Modern Pottery Tutorial

Painting on pots didn’t occur to me until I recently visited Fred Butler’s show at the KK Outlet Gallery in Hoxton. The pots were yet another canvas for Fred to spread her kaleidoscopic cosmic creativity. Fred Butler is better known for her accessories favoured by eccentrics such as Lady Gaga, so pottery was quite far out in terms of expectations. Perhaps this is why I suddenly thought, this is a good idea. Why not. Last week I tried to recreate some simple shapes by using masking tape and came to the conclusion that with pottery, the best way forward is freehand.

It all came together yesterday. I felt very sad, and so I painted a face. Today I feel as if there is one more character in our house. She looks at me and I look back at her. There’s a silent dialogue. I’m glad I painted her. Perhaps you will want to paint one too.

For this you don’t need special painting or drawing skills. You can practice on paper first and then paint straight onto the pot. This seems to work best.

Materials:

A terracotta pot

Acrylic Paints (I ended up using Mars Black, Titanium White, Quinacridone Violet by Winston & Newton)

2 round tip paint brushes ( I used 2 and 12)

Water

Scrubbing brush

Tissue

1. First you need to clean the surface of your pot. I did paint my pot with the orchid planted already, but I had previously washed and dried it thoroughly. The surface needs to be clean and smooth.

2. Take your size 12 brush and paint a white oval. This will be the shape of your face so make sure you like it. If you add a bit of water, the brush will run smoother, so you can paint a really nice clean edge. Let it dry. It won’t take long.

3. Paint another 3 or 4 coats, letting each coat dry inbetween.

4. ‘ Take your size 2 brush and paint on the eye lids.

5. Paint on the rest of the face. The simpler and less worried you are about how the face will look, the more natural your hand will follow. Paint the irises. A long, deep arch for the right eye brow down to complete the nose. Another arch for the left eye brow. The mouth painted in size 12 brush in’ Quinacridone Violet. A simple straight line.

6. I wanted my face to feel aged, so once the paint dried for about 7 minutes, I lightly washed away some of the prominent blacks in the lines.

Hope yours works out and brings you happy thoughts.