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Your illustration style is gorgeous. I would focus on improving your knowledge of clays and glazes and ceramics techniques, so that your pieces are the best they can be - including sanding your bottoms, figuring out clay/glaze fit, etc. That extra attention to detail will allow your artwork to really shine.
That’s for sure what I need to do. My glaze knowledge is still pretty bad because my studio limits how much we can fire but some of my plates have come out super thin on the glaze
Very hard to control unless you dip. I measure the specific gravity of my glazes. Make 10kg at a time and use an oil pan collector to dip plates. You dip for a certain number of seconds and then pull. Very consistent results ive never had good results with a brush. Always too thick or thin. If you are serious buy 10 kg if a comercial clear glaze in powder form meant for dipping and use it in your studio.
Any tips on determining how many seconds to dip? I noticed the studio I took a class at had some 1 second dip, some 4 seconds. Not sure why.
It depends on the glaze viscosity /specific gravity. You have to run test dips. But generally about 3 seconds is good. But you have to test it. Do one in and out. One 3 second and one 5 second on a test cup or a quartered test plate. Take notes. I don't usually find a big difference between 1 and 3 seconds when dipping. Dipping is pretty forgiving. The problem with brushing is unless you are very methodical you have no idea how many coats this exact spot has gotten. Vs in dipping pretty much the whole ware has exactly the same amount everywhere. A little more or less from dip to dip doesn't matter as much.
Difference between glazes is just bc some are really thick. You can thin them out with a little more water. Glazes are usually from 1.45 to 1.6 sg. 1.6 is THICK. You better be quick about the dip. I prefer them at 1.45 sg.
Thank you for the details! I watched a video the other day also talking about a few different visual cues to look for to get the texture right. I have my beaker ready for testing specific gravity as well, kiln shows up today!
Sweet! You'll just get a feel for it after the first few times. You'll be like this went on way too thick I should thin this out. Then make note of the sg and write it on the bucket and if it's been a few months since you've used it check and adjust. In general I shoot for 1.45. Submerge it. Wait a second pull it out. Shake it off. Get some tongs.
If you are going to wipe your bisqued ware pre dip which I personally like to rinse them off, wait many hours or a full day before dipping. The bisque ware must be completely dry or it can super fuck you dip over. Ruined 20 cups this way once. I'll generally wipe dust and wax a full day before glaze day. Then cover in plastic or put in a cupboard to protect from dust so that on dip day everything is dried and no water in the bisques to mess with glaze adhesion.
Perfect, I will do all of that! Of course they need an extra day to dry. 😅 Pottery is not a hobby for the impatient.
You’ll get there and it will give your lovely artwork the elevation it deserves. 👍
I mean you only have 1 picture for each item on your Etsy. People want to see the whole piece and not just the illustrations.
You’re also going to lose a ton of money with free shipping between costs to package it up safely and ship them.
Try local markets and see what actually real people who can touch and feel your stuff say about it. People will be honest!
Your drawings look good, you gotta show us the rims and the bottoms though if you want an honest answer :p Otherwise heck yeah sell those plates!
I completely forgot to add those but it’s just white glaze rims and trimmed foot at the bottom!
It’s hard to tell the depth of the dish without an angled photo or the piece.
I got a foot fetish too, I wanna see that trimmed bottom
I don't want to be that guy, but including a link to your store makes this promotion and a blatant violation of the sub rules.
I really don’t mean it like that I have no idea how to properly list on Etsy or what bios to do or tags so I just wanted criticism on that too
Go to the Etsy sub as well and look around. You only have one picture, nothing substantial in the description, not much about you, and only do one size of plates. I’m not saying that to be mean, just to give you some things to think about! I actually love your art style, it’s very folky.
Not yet. You need to spend more time learning ceramics, including understanding your clay body and the glazes and underglazes you're using.
Your illustration work is lovely, but reading some of your replies to others feedback makes me concerned about the safety of your work as functional ware.
5 months is such a short amount of time. Please don't pressure yourself to get into selling. You can create for the joy of creating.
It's also good practice to familiarize yourself with subreddit rules before posting.
Edit: I like the illustrations, but further down in this thread someone pointed out how similar they are to a most established potter, including illustrations, plate design, and photograph composition.
Seconding this. Most people who sell their work have been working in ceramics for years, have really honed their craft and have a decent knowledge of the science behind glazes/clay bodies.
Certain glazes are toxic to eat off, a number of clay and glaze issues cause food safety concerns.
