If you’re interested in working with ceramics in a personal way as opposed to using ceramics for large commercial projects, there are a few things that you should know before you get started. Otherwise, you could wind up having a harder time being creative and creating the finished product that you want.
To help you in figuring all of this out, here are three tips for trying ceramics for the first time.
Know What Technique You Want To Start With
For personal ceramics projects, there are generally three main types or techniques that you can employ to create with. These are using a pottery wheel, slip casting, and building pottery by hand. And depending on what you’re making or how you want everything to look in the end, the technique that you’ll use will vary.
As a good rule of thumb, if you’re wanting to make something in a round shape, using a pottery wheel will usually help you get the best result here. For more angular shapes, you may want to try shaping your pottery by hand. And if you want to make your pottery using a mold, then slip casting will be your best bet.
There are pros and cons to using each technique of creating ceramics. So before you get started on a project, consider how you want to do it and what you want it to look like in the end. And as you do more and more ceramics projects, you can try all the different kinds of techniques.
Begin With Simple Projects
While you might have dreams of making something very large, intricate, and beautiful with your ceramics, when you’re starting out, it’s best to begin with simple projects.
Although the simple projects may not be very exciting to you, they will allow you to get more comfortable working with clay and ceramics so that you can grow your skills. And the more skillful you become, the easier of a time you’ll have when creating all kinds of bigger and better pieces in the future.
Choose The Right Location To Work In
Where you work on your ceramics projects is an important thing to get right. Because clay dust can become very fine particles that aren’t easy to clean up completely, you won’t want to do your ceramics projects in rooms with little ventilation or in places where you’re trying to keep everything else clean.
Knowing this, you should try to find a room or space that’s well ventilated, that has a floor that can get messy, and that has enough space for you to work on your projects safely and easily.
If you’re interested in trying ceramics for the first time, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you get started on the right foot.