Now you can take advantage of the monoprinting technique with your ceramic art by following this lesson. “Paint” with under-glazes 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 �nish. 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 �nished 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.

by Paul Andrew Wandless

Lesson Plan #41

IMAGE TRANSFER

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)

Lesson Plan Goals and Objectives� Draw a design onto plaster with ceramic underglazes

suitable for transfer onto a ceramic slab for �ring.� Drawing and painting techniques will be reversed as

foreground painting precedes background.� Students will learn to draw a layered design suitable for trans-

fer, 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.

TechniqueImage Transfer: How to Make a Clay Monoprint

1. Mask out the print area on the plaster with tape.

2. Sketch your design. Re-member, the image and text will be reversed in the transfer process. This way of drawing will become more comfort-able with practice.

3. Use AMACO® Underglazes in a squeeze applicator to cre-ate permanent outlines. Use water to erase or soften your outlines.

4. Use a damp sponge to erase or soften your pencil lines. Pencil lines will also burn out during �ring.

5. Use AMACO® Semi-Moist Underglazes like watercolors to create shades on the �gure. Remember you are working in reverse.

6. Use 2-3 coats of AMACO® Teacher‘s Palette (TP) glazes in areas where you want a gloss �nish which pops from the matte background colors.

7. Apply the background colors for the �gure.

8. Cover details.

9. Background colors are complete.

10. Apply face background.

11. Finish face background.

12. Create the backdrop behind the �gure and around head.

13. With AMACO® Semi-Moist Underglazes, streak the background into the God-head halo.

14. Moisten and let the color run to create the �owing backdrop.

15. Apply �owing under-glazes to darken and add more complexity to the background.

16. Remove the tape masks and then clean the borders where there was some run-o�.

17. Clean borders shown.

18. Apply new tape.

19. Apply white Underglaze to the entire image. This layer helps to create an illusion of dimension.

20. Once complete, remove the tape borders and allow the image to dry. When dry to the touch, proceed to the next step.

21. Create a clay dam (or mold box) for the casting slip to be poured into. Roll out a clay slab approximately 3/8" thick, then cut into 1" strips.

22. Apply slip to the edges of clay strips for creating a strong bond when attaching to the plaster bat.

GlossaryCasting Slip: A slurry of clay and additives mixed in water with de�occulating agents and used for casting in molds.

Clay Dam: Dam created from clay strips to hold back or con-tain a volume of liquid casting slip.

Clay Slab: Clay rolled out �at.

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 �ux (glass former) therefore it stays exactly where you put it and does not �ow. It is great for paint-ing and decorating.

23. Attach clay strips to the surface of the plaster slab around the image to build your dam.

24. Finished dam shown.

25. Pour casting slip over the 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.

26. Allow casting slip to harden (approx. 15 minutes). When slip is �rm to the touch, remove clay dam with fettling knife. Lift one corner of hard-ened slip to see if it is strong enough to remove.

27. Layer plastic wrap on clay print, then cardboard (or drywall or plywood). Hold layers �rmly together, care-fully �ip over. Remove plaster bat. Allow clay print to dry completely before �ring.

28. Fire to cone 05.

For more lesson plans ideas, visit amacolessonplans.com Item No. 11915Tamaco.com (800) 374-1600 Teacher Support 8am-5pm EST M-F

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