The work youve done is very nice so far for a beginner, but you are still just a beginner. Give/gift your current work to friends and family in the meantime — make sure you tell them they’re not food safe and for decoration only.
Keep at it though! Keep learning and growing as a ceramic artist. Then when your knowledge base and quality of work is ready, sell it.
If you’re selling dinnerware it’s important to test your work first to ensure it’s safe and will last for your customers. A lot of potters don’t but they should. There is a podcast called For Flux Sake that I’ve heard has a lot of good info. You can look up thermal shock, acid & water absorption tests. You want to make sure they won’t break with temp changes or hold water and risk growing bacteria.
They look very crazed so I’d work on fixing that before selling. (I’m assuming it’s not intentional)
This! Totally agree. Unless they are meant to be exclusively decorative I would not sell them.
What does crazed mean? Is it cracked? There’s air bubbles in some which I’m really trying to fix in the plates
Those plates have air bubbles in them too? Please inform the people you are selling them to of that detail. If you have crazing plus air bubbles, perhaps you need to work on perfectly your making and your glaze fit before you offer them for sale. Your illustrations are gorgeous. You can make tons more money selling prints of those illustrations than by selling plates.
I will!!! I’m so confused bc only half of them have air bubbles in them and they all came from the same kiln batch but the others don’t even tho it’s the same glazes unless it’s a problem with the top coat. Glazing is sooo complicated I swear. Thank you so much! I’d try but I love pottery so much though and the acting of painting on it so fun bc I’m a painter so it’s just in my DNA
Glazing IS complicated. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Any asshole can throw a plate. Getting a clean final product out of a high fire glaze run is totally different matter. Look up crazing. It’s usually bc the glaze and clay body arnt a good match. Bubbles/pin holing can happen for a lot of reason. The clay releases gasses during the fire and if the gases can’t break the surface tension of the glaze during the fire they can’t escape. Crazing is when the clay and glaze have a somewhat poor bond and are possibly cooling/shrinking in the cool phase at different rates causing a cracked look.
These issues require trouble shooting with experimental firing. If you had your own kiln you basically do a lot of test firings. Like experimenting with holds, controlled cools, different cones.
What cone are they firing to. I’ve found some clays /glazes just have more issues at cone 6 then 5 regarding pin holing. Or visa versa
Controll the thickness of your clear glaze application is your first priority. A little too thick can cause tons of issues. Really suggest you move to dipping so you can totally control this. The next thing you’ll have to do is try different clays with your glaze. Likely some won’t do the crazing. If you own your own kiln there is lots you could try there but you don’t so mostly the kind and thickness of your glaze and they type of clay body are things you can easily play with. Make small test plates using different clays. Don’t undergalze them and just work on getting perfect glaze results.
Are the air bubbles in the glaze or inside the body of the plate itself?
It’s in the glaze. It definitely wasn’t there when it was fired
Whew! I thought the air bubbles you were referring to were actually inside the plates. Sounds like your glaze issues are caused by a combination of glaze fit and/or firing. Sometimes, especially with some commercially prepared glazes, lowering the firing temperature by one cone and by slowing the speed at which the kiln cools, you can solve issues like blistering. Do your “air bubbles” look popped?
Without actually examining your plate, I can’t definitively tell you how to solve it. Before investing any more time putting your glorious illustrations on plates, may I suggest you make some test tiles and test various clear glazes to see which ones work best on your clay body. If you have a studio tech, bring these issues to their attention first and see what they suggest. They might suggest a change of clay bodies or glazes which will resolve those issues. In my home studio, I can easily program my kiln to lower the firing temperature or to do a controlled cool. This might not be possible in a large communal firing. Best of luck! I am totally in love with your illustrations.
Thank you for being so helpful and its commercially prepared glaze which is so weird bc it never did that in my previous two batches. But they do looked popped! I wish I had a home studio but I’ll definitely ask my studio manager and get a new clear glaze! Thank you so much honestly you’re so nice and incredibly helpful!
Or see if they can fire to cone 5 instead of 6. That might negate the need to buy another glaze.
If you have access to powdered kaolin and powdered silica you can potentially fix the crazing by adding these to your glaze incrementally in a ratio of 1:1.25. You may also need to add a bit more water when you do this as the glaze thickens. Obviously you should only do this to your own personal glaze, and not to shared studio glaze.
If they looked popped, it's likely blistering. The edges can be sharp and could impact food safety.
