Ceramic Modeling and Illustration with Watercolor

Claudia, better known as CAYA Gutiérrez, starts off by telling you a little bit about herself and her artistic background, her influences when it comes to creating, and what the final project entails: a ceramic set comprising a plate and mug or a plate and bowl featuring illustrated characters.

Meet your new best friend: clay! See how to work with it and learn what a bisque-fired piece is before getting to know the materials you need for the modeling process. CAYA introduces you to watercolor and the different ceramic pigments there are, as well as ceramic glaze and the importance of using it to make functional pieces.

Discover how to get inspiration for choosing your characters, the sentence that is going to accompany them, and the composition of the pieces for your final project, then move on to creating the sketch.

Time to get to work! Learn how to model the clay by hand, making sure to avoid any potential bubbles that could cause problems in the oven, and create your set using slabbing and pinching techniques.

Find out how to control watercolor washes by calibrating your strokes and create your own color palette. See how to transfer the illustration onto your pieces and how to illustrate text and images, adding color and all the extra details.

Learn how to protect your pieces in preparation for their first and second firing. CAYA wraps things up by talking about ceramic glaze and gives you some recommendations for looking after your pieces and prolonging the life of your creations.