Image Transfer on Clay

This book might just help change your mind about printing on clay and expand the boundaries of what you thought was possible. If you’re like most potters, you’ve probably wanted to put imagery on your pottery at some time, but the only way you knew how was to paint it on.

While you may already be aware that you can make decals for transferring photos onto clay, you might be leery of the technique and assume that it’s too complicated and requires lots of specialized equipment. This book shows you that it’s really not very complicated at all.

Contained in these pages are easy-to-follow instructions with photos describing some of the ways of transferring images onto clay, including making a silk screen and transferring an image onto it to make ceramic or non-fired decals; “burning” an image onto the screen using light-sensitive emulsion; using drawing fluid and stencil film; making overglaze decals (one-color and multi-color) that can then be fired onto any glazed form; mono-printing; direct printing techniques, including making and using stencils on wet, leather-hard or bisque-fired clay, using carved wood, linoleum, or clay blocks to print and impress at the same time, and making and using clay stamps to create impressed designs that can be filled in with slip or glaze.

Showcasing over 100 innovative works in full color, this volume demonstrates beautifully the exciting potential of each method.

Author — Paul Andrew Wandless.

Hardcover. 112 color pages, 8½" × 11" (22 cm × 28 cm).