Do you feel like your pottery designs are lacking? Do you want to get a better feel for them and have something that really shines? Well, now you can. These easy pottery designs will allow you to have a beautiful piece, and you can create some beautiful works with the pottery that you create. How do you do it? Well, read on to find out about some of the great easy pottery designs for you to try out.
Using Glazes
One thing that you should first consider is glazing if you really want to create a good pottery design. In essence, you have a lot of variety and many different types of colors and textures. It makes the ordinary extraordinary, and you can use different techniques as well.
Glazing also has a lot of other benefits to it as well, and that can be the following:
- It makes the dish food-safe
- It makes the dish safe for liquids and not toxic
- When it’s fired, it actually makes it more durable
- If you do this raw, you can create a secondary glaze firing to make it stronger
With glazes, you can create the designs that you want to, and ultimately, use this to help you get the most from this.
You can also use over and underglazes in order to create some great results. Some of the overglazes are other glazes that are applied over one another in an unfired way, and it matures at the same temperature. Usually, the true overglazes are applied once the base glaze is fired. Overglazes usually require the ware to have the ability to go through a third firing, and at a lower temperature than it’s usually fired to.
You have different types of over and underglazes and they are as follows:
- Lusters
- Overglazes
- China Paints
With underglazes, you essentially put colorants onto some greenware before you fire them, and usually, the overglaze is transparent so that the underglazes shines through.
Underglazes are great because they allow for a lot of creativity, and there are ranges of colors to try out, and you can mix these in order to get the shade that you want. Usually, underglazes give you a chance to paint different designs, and this is usually what you use, and ideally, using them with other watercolors will allow for the best results.
Here, we will go over a few of the great things you can use with an underglaze if you want to try it.
Leaves
If you feel like your pottery is lacking, well why not try drawing some leaves on there. Adding leaves to pottery is often quite fun, and it gives you a beautiful texture and design.
To do this, you can start with some outlining of leaves in black or a darker color. From here, with greens and blues, you, in essence, can fill it in, and it allows you to have a beautiful sort of work of art, and you’ll be much happier with it too.
Initial It
If you’ve ever created a pottery piece that needs something, sometimes throwing an initial onto there creates the best results. Ideally, you should choose the first initial, and make sure it’s not on common dinnerware such as plates and such, since that may not look as good and can be considered tacky. But, if you want to personalize some sort of decorative item, including trinket holders, you’ll definitely get that with this.
You can put initials on there if you want, but some like to do whole names too. They’re great because it conveys the following when you’re making the design:
- It’s unique to you
- It is a pretty piece that definitely shines
- It can be decorated with other things the person likes for a great and personal sort of gift
If you’re considering getting someone something, why not try this, since it does make a pretty design, and it’s perfect if you’re looking for that extra touch.
Lots of Dots
This is another great sort of way to design your pottery. You can do this with a stain, or if you want to use it with pottery paint after it’s had its bisque fire, then you totally can.
In essence, what you want to do, is create an array of dots, in various different sizes. It’s pretty, because it has a unique look to it, and allows for the following things:
- A pretty and uniform look
- An array of different and varying shapes
- A Pretty design that if you put on one side to give it a nice and prettier look to it
With this, you’ll be able to create beautiful designs, and from here, you can create something that works perfectly. If you use it on white ceramic, it creates the most beautiful look and one that really shines.
Using Tape to Separate Colors
For many people, they want to give that little bit of extra life to the piece that they’ve made, but they’re worried about the colors blending. However, did you know that you can use tape in order to work with this? With this, you’ll be able to add some tape to each of the areas, paint it, and then pull off the tape in order to paint the next area.
This is a popular form of design because it allows you to do the following:
- Add a unique design to this in order to paint it
- Give it a variety of colors that you will enjoy
- Allow you to have a beautiful piece that works for yourself
If you’ve ever wanted to try this, and even do this with an old mug that you have, you’ll definitely be quite happy with it. It’s definitely worth it, and if you have the designs that you want to make from this, you’ll be able to create the most beautiful pieces that you can and allow yourself the chance to make some great sorts of different designs that work for you.
