The long-awaited (NOT!) Mishima post

Mishima is a surface decorating technique for ceramics - kind of a reverse sgrafitto. You can see my post on sgrafitto here. For this technique, the design is incised (scratched) first, while the clay is leather-hard and before a thin underglaze is applied. The underglaze runs into the carved designs. After a little drying, you scrape off the excess clay using a metal rib or a razor blade. 

Darted vase at the leather-hard stage

I incised this one with a freehand version of Helen Williams' tangle, "Curly Bracket Feather." The stepout can be found here. Tangling on a curved object is a whole lot tougher than on a tile or in a journal, let me tell you!

Same vase, incised and painted with three coats of black underglaze

Closeup of the incised and painted design

After the underglaze has dried, the a metal rib is used to scrape away the excess. The underglaze that flowed into the design remains.

Partially scraped vase, with metal rib. Vase is stuffed with plastic so the inside doesn't dry faster than the outside.

Closeup

Here's the vase after scraping and firing (bisqueing) the first time.

Carved vase after bisqueing

I then painted the vase all over with thin coats of blue and yellow underglaze, and bisqued a second time. Then several coats of clear glaze was applied, and the vase put through the final firing.

The finished vase

Here are some more finished Mishima Tiles.

 

This last example is a Mishima tray (the distortion is from the photographic angle). The pattern was carved freehand, and is a variation of "Tumbleweed" by Helen Williams.

Tumbleweed Tray:  Little Loafers clay, black underglaze and clear glaze

I thought the Mishima technique  would be good for fine-lined Zentangle Art. I may end up doing that, or maybe if my sgrafitto technique improves, I will stick with that.

Aren't you glad you waited?