Crazing is when the glaze develops cracks and is a result of a misfit between the shrinkage rate between the clay and the glaze (in crazing, the glaze shrinks more than the clay upon cooling, resulting in cracking; the opposite scenario, shivering, occurs when the clay shrinks more than the glaze and results in pieces of glaze flaking off). There’s debate as to whether crazing is a food safety issue, but almost all potters I’ve talked to irl don’t see it as a food safety issue, as it’s supposedly actually not too difficult to wash out bacteria from the cracks. (As a side note, shivering is considered unequivocally to be a food safety issue). As long as your clay is fully vitrified, many potters will say that crazing is fine (to check vitrification, check the percent absorption of your clay body at the temp you fire it to; generally, %absorption of <1% is considered impermeable)
Thank you so much for the explanation I’ve never heard of that. I’ll definitely look into it. It might be a problem with my top clear cost that I’m using at the studio I thinkkkk it’s cracking in multiple places where the other glazes arent
I like your illustrations and choice of colors. I do think you could sell your pottery, but I would focus on building your brand in your local community by selling at a farmers market or art market. If you have a co-op art gallery, inquire there. See if some mom-and-pop coffee shops would be interested in showing your work. I think these would make lovely wall decorations. Like the way some people decorate their walls with plates.
I didn’t think of the mom and pop coffee shop that’s a good idea! Thank you! I’m definitely gonna try the farmers market and art market because there’s a ton around me I just don’t have like any branding and I’m worried that’s gonna deter me getting accepted but I’ll definitely try! Thank you!
Make sure you have enough inventory. Consider setting up a professional social media account (or website) to show off your work. Have the link to your socials on your table.
Hi, it's very clear to me you're trying to recreate this artist's work. Please don't sell pieces if you're copying someone else's art style. Instead focus your efforts of polishing your craft and come up with your very own pieces and art style.
Oh wow
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2mo
I photography plates like that because there’s almost like one of the only ways to photography? For the orange one also I used a vintage print for inspiration? I swear I’m not copying because that would be straight up copyright and also fucking weird
Thanks for sharing this.
I looked through this artists instagram and they copied so much of their style. The oranges OP posted are almost exactly the same as a lemon plate this artist made. The photograph style is the same too.
The "could I sell this?" beginner potter posts are gutsy.
This artist was not the first to draw vegetables on a plate. And surely this artist was inspired by something they saw. Nothing is created in a vacuum. Inspiration should be recognized, of course. But the OP potter obviously did not create a stamp or print to exactly copy. Art novices imitate masters to learn technique and develop a style. Who cares if they were inspired by this artist? They aren't trying to make a reproduction that would cut into the artist's finances. There's enough room at the table for novices and experts.
I can agree with you to a certain extent, and I understand that OP's sales will not cut into the artist's sales. But even if it wont necesarrily have an economic repercussion, if someone was making pieces very similar to mine and selling them as their own it would probably hurt me emotionally.
Recreating is a bad habit to slip into especially early on during your pottery journey, and the best advice I can give OP is to work on pushing their own boundaries and experiment! God forbid I give someone some genuine custructive criticism!
I understand the emotional impact and would react the same way if someone was financially benefiting by copying me or if my customers were confused. Ive had images of my work stolen by people in india. After reporting the stolen images, the thieves made something extremely, extremely similar and photographed their work. I cant touch them now. I hate it, but there's enough differences between my work and theirs.
Because this is such a controversial topic, I recommend reading "steal like an artist" by Austin Kleon. Maybe it will change your mind, maybe it won't. Either way, I think OPs work has promise, and members of this community should encourage another potter to keep working their creativity and developing skills. Making a few "inspired by" pieces won't hurt anyone in the long term unless there's a measureable financial impact or customer confusion.
That looks like a great read actually! Thank you for the recommendation. The thing is I completely agree with you, OPs work has a ton of promise, and members of this community should encourage another potter to keep working their creativity and developing skills. Which is the exact advice I'm giving OP. Im not saying stop all production immediately and turn yourself into the police , just... maybe think twice about the ethics and work on honing-in on your own individual style?
Totally agree!
Update: I got the book! Looking forward to reading it :)
Yay! It's a fast read
I’m really not? I do illustration and art for a living. Yeah I’m inspired by them but I do not straight up copy. I wouldn’t don’t think my work comes close to theirs and the only one maybe was my way earlier work with veggies.
girl...
