Sgraffito Tiles
sgraffito, (Italian: “scratched”), a technique used in pottery, which consists of putting down a preliminary surface, covering it with another, and then scratching the superficial layer away.
I became interested in making tiles after watching contestants on The Great Pottery Throwdown. What I took away from terracotta week was incredibly helpful and inspiring, so I had to give it a try, plus I hope to own a home someday that I could customize with handmade tiles, so let’s call this a practice run :)
The Tools
The Steps
1
Roll out 3/4 inch (or 19mm) slabs of clay using a slab roller or hand roller
2
Transfer slabs to drywall boards for appx. 24hrs, cover with plastic until leatherhard
3
Use a square block (slightly larger than your final desired tile dimensions) as a guide to cut tiles (I used a utility knife) from the leatherhard slabs
4
Use a wide brush to paint on underglaze, drying each layer completely between coats (2-3 coats for an opaque finish)
5
Clean and trim tiles for sgraffito work
6
Use a banding wheel and carving tools to sculpt each tile
7
Place finished tiles on a drying rack until bone dry, no need to cover
8
Bisque fire
9
Glaze fire, with or without glaze applied
10
Install with grout and enjoy :)
A few Notes About Making Slabs
Start with clay straight from the bag, using a wire cutter to slice off blocks about 1.5 inches (or 38mm) thick
Use a slab roller or hand roller to roll out clay to your desired thickness
Use a pointy pin tool and a rubber kidney to pop air bubbles and smooth the surface of each slab before drying
When transferring slabs to drywall boards for drying, do so in a fluid motion so as not to indent, pull or alter the level slabs
Slabs for this project
There’s a slab roller at my studio so I opted to use that for making my tiles, but you could *easily* achieve the same quality slab using a rolling pin and two evenly sized sticks, as shown here by Pottery to the People. A canvas or fabric surface is best to avoid the clay sticking.
carving out a tile design: Process GIF :)
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