Full Answer
What is slip in clay?
Clay slip or “liquid clay” is a liquid mixture of clay in water. You’ll sometimes hear slip referred to as clay slurry. It has a consistency like heavy cream though it can be runnier depending on what you’re using it for. Use of slip has an important role in making ceramics. What is slip used for in pottery?
What are the uses of slip in pottery?
It has many uses in the production of pottery, and other ceramic wares. In pottery the two most important uses of slip are: firstly, to form the basic shape by slipcasting with moulds; this has been extremely important for several centuries, and secondly, to protect or decorate the pottery, which is discussed below.
How do you make clay slip thinner?
And, you can mix the soda ash in with some water to make a solution. If you add a few drops of a deflocculant to your clay slip, the slip will have a thinner consistency. You can then add more powdered clay particles to the slip mixture and it will be absorbed easily.
How do you use slip to decorate ceramic?
There are many ways to use slip to decorate ceramic pieces. A more liquid slip can be brushed on, sprayed on, or pieces can be dipped in a container of slip. A thicker slip can be trailed onto the object using a condiment bottle or other trailing applicator.
What is a clay slip in ceramics?
Slip (noun) is a liquefied suspension of clay particles in water. It differs from its very close relative, slurry, in that it is generally thinner. Slip has more clay content than its other close relative, engobe. Slip is usually the consistency of heavy cream. Slip is often used in decoration.
What is clay slip used for?
A slip is a clay slurry used to produce pottery and other ceramic wares.
How do you make ceramic clay slip?
0:583:15Pottery Tutorial How To Make Clay Slip Video At Home Quick and EasyYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipOn the clay till it shatters. Then move further along until you have pieces no more than around halfMoreOn the clay till it shatters. Then move further along until you have pieces no more than around half a centimetre in size once everything's been reduced to fairly small chunks.
What is clay slip in art?
Definition of clay slip : a slurry of clay and water used in casting ware as an engobe and with certain clays (as Albany slip) as a high-fire glaze.
What is the difference between a glaze and a slip?
This may have left you wondering, what is the difference between slip and underglaze? Slip and underglaze are both made of a mixture of clay and water. However, slip contains more clay and can add texture to pottery. Underglaze contains some glass forming ingredients and behaves a more like glaze.
How do you use a ceramic slip?
3:1817:46How to use slip as texture - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd once you're done forming your piece on the wheel all you got to do is stick your hand inside theMoreAnd once you're done forming your piece on the wheel all you got to do is stick your hand inside the slip bucket. And play with it a little bit just kind of take a nice big hand of slip.
What is clay slip made of?
Slip consists of clay particles suspended in water. Its consistency will vary according to its use, ranging from thick cream to buttermilk. It can be used to bond pieces of clay together, to decorate and protect pottery or it can be poured into a mold and used to cast objects.
How thick should ceramic slip be?
Your slip should be between 1.75 and 1.80. If the answer is above 1.80, add water. If the answer is below 1.75, then add a small amount of dry slip.
What kind of clay is used for slip casting?
The process of slaking clay to make it into slip is a simple one. Step one is to have a 5-gallon bucket filled 60-75% with your bone-dry clay then add water until it's a few inches below the rim (figure 1). Let it slake for 24 hours then mix it by hand a little with a stick (figure 2).
What is slip technique?
Slip trailing is a technique where watered down clay or “slip” is squirted onto more firm clay in decorative lines or shapes. This technique can add texture to the surface of a pot. It can also add contrast to the surface of the clay when different colored slips are used. Slip can be applied in many different ways.
How many types of slips are there?
There are usually three kinds of slips: PAY-IN-SLIP. WITHDRAWAL SLIP. CHEQUES.
Why is a slip called a slip?
Because this garment used a princess cut, which shaped the bodice and skirt by vertical seaming, it was called a "princess petticoat" or "princess slip." In the early twentieth century, it came to be called a costume slip, and then merely a slip.
How do you use slip to decorate pottery?
