How to Select Materials for Ceramic Projects

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Select a good assortment of brushes for different projects.
Step 2

Start with a 3/0 detail; No. 2, No. 6 and No. 8 flat; No. 3 pointed round; and a No. 5 round.
Step 3

Try a variety of synthetic and natural bristles, because this is really a matter of personal preference.
Step 4

Select acrylic paints for painting ceramics. They are the easiest to use because they offer good coverage, dry quickly and clean up with soap and water.
Step 5

Purchase 2-oz. bottles, the standard size. Although some colors are available in 8-oz. bottles, those big bottles are cumbersome.
Step 6

Choose the truest shades you can find: Ceramcoat's Opaque Red is more red than Cinnamon, for instance. You'll find that each company makes several shades of each color.
Step 7

Begin with black, red, blue, yellow, green, silver, gold, fleshtone and white. With these, you can mix just about any shade you'll need.

Step 1

Obtain the absolute necessities: a cleaning tool, a stylus and a spoolie.
Step 2

Select a double-ended cleaning tool for scraping seams from greenware. It has a triangular blade at one end and a curved scoop-blade at the other.
Step 3

Use a stylus for putting details back into a piece of greenware that has been cleaned. It's pointed with a small ball on the very tip to prevent flaking. These come in single or double-ended styles.
Step 4

Get a very small stylus for fine detail and a larger one for larger detail.
Step 5

Purchase a spoolie, also a double-ended tool, for cleaning small, delicate areas on greenware, such as holes or tight corners.
Step 6

Use a mascara wand, which will do in a pinch but won't last very long, in lieu of a spoolie.

Step 1

Choose a water basin for rinsing your brushes. This can be anything from a fancy special-made brush rinsing station with ridges at the bottom to a recycled plastic butter tub.
Step 2

Keep a roll of paper towels handy in your craft kit. Drips have a way of happening when you're least prepared, and acrylic paints dry very quickly.
Step 3

Use a newspaper under your project when you clean or paint. It helps with drips and gives you a handy place to wipe extra paint from your brushes.
Step 4

Get a natural or synthetic sponge, a must for smoothing rough edges. Many people prefer the small, round type for easy handling.
Step 5

Purchase a clear glaze, which will be handy in many situations, especially if the objects you make will be used for holding water.
Step 6

Designate one paintbrush for applying glaze that is never used with acrylic paints.
Step 7

Select finishing sprays to go over the entire piece when it's done to protect the paint and give it a smooth finish.

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