Solid With Lines
do you typically do either one solid color or maybe some lines? Well, why not both! It’s a simple, easy way for you to certainly have a beautiful look to your dinnerware, and it’s quite fun to do. How you do this is simple, you begin with the following:
- On a plate or dish, you put some tape on one side. That’s the side for the other lines that you’re going to paint
- from there, take half the plate or piece and give it one solid color
- On the other side, you can then undo the tape, and then paint your design there
- From there, you can let it dry if it’s already on a fired piece, but if it’s on an unfired piece, fire it to the temperature that you want to fire it at for best results
- You can play around with the patterns too, allowing you to have a beautiful plate that definitely can be a bit nicer than your typical plate, and creative too
Become friends with Stains and Engobes
There are two types of decorative means that you can try in order to get the best results from this, and they are slips and engobes. These are typically the same thing, but they have different names based on where you live.
Typically, both of these are a liquid form of a slurry, and it’s clay mixed with coloring agents. You can use this for different things especially wet greenware, and it can help because of the following:
- It adds color
- It improves texture
- It gives a beautiful two-dimensional design
- You can use them for raw firing, so you can apply them when they’re damp or leather hard
- Typically, these produce a more matte surface than a glossy shine
If you use these on your pieces, it allows for a different sort of look to them, since overall, you’re creating a beautiful piece that will work for you. This is a popular form of decorating, since it’s so simple to use, and it creates some great results.
With this as well, you can even get different ones, and some of them are buffed to levels with a higher shine added to them. These are super popular with decorating, and really, just adding this to your pieces allows you to create different and intricate designs.
If you’re ever curious about these, try to play with them, and from there, see what works for you, and what will create the best pieces possible.
Texture Time!
If there is one thing that you should try out, it’s textured. Textures are great since they allow you to mimic different substances, including different ones such as these
- Metal
- Shoes
- A raw surface
- Intricate patterns
Clay is great for this, and you can actually create this similar feeling in everything. It’s also impressionable too since textures are added to wet pots with different tools and objects that are on the surface. That means that you can use different items onto this to create some cool designs, and is ultimately one of the more fun ways to create these items.
Also, consider trying to carve into these. You can do certain things, including the following:
- Use little marks to carve designs in
- Use this to make patterns that you enjoy
- Allow for crisp cuts that look cool
- You can use more intricate patterns if you try this
This is why carving is another popular type of pottery use, and it allows for different, more intricate uses over time.
A final type of texture that you can try here is marbling, and it’s one of the more popular forms of textural designs. This involves some different elements that come along with this, and you simply want to do the following:
- Add a white clay body to terracotta or different colored clay body
- Mix these together, or stock these on top of one another
- Mix together the whole block, and the colors will start to roll together to create some marbled patterns
- From here, you can mold and create different shapes and designs that work for you, allowing you to have fun and very easy means of truly creating some beautiful art that you’ll be happy about
Play with textures, and you’ll be able to have some pieces that just pop, and from there you can create the exact type of pieces that you want, and ones that will allow you to really give it the shine that it deserves.
Add Color to Bland Pieces
If you have a bland pottery piece, one of the easiest things you can do is add some color. For many people, this includes the following that can really make a difference:
- Adding some simple flowers and other colors to otherwise staid pieces
- Giving funny faces and even strange looks to the pieces that will eventually look great
- Putting the design of your favorite fictional character there, which in turn will allow you to have a pretty piece
- Adding spots and dots to otherwise boring pieces
Take a piece that’s all white, off-white, or overall just plain boring. Add some color to it, whether it be in the form of a design, or a solid color itself. From there, you can simply add this to your collection, giving this the pretty piece that you’ll definitely want to have around. By being smart and creative with this, you’ll be able to create a color that will make things shine.
