but there could still be lead or nasty colorants in it. If you get any on your hands, wash them off immediately with soap and water. Never use china paint on a food surface–as lead or other oxides are harmful to the user.

A FINE LINE……

One of the chief advantages of china paint is that it can be used in a crow quill pen for incredibly fine lines. To do this, mix your china paint (Rynne’s Best Black works particularly well) with a thin oil (I’m fond of Rynne’s Outlining Oil) until it is the consistency of ink. In the absence of outlining oil, a time-honored china painting tradition is the use of 7-up instead. The sugar makes the mixed ink tacky and viscous enough to stick onto the piece. Load up a crow-quill pen (found in any art supply store) with the ink, and draw on the piece just like you would with ink on paper. Fire anywhere between cone 016-018.

VIVA, GADGETS!

There are a few nifty gadgets and tools that can be used for china painting. One that I find particularly handy is the "wipe out" tool–the rubber ended texture tool sold in ceramic supply stores. These can also be obtained from Ann Cline and Rynne. Ann Cline also sells an incredibly useful tool (that you can also make yourself) for lustering. Take an alligator clip (the ones sold in any electronic store) and mount it to the body of a brush with epoxy or another strong glue. You now have a fabulous tool for lustering. Just take a little bit of sponge and clamp it in the jaws of the alligator clip, dip it in the luster, apply the luster, and simply throw the sponge away when you are finished! No more festering brushes, no more acetone or denatured alcohol clean-ups! Rynne also sells a disposable gold-luster pen called the cerama-pen. This pen has a nice felt-tip that can be used for fine lines and decorations. When it runs out, sayanora! Another way to avoid messy brushes altogether.

GARTH’S CONE 018 IMITATION WOOD ASH GLAZE

Simply take any color of china paint (yucky brown if you want, wood-firers!) and grind it with baby oil in a ratio of roughly 3 parts oil to one part china paint, and slather it on a piece. Let it sit for a few minutes, and the oil will begin separating out in rivulets, and running down the piece. Allow the oil to dry as much as possible, and fire the piece. You can now layer any other colors on top of the first and refire. Voila! No wood-stacking or environment-wrecking. Just good clean china-painting fun. Another trick for getting mottled surfaces is spraying an unfired china painted surface with rubbing alcohol. The china paint will flee any spot that the alcohol lands on. You can fill a spray bottle with rubbing alcohol, and simply mist it on any spot that you would like to be runny and mottled.

LASER PRINTER DECAL SECRETS REVEALED!

There are quite a few artists making computer generated and print-generated ceramic art. A good gathering point for this work is: http://www.printandclay.net, which is maintained by artist Les Lawrence. I found out about laser-printing decals when not much was known about them–now there seems to be a bigger body of knowledge out there. Basically, laser printer toner (not laser-jet toner) is composed of tiny little iron filings and tiny beads of plastic. When a laser printer (or Xerox machine) prints an image, it establishes a static field on the piece of paper, then the toner sticks to the field, then goes through a heat element which melts the plastic bits, fixing the toner on the paper. Because the pigment is iron, a ceramic colorant, it can be applied and fired onto a glazed surface, leaving a sepia-colored image behind.

To make a laser decal, you will need a laser printer (not a laser-jet printer–the toner in them doesn’t have any iron), some decal paper, and some clear spray acrylic (Krylon works well, but almost any other brand is fine, too).

1. Create an image or text on the computer, and format it like you normally would print it out, positive, and right reading (so that text reads correctly). Text and line art tend to print beautifully, but results with photographic work is a bit trickier. You may want to convert photographs to halftone so that there aren’t any vast expanses of dark black.
2. Make sure that you are using water-slide decal paper. The best place to get it seems to be Highwater Clay in Asheville, North Carolina (Phone: (704) 252-6033). Another source for decal making equipment is Amaco http://www.amaco.com. Cut the decal paper to a size that the printer is capable of printing, and load it into the printer so that the printing goes on the shiny side of the paper.
3. Now take the spray acrylic and lightly spray the printed decal–wait 5 minutes, and give it another very light coat (if you spray too heavily in the beginning, it will smudge the image). After another five minutes, spray the decal with a very heavy coat of acrylic, when this dries, repeat at least two more times, until there is a very shiny, glossy surface.
4. Let the decal dry anywhere from an hour to overnight. When it is dry, cut out the image that you want to apply to the glazed surface. Fill a shallow-bottomed pan with warm water and soak the decal for 30 seconds, or until the image and acrylic begin to separate from the decal paper. GENTLY slide the decal on to its final destination, and gently smooth the decal with a sponge, from the center out, eliminating any air bubbles that might have become trapped.
5. Now, the hard part–firing. There is no one temperature that laser transfers go to because every glaze is different. I’ve had success with decal firings anywhere from cone 018 to cone 9. Basically, you want to find a temperature where the glaze is just starting to flux. This melts the iron into the glaze, preserving your image. If you fire too hot, the glaze will suck up all of the iron. If you fire too low, the whole thing will just wipe off. Here are some general firing ranges:

On top of China Paint–Cone 020-018

On top of low-fire glaze–Cone 06-010

On top of Cone 6 glaze–Cone 04-Cone 1

On top of Cone 10 glaze-Cone 1-Cone 6

These are just general rules. You will need to experiment to find the temperature that is right for your glaze. If your transfer appears to burn out at a very low temperature, there is a chance that your toner is formulated with something else besides iron. Every Apple LaserWriter printer that I have come across works, as do most Elite printers. You will, perhaps, have to experiment with a variety of printers to get results.

Another wild card is the glaze itself. Clear glazes and glazes with a lot of gerstley borate and nepheline syenite in them tend to eat the glaze. I have achieve good results with a variety of glazes, including some matte, high fire ones. Experimentation is key–don’t give up if the process deals you with setbacks. This is all information to combine with the things you know. Mix it up a little! The ceramic universe will expand because of it.