| You're Fired A Paint Your Own Pottery and Mosaics Studio Bedford - Salem - Concord |
| Banding |
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SUPPLIES:
Banding Wheel
Large Fan Brush
Banding Wheel
Large Fan Brush
PAINT COLORS
Dark Color
Light Color
Dark Color
Light Color
Banding color can be fun and frustrating. With practice it can yield very professional looking artwork.
Practice, practice, practice…
It’s important to have the right tools for the job, a banding wheel and good brushes are essential. A
banding wheel is very different than decorating wheel. You will find it impossible to do this technique on a
decorating wheel. A
banding wheel has height for your hand to fit to make your project rotate smoothly. It’s all about the
motion of the wheel and the steadiness of your hand.
1. Wipe off bisque with a wet sponge to remove dust. This also makes your pottery more receptive to
paint.
2. Center your project on the banding wheel. This can be tricky but it’s an important step.
3. Leave plate in this centered position for the whole banding process.
4. Place your hand under banding wheel, walk your index and middle fingers on stem counter clockwise if
you are right handed. Clockwise if you are left handed. This may take practice but the idea is to create a
smooth, consistent motion. If the wheel speeds up or slows down, this will create a bobble application of
paint.
5. Choose two contrasting colors. One light and one dark. Dilute the lighter color with water = 50/50
Bisque is very porous and the brush has a long way to travel. The water allows the brush to flow around
the rim. It’s better to have the thin color and build it up with multiple layers
of banding. It’s very difficult, if not impossible to band if the color is too thick.
6. Using a soft fan brush, load with color.
7. The wheel must be moving before you start painting and it must be moving when you stop painting.
8. Light color on rim:
9. Dark color in center of plate:
Practice, practice, practice…
It’s important to have the right tools for the job, a banding wheel and good brushes are essential. A
banding wheel is very different than decorating wheel. You will find it impossible to do this technique on a
decorating wheel. A
banding wheel has height for your hand to fit to make your project rotate smoothly. It’s all about the
motion of the wheel and the steadiness of your hand.
1. Wipe off bisque with a wet sponge to remove dust. This also makes your pottery more receptive to
paint.
2. Center your project on the banding wheel. This can be tricky but it’s an important step.
- a. Place plate the look under it at the edge of wheel. Slowly turn the wheel to see if distance is
equal on all sides. If not, find the widest gap and slide plate half the distance. Repeat this again,
further halving the widest distance.
3. Leave plate in this centered position for the whole banding process.
4. Place your hand under banding wheel, walk your index and middle fingers on stem counter clockwise if
you are right handed. Clockwise if you are left handed. This may take practice but the idea is to create a
smooth, consistent motion. If the wheel speeds up or slows down, this will create a bobble application of
paint.
5. Choose two contrasting colors. One light and one dark. Dilute the lighter color with water = 50/50
Bisque is very porous and the brush has a long way to travel. The water allows the brush to flow around
the rim. It’s better to have the thin color and build it up with multiple layers
of banding. It’s very difficult, if not impossible to band if the color is too thick.
6. Using a soft fan brush, load with color.
7. The wheel must be moving before you start painting and it must be moving when you stop painting.
8. Light color on rim:
- a. Your arm that holds the brush must be fixed in position a little above the plate. With the wheel in
motion, lower your hand down onto the plate like a record player arm. - b. Do not move your arm
- c. Do not move the brush towards you.
- d. Do not move your eyes from your brush.
- e. When nothing more seems to be happening, lift your arm away.
- f. Apply 2 or 3 coats. Let dry in between coats.
9. Dark color in center of plate:
- a. Using same fan brush, same paint/ water mixture.
- b. Begin moving wheel and place your arm along inside of rim where light color stopped. Move your
hand towards center of plate. - c. The dark color will gradually become lighter towards center as color runs out. Apply 2-3 coats.
(By Kelly Blucher)
