Today In My Studio 05

Hello friends!

Today is a follow-up to my last studio post and since I'm absolutely digging the carving, sketching and testing phase of my Gingko Leaf project, it will be my subject.

If you recall last time, I had made a glaze-painting test:

And here it is fired:

I also had the beginnings of a carving which is an altogether new thing for me. Rob is AMAZING with carving so I usually hand this task over to him but this time I wanted to give it a whirl and much to my surprise, I really liked it.

I used it as a glaze test:

I'm trying to figure out how to approach this small mural so I'm testing a lot of glazes to see what they do. Ideally I'll find a glaze that "breaks" (where it's thinner over a hill) and "pools" (where it collects in the valleys of the carving) to define the leaves perfectly. All of this practice carving and glaze painting also helps me come up with an accurate price for each method. The photo at the top of the post is one I particularly liked, and here is another that has its merits as well:

Sketching Gingko branches to get the hang of the gesture of the branches and how these leaves grow. Later this week I'll draw out the actual design life-size. Stay tuned for that in a post coming soon!

As always, thank you for reading, commenting, and following, I read and answer all of them. Be well and Steem on strong and with heart!