Altering the Clay
Sometimes, people like to alter the clay itself. For example, part of it gets textured, part of it gets glossed. This is a much more complicated form of altering and decorating the pottery that you have made. There are a few different ways that you can alter the design of this, and here are some cool ones
- First, make your piece
- Once you have it leather hard, start to mess with the texture
- Use glazes and the like to help give it the color that you want to. You can also use stains and slips
- From here, fire it to a bisque fire, and then add over that an overglaze to certain areas, or maybe two different glazes to each area
- Fire this once more, and you’ll be amazed at the different and unique look that this creates
- When you do use these, do try to use it based on the ones that fire at similar temperatures, since if they’re fired at two very different temps, it can cause one to melt
By mixing these together, you’ll be able to create unique items that do wonders, and allow for you to have a piece that’s different, but pretty.
Paint Your Family
Another fun design idea is to paint your family. That may sound weird, but if you’re painting with a child, sometimes creating a fun pottery piece that they can give to the family does change things. You’ll be able to create a piece that’s different, but also quite pretty, and if you have kids, that’s often a fun little project.
The best thing to do is to get some colors and use the stains to outline the family. Then, have them paint them in with some kid-safe pottery paint, and then there you have it.
Paint for the holidays
Do you want to create a killer pottery piece that works perfectly for maybe Halloween, or even Christmastime? Then you’re in for a treat, for you can do that with some simple pottery painting. In order to make this work, you can ultimately do the following to achieve this:
- Choose a specific holiday that you like
- Get your piece
- Look for prints associated with the holiday itself, such as maybe some pumpkins, trees, or snowmen
- Copy that onto there, and either start to paint it based on the design that you use or freehand it
- If you really want to make this work, you can always paint the piece in festive colors too
- When done, you seal it and then there you have it, a beautiful pottery piece that works for you
If you have a child during the holidays that likes to get into pottery painting, or perhaps you’re interested in this, then look no further. You can try this out, and see for yourself the grand benefits of having this type of piece. The holidays are great for you, and you’ll be able to easily and without fail to make it so that you have the perfect piece that you can enjoy during this time and one that ultimately works for you in ways that you’ve never really thought possible. If you’ve ever wanted to try this, you always can, and it allows for fun holiday designs.
Paint Flowers on Plates
We did discuss at this point painting a bunch of flowers onto there, but have you considered perhaps painting a giant flower on a plate? This is a fun design, and having one on there allows for a beautiful, yet intricate look to it.
What you want to do is begin with the following:
- Find a flower that you want to paint
- Draw it out in pencil on your leather hard piece
- From there, start to use stains and glazes to start to fill in the designs with the right colorants
- At this point, you can from there add second or third coats, and you’ll be able to create a beautiful and deep picture
- At the end of this, you should fire it, and then there you go
- If needed, you can always throw a top glaze coat on there to make it work for you
The cool part about this is you can make different flowers and other shapes that will really stick out. You can even make dinnerware that has different flowers on each plate. It’s a fun, and unique way to really give your pottery the flowery design it deserves.
Duo Colored Trinket Bowls or Cups
Have you ever made some teacups or trinket bowls that ultimately needed a little bit of touching up? Well, now you can do it.
The best way to go about making this work is to first and foremost, have a color for the glaze on the very bottom. You can then fire this to harden, and then add a stain on top of here. You can then create flowers and other designs that ultimately really capture the fun of this design. You can from thee, add a top glaze to this in order to seal this and then fire it once more. It allows for the piece to have a unique look to it.
You can also use different actions to help create a cool pattern, including the following:
- Stripes
- Dots
- Flowers
- Zigzag lines
- Other cool patterns and shapes
With the colors on the outside, experiment with these, and see for yourself just what you can accomplish from it. You’ll be amazed at how unique and cool they can ultimately be, and you’d be amazed as well at the difference that this does end up making for yourself.
These pottery designs are simple, yet totally effective, and you can recreate beautiful pieces with this. Pottery is definitely enhanced with designs, and by adding some pottery designs to your pieces, you’ll be able to have pieces that you can be proud of, and ones that others will enjoy. It’s a great way to give your pieces that extra little bit of uniqueness to them, and whether you use an intricate way to design it or not, there are so many ways you can make this piece a personalized one that you’ll be proud of too.
