Testing Different Clays: More test tiles

And again more testing done in pursuit of finding the ideal clay for my figures and how to decorate and glaze.

These decorations were done on plain bisque fired tiles of Valentine Clay's PF520 Ashram Hanna.

Here are the original drawings from my sketch book I've based them on.

I have noticed that the square test tiles l am using lend them selves to the islamic patterns much better than any 3-d shapes. I've selected relatively uncomplicated patterns for these and I only needed a bit of freehand outlining of the shapes in pencil before filling them in with design liner. They don't look too bad.

Here are my two test tiles on Valentine's PF680 Black Smooth and the original sketches:

I noticed that the design liner pools a bit on the black clay so that the edges are look a bit messy. However, if I want to spend the time I can use the tip of a sharp blade the scratch and remove some excess paint to leave a smoother outline finish.

I like decorating on the black clay as the gaps I leave between the colours act like a black outline. That suits the graphic quality of these decorations.