Making An Underglaze Watercolor Pan Set

A Study In Watercolor

As with every product, invention, craft, design or recipe – someone will always find an “off label” use that may push beyond the creator’s recommended intention. And / or that same person may alter the product, design or recipe to better meet their needs and expectations. This is no different in the world of glazing and coloring ceramics. Perhaps even more so. 

In general, I am new to ceramics so I can’t even begin to list the various ways pottery has been taken to the limits however, one aspect of ceramics I do like is color. I have yet to take my craft to the limits but I am finding new ways to enhance my pieces.

I love traditional watercolor and wanted to experiment with making a wateroclor pan set to use in ceramics. It doesn’t appear that using these methods of decorating is very popular or mainstream. These products are definitely for sale by pottery supplies but again, they don’t seem very popular. Having said that, I didn’t have a lot to refer to so I set out to make my own.

Watercolor pans and underglaze crayons, to me, are ways of coloring ceramics that would be great for kids, newcomers to the craft, easily transported and relatively easy to make.

I would say in general, the process well relatively easy and the final product turned out great! I need a bit more color in a few of the pans but other than that, they worked!

• Keeping it low tech with putting the final pans into a old pill dispenser. If there is something we ceramicists are good at is recycling! How many times have you needed a pen, a mould or a tool and raided the kitchen :)!
• Rutile. One of my favorite results from the experiment. This will come in handy but it needs texture.
• In the glaze kitchen. As you may have seen on other pages, my favorite part of ceramics is making glazes and creating in the glaze kitchen. I am so fortunate to have access to our local studio with every ingredient you can imagine.
• Deep Orchid Mason Stain. Showing you what it looked like while it was drying on a small plaster bat.
• The Result! How cool is this? OK my hand-drawn black outlines need work but I love the whimsy watercolor bird. My colors turned out pretty vibrant under a nice clear zinc free glaze. Faux Celedon is the mug liner.

If you’re interested in how I made these follow these instructions. This is a credit to JEANNE OTIS who originally created this when she worked as a Professor of Art for 30 years at Arizona State University, Tempe.

Recipe

Ceramic Pencil / Watercolor / Crayon Recipe
White firing ball clay 50%
Potash feldspar 25%
Silica 25%
To equal 100%
Add: Macaloid (or 5% bentonite) 3%
Colorant (maximum) 15%

Instructions – Start with 100 grams to test
Begin weighing out each ingredient on a small scale.
I used my 200 grams scale. I turned on the scale, put on the small plastic container,
tared it back to zero and weighed my first ingredient. 50 grams of ball clay.
Step 2 – Add your second ingredient
You can either tare the scale back to zero or continue on and measure the second
ingredient. Add 25 grams of potash feldspar. At the college, I used G200.
Step 3 – Add your third ingredient
Now you will have a total of 75 grams. Add 25 grams of silica.
NOTE: if you have zeroed out the scale, you will only be seeing a total of 25 grams
at this point.
Step 4 – Add Suspension Agent
Add 5% of bentonite to aid in the suspension of materials.
Step 5 – Add colorant
Here you would add your colorant of stains, oxides or carbonates up to a maximum of
15%. The higher the value, the more intense the color.
NOTE: you may want to do some research here to see what colorants will burn
out at higher temperatures. A recent test of using Mason Stains Blackberry Wine
burnt out completely thereby rendering a dull grey as the final result.
Step 6 – Sieve The Dry Ingredients
Once all the materials have been measured, dry sieve them thru an 80 mesh screen.
This includes the colorants.
Step 7 – Mix With Water
Mix the dry materials with approximately 45 percent water, to which 1 percent of
sodium silicate per 100 grams of dry material has been added. This will slightly
deflocculate the slip, giving additional green strength while also intensifying some of
the colorants. These directions are for making pencils. You will see my notes on this
later.
Step 8A – If Making Crayons
Mix the final amount of DRY ingredients with wax resist. When they have dried a
bit, roll into forms to let fully dry or cure.
NOTE: I have never found an explanation as to the quantity of wax resist. I
personally used my eye and made a paste.
Step 8B – If Making Watercolor Pans
Let the paste sit on a plaster bat to dry or thicken up a bit then press into watercolor
pans.
NOTE: The instructions for mixing the dry materials with approximately 45 percent
water, to which 1 percent of sodium silicate per 100 grams of dry material has been
added.
NO solution if sodium silicate was used in these two products.