Ceramics for Beginners: Animals & Figures

by Susan Halls

Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Lark Books (2011)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1-60059-706-0
Dimensions: 8.5" x 11" x 0.6"
Shipping Weight: 1.82 lbs.

Ceramic Figurative Work Made Simple

This easy-to-follow beginner's workshop makes creating the human form and self-supporting, standing animals in clay simple. Susan Halls eliminates the intimidation factor many novices have by introducing the techniques in a step-by-step manner and then breaking down 12 projects into basic shapes. Once you've finished these projects, you may want to try crafting your own ceramic representations of family, friends, pets, and even non-figurative forms that appeal to you.

Like the other books in the "Ceramics for Beginners series", Animals & Figures presents information, techniques, and projects in a specific sequence that's designed to build skills by adding new ones gradually.

Learn how to create a lovely pot with a deep bowl shape, for instance, and then using the pinching technique you just mastered, construct a plump pig, primarily from two pots joined together.

All the basics you need to know before starting are covered, like setting up a studio with the necessary tools and equipment; choosing, preparing, drying, and firing clay; and enhancing your work with texture and color glazes. From there it's on to the projects, such as a coiled bird, a slab portraiture, and a tube horse.