Crafts Brushes which have their bristles arranged so that they form a flat, square-edged shape have many uses in ceramic decoration. The soft, camel hair brushes are well suited to the application of lusters, since they allow these materials to be flowed on smoothly, without the apparent brushmarks which brushes with Stiffer bristles might leave. And, as stated previously, soft, flat brushes are also used for the application of glazes and underglaze colors, while flat bristle brushes are often used when applying non-firing opaque stains, for solid coverage. The flat, red sable brush, which is called a "square shader," is the most valuable of any of the flat brushes used for design work.

Square shader brushes for design work should be of the best quality - full-bodied, sharp-edged and resilient. Bold and subtle effects can be obtained with these brushes, and they can be used fully loaded, half-or-corner-loaded, and simultaneously loaded with 2 or more colors.

It is. best, when working with square shader brushes, to load them with color first placed on a glazed tile, or other suitable palette. To fully load such a brush with color, it is placed flat on the palette at the edge of the color and then worked from side to side; for more intense color, the brush is worked further into it. A half-load or corner-load is obtained by placing the brush flat on the palette next to the color, and, with a circular motion, working just one corner of the width of the bristles or hairs into the color. Additional color or colors can be picked up on a fully loaded or corner-loaded brush, by working the corner of the bristles into the other colors, as described above.




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Home > Crafts > Ceramics > Brushes And Brushstrokes, Part 3

November 20, 2008