UNIT 1, 2 & 4 Ceramics Workshop

I was quite excited for the ceramics workshop as from past experiences I have thoroughly enjoyed working with clay, its quite therapeutic and you can achieve some really good outcomes. Our first task was to create a quick design page to give ourselves a clear plan to work towards and also for Deborah to understand our ideas if we needed assistance when creating our designs. My design page shows a simple design of a realistic style hand pointing, I drew it from different angles as the outcome would be three dimensional and the drawings would help me achieve the right shape and form.

 We then proceeded to knead the stoneware clay to remove any air pockets that would cause problems when in the kiln, to create my design I could have moulded the clay around my own hand or I could mould the design free hand. I decided to roll out my clay to suitable depth and then cut out the shape of a hand; from that point I folded over some of the fingers and began giving the hand a more softer shape removing the flat surfaces and sharp edges. Once I was happy with the form and shape of my hand I used various tools to make creases and lines on the surface of the clay to recreate the texture of skin. Overall, I was ecstatic with my outcome as I managed to make it exactly as I had planned it and personally I thought it was quite realistic for a first effort.