3:277:35Decorating Pottery with Colored Slips - MITCH LYONS - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo the clay slip will now stick onto the slab be removed from the newsprint onto the slab. This is aMoreSo the clay slip will now stick onto the slab be removed from the newsprint onto the slab. This is a netting. It's a more slip on top of that. So the netting becomes a stencil.
Can you paint with slip?
One method of decorating pottery is to do slip paintings. Multiple colored slips can be applied to create pictures or designs on the damp or leather-hard clay surface. Like traditional painting, slip painting is usually done with a brush because the slip can also be trailed or dabbed on with a sponge or the fingers.
Can you put slip on dry clay?
Because the slip shrinks it will tend to flake or peel of bone dry clay. Regular slip is, therefore, best applied to soft or leather hard clay. However, you can also use a slip trailer to apply engobe. In this case, it is possible to slip trail onto bone dry clay and bisque ware too.
How do you apply slip to greenware?
1:023:04How to Apply a Swirly Slip Coating to a Freshly Thrown Pot - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd I just start to apply that on the inside of the rim. And I load the brush up with as much slipMoreAnd I just start to apply that on the inside of the rim. And I load the brush up with as much slip as I can. And then rotate it as I apply this slip. It's almost like wringing out a rag.
What is slip in clay?
Slip is usually the consistency of heavy cream. Slip is often used in decoration. It may be left the natural color of the clay body from which it is made, or it may be colored with oxides. It is applied to wet or soft leather-hard greenware . Slip may also be used for casting clay in plaster molds.
What is slip in pottery?
Slip (noun) is a liquefied suspension of clay particles in water. It differs from its very close relative, slurry, in that it is generally thinner.
How does clay pottery work?
This pottery method uses an absorbent plaster mold. The slip is poured into the mold, and the water is absorbed , leaving a layer of clay deposited from the slip. The mold is opened , and the clay object is removed.
How to make slips on greenware?
Slip can be made from scraps from your clay body. Soak them in water until they have softened into a slurry and then stir and screen it through a mesh to remove any lumps. Apply it to scored surfaces you want to join together on your greenware. Sometimes this is called slip-slurry.
How to use slip to decorate ceramics?
A more liquid slip can be brushed on, sprayed on, or pieces can be dipped in a container of slip. A thicker slip can be trailed onto the object using a condiment bottle or other trailing applicator.
What is a slip?
Slip (noun) is a liquefied suspension of clay particles in water. It differs from its very close relative, slurry, in that it is generally thinner. Slip has more clay content than its other close relative, engobe. Slip is usually the consistency of heavy cream. Slip is often used in decoration.
Can you use local clay as slip?
You may want to mine local clay to use as slip or as the clay body for your piece, adding a local touch. Slip painting matches the clay's shrinkage better than adding other thicker paint or glaze after firing. It is also applied before the bisque firing and is bisqued along with the object.
What is a slip in ceramics?
A slip may be made for various other purposes in the production and decoration of ceramics, such as slip can be used to mix the constituents of a clay body.
What is a slip in pottery?
A slip is a clay slurry used to produce pottery and other ceramic wares. Liquified clay, in which there is no fixed ratio of water and clay, is called slip or clay slurry which is used either for joining leather-hard (semi-hardened) clay body (pieces of pottery) together by slipcasting with mould, glazing or decorating the pottery by paining ...
What is the technique used to join two pieces of greenware together?
When slip is used to join two pieces of greenware together, it is generally used with a technique known as scratch and slip , whereby the contact points on both pieces are scored with multiple criss-crossing lines and slip painted on one piece over the scores.
What is slip painting?
Principal techniques include slip-painting, where the slip is treated like paint and used to create a design with brushes or other implements, and slip-trailing, where the slip, usually rather thick, is dripped onto the body. Slip-trailed wares, especially if Early Modern English, are called slipware. Chinese pottery also used techniques ...
What is cut glaze in Chinese pottery?
Chinese pottery also used techniques where patterns, images or calligraphy were created as part-dried slip was cut away to reveal a lower layer of slip or the main clay body in a contrasting colour. The latter of these is called the "cut-glaze" technique.
