Featured Technique: Texture

Have you ever wanted to paint something that didn’t look exactly like it had been painted? Or wondered how someone got “all that” going on? It might have been using the Texture technique – this technique is so much fun, and one of my favorites.

Basically, “Texture” (or as I sometimes call it, paper texture) is when you don’t apply paint directly to the pottery, but instead paint onto paper or bubble wrap and apply the paper to the piece. It gives a totally different look, and can’t really be predicted.

It. Is. Awesome.

It’s also pretty messy and a little weird, because you have to think backwards a little bit. The first thing you put down is the “top” of the painted area. This is fun for layering fish in front of and behind seaweed, for instance, or the sky behind the sun. But you start by putting the sun down first, then the sky.

This is a technique that has been around a while, but recently I went to Pottery Camp and was reminded of how much potential it has. I think it is something that kids can do, something adults have fun with – basically, when I was deciding to feature my first technique, it was an easy choice.

So…. WHY is it so cool? Partly because you don’t know what it is going to look like, until it is finished. That’s always fun. And even if you’ve done it several times, it’s still fun when you pull the paper off and go WOW!!!

When my friend Nancy and I were painting these samples, we learned it is MUCH easier to find color paper rather than white paper to make sure you’ve pulled all the paper off. We highly recommend it!

It’s also a little bit easier to put paint down in the area. When we did the Earth plate, it was a group effort so I did a quick color wash to show where needed to be blue(ish) versus green(ish). But we also start with a quick wash of at least white – paint likes to stick to other paint.

And you can mix it up! The heart and rim are with paper, the middle area is with bubble wrap. Another fun thing with bubble wrap! Who knew!