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Learning Porcelain

Jan 13, 2014

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    1. A question for those who work, or have worked in, porcelain.

      How did you go about learning to create and fire your work?

      I've found a somewhat local place that offers doll-making classes but it's a Seeley's course and one must use their molds and supplies exclusively. I suppose it would be a decent enough learning experience but I'm not sure the travel time and expense would balance out. Much closer to home there are plenty of ceramics studios but none specifically offer classes working with porcelain. I'm unsure what, if any, skills from such classes would be useful for doll-making.

      There is an option to go it alone, learning from books and online. The aforementioned studios usually provide firing services for a fee so getting things fired isn't a huge issue...just the cost of trial and error pieces.

      Anyway, just wondering how others have gone about learning. Thanks for any input!
       
      #1 Merry Calliope, Jan 13, 2014
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    2. There are plenty of online resources and books that can tell you how to work with porcelain-- that's how I learned and I managed to successfully fire some doll parts before I lost access to the kiln I was using. On the face of it porcelain is a very simple medium! There are a lot of nuances of course, but those you can learn from experience and dedication. If you like I can go through and find all the links I've collected that have helped me.

      HOWEVER if you can get a class on plaster moldmaking, or even just a class on working with plaster, that will save you a lot of botched molds. I don't know your art background of course-- but if you don't know plaster, I'd say it's more important for you to learn how to work with it than with porcelain. The casting part is relatively easy to pick up on your own. If you make a plaster mold wrong, however, you could ruin your prototype or just end up with a lot of frustration and wasted plaster.
       
      #2 saibrrmen, Jan 13, 2014
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    3. Thanks for your advice! If you have links handy that would be great...but only if it's not too much trouble!

      I know plaster moldmaking only in theory. I have the Prop Builder's Molding and Casting Handbook, have watched some tutorials online, and have had opportunity to study molds for more "traditional" dolls. That's about it. I've never seen a class offered in any of the places around here so I'm probably going to have to settle for trial and error. Fortunately, the older I get the more patience I have it seems. :D

      I've seen your work on Tumblr, btw. Absolutely fantastic stuff. That hip joint design on the most recent female you posted is so lovely!
       
      #3 Merry Calliope, Jan 13, 2014
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    4. OK, here's what I have:

      1) How to mix plaster for ceramic molds. Getting this step right before you even touch your prototype is essential!

      2) This is a sort-of tutorial I made on plaster moldmaking. I would have liked to be more in-depth but tumblr isn't really the best platform for texty tutorials... I'll fix that once my website is functional. In the mean time I'd be happy to elaborate on any step for you.

      3) Molding a doll head in plaster!

      4) Slipcasting! This is my favorite part. Watching your doll take solid form from brown goop is a proud moment for any dollmaker. :D

      5) More on slip-casting, specifically for dolls.

      6) Wet Cleaning Porcelain Greenware.

      7) And wet-cleaning greenware with pictures.

      8) Wet-cleaning soft-fired porcelain (bisque).

      Hope this helps! This really takes me back. Once I managed to ram my thumb THROUGH a piece of greenware I'd been working on for hours and the whole thing exploded hahaha.

      Thanks so much! I'm glad I gave hip joints a shot. I always thought they looked too much like underwear.
       
      #4 saibrrmen, Jan 14, 2014
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