What is the art of using colored slips in pottery?
Selectively applying layers of colored slips can create the effect of a painted ceramic, such as in the black-figure or red-figure pottery styles of Ancient Greek pottery. Slip decoration is an ancient technique in Chinese pottery also, used to cover whole vessels over 4,000 years ago. Principal techniques include slip-painting, where the slip is treated like paint and used to create a design with brushes or other implements, and slip-trailing, where the slip, usually rather thick, is dripped onto the body. Slip-trailed wares, especially if Early Modern English, are called slipware.
Is Engobe a slip?
Some American sources say it is synonymous with slip, and use it in preference to "slip", while others draw distinctions, mainly in terms of engobe using materials other than clay. On one definition engobe, as compared to slip, has somewhat lower clay content, higher proportion of flux, and added filler, and in some cases a colorant.
What is a slip for joining clay called?
Slip for joining clay is sometimes called ‘joining slip’ . It can be bought or made. However, it is a good idea for the slip to be have the same clay body as the pot itself. Therefore, it is often recommended that the potter makes the slip themselves.
What is the purpose of a slip in pottery?
Another purpose of pottery slip is that it can afford the piece some degree of protection. Some slips will have a slightly hardening effect and will reduce the permeability of the pottery a little, not unlike a glaze.
What is Slip Casting?
Another use of slip is called slip casting. In slip casting, a relatively thin slip (perhaps the consistency butter milk) is poured into a plaster mold. The plaster mold then absorbs the liquid from the slip. The clay in the slip then shrinks away from the side of the cast and can be removed still retaining the shape of the cast.
How is engobe different from slip?
Engobe is different from slip in that it has a lower clay content than slip. It also contains more silica and flux than regular slip. This means it shrinks less than slip when it dries. Some people claim that engobe is half way between being a slip and a glaze.
Why is slurry used in pottery?
Generally, slurry that is used for joining pieces of pottery consists only of particles of the clay being used in the pot itself suspended in water. This is important because different kinds of clay shrink and vitrify at different rates. If you join pieces of clay together with a slurry that has a different shrink or drying rate to the pot itself, the join may not be very strong.
What is colored slip?
Colored slips are made from regular clay slip which consists of clay particles in water, mixed up with metal oxides. For example, adding cobalt carbonate to regular slip creates a blue finish on the pottery. This can then be given a transparent glaze.
What is slip used for?
Broadly speaking, slip is used for either decorating pottery, protecting it, using it effectively as a glue to paste pieces of pottery together, or using it to cast in a plaster mold. This article looks at each of these uses in turn.
What is clay slip?
At its simplest, clay slip is clay mixed with water to thin the clay down into a liquid state. Slip is used to join pieces of clay together. For example, to attach handles to mugs, or to bond slabs or coils of clay together when hand building. Clay is often said to have a memory.
Why do you need to make a slip with a higher percentage of clay?
So, you need to make your slip with a higher percentage of clay content to stop it from shrinking too much. In this section, I will look at how to make slip for clay painting and slip trailing.
Why does clay slip smell?
In fact, I find that clay slip gets smelly and moldy more quickly than a bag of slip. I think this is because of the levels of moisture present in slip. Clay contains organic matter and combined with moisture, can create mold and odor.
What happens when you mix a slip of clay?
Once the slip has been scored and mixed onto both surfaces, the pieces of clay can be pressed together. The slip enables the clay particles from each surface to mingle and bond together.
How to make colored slip?
The simplest way to make colored slip is to add some ceramic stain into the mix. A popular brand of ceramic stains is Mason Stains, though there are other brands of stain available. Mason stains come in powdered form. The more stain you add to the slip, the deeper the color will be once it’s fired.
How to join slip?
Joining slip is applied using the slip and score method. This involves daubing a bit of slip on your clay surface to soften it up a little. A pottery tool is then used to score into the softened surface.
What to put in water to make slips?
Some potters add a little white vinegar to the water they are making the slip with. Adding vinegar to the mixture will do a couple of things.