You’re reaching how is it copying someone’s art style if I do illustration before I even ceramics
See your attitude about this is all wrong, we can see that you follow the artist and that you take A LOT of inspiration from this other ceramic artist. I'm giving you my feedback (that you asked for on reddit) as a person that follows the other artist, it looks like you are trying to replicate, not only with the style but even with the details like the rims and the speckled clay. You are asking an open ended question to que community which is "I'm a beginner, do you think I could sell my pottery?" and I gave you my honest opinion. Why ask then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m sorry I just get defensive because I really worked hard on this and i inviolate seen their work and liked it and it’s similar to my previous art work before even ceramics but I wouldn’t straight up copy a style or take inspiration to the point of just copying. But it was legit to ask a question I have no idea how to market work I’ve just graduated and no idea how to properly market it or most of the time how even glazes work but I just know I wouldn’t replicate and a lot of my work isn’t even close to what they make apart from a food piece. I like to get inspiration from vintage posts or photography I do so that’s why I make things and I really clearly don’t think that doing sketches and watercolor is copying
That's so fair, I can tell you worked hard on these. I think if a random stranger can pinpoint where the inspiration is coming from, maybe your point of view on the piece is just not as obvious as you might think, and you might have to work on your pieces a little more to make them truly unique. A lot or pottery artists struggle with this for a long time before they can feel confident in their own style. I would focus on trying to find that, especially seeing as you just recently got started, and experiment some more with glazes, techniques, and colors before monetizing your craft. That's my 2 cents!
I’m wondering what your illustrations pre-pottery look like!
You’re still a beginner, give it more time and focus on the quality of the piece itself.
Your prices are incredibly high, especially when you seem to lack a lot of really basic knowledge. If these were just illustrations then selling them makes sense, but these are ceramic pieces with a lot of faults. You don't even seem to know how much seeing the bottom and foot is essential to judge the quality of ceramics pieces? It's nice art, but have you done vitrification testing? Acid testing?
That’s interesting! Will begin testing my stuff. I am making stuff for myself and my friends (when they ask). And now worried that I might have given potentially unsafe pottery to them. Kind of was treating mine as illustrations. My teachers are very relaxed about all this :/
I think as stuff for friends it is probably fine, though testing is still good, it's just once you're trying to sell something as a functional piece for a lot of money that I think you need to slow down.
Maybe consider making ceramic wall-hangings if you want to sell something as an illustrative piece?
I see! So, it’s more about long term guarantee for money.
Well, it is also safety concerns? But they're the type of safety concerns where it's unlikely to really cause issues. Tell your friends to hand wash and not microwave them, or better yet not use them for food and it'll be fine, but selling the standards should be very high (indeed, in some countries you legally have to get ceramics professionally checked to be allowed to sell them).
I am kind of eating of them for a while myself 😅 I guess, tests is the way :) Thanks! Something new to learn is always useful and exciting.
Any issues with bacterial growth really happen over time, so you're probably fine! Good luck with your pottery progress
north mindless deliver hunt rain tease impossible attempt grandfather weather
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Your illustrations are lovely and whimsical.
You definitely need more photos in your Etsy listing. I personally wouldn’t buy a plate if the only photo on the listing was the front of it, I’d want to see the bottom of it too and the sides.
I also feel you could put more information in your listing like the size of the plates. I know we’ve got your hand for reference but at the moment your item description is pretty sparse, people want to know more about what they’re getting if they’re paying £45-50 for an item!
I wouldn’t buy them in their current state. I feel you are on to something with your style of illustrations but at the moment it just doesn’t look right to me. I feel you are going for a simplistic style but it just looks like you are not very skilled at drawing instead.
Pencil is too heavy for me. It distracts from the colours.
I am going to be a voice of dissent here. You don't need anyone's permission or approval to sell your work. But I feel you would benefit by 1) spending more time learning about the process and refining your throwing and glazing, 2) spending more time refining your drawing skills, 3) developing your own style instead of copying another artist's work. I like your painting/choice of colors. The drawn designs sometimes look a bit crude/amateurish. I feel you have the talent to progress but that it is way too early to be turning your thoughts to monetizing your hobby. Five months is the blink of an eye when it comes to developing a new skill.
I would say to wait for a few reasons, but the most alarming reason is because you're still learning about glazing. Potters who lack education about what is safe and what is not can cause unintentional harm. Beyond that, people buying your work, which is priced like you have years of experience deserve to buy something safe.
If you’re asking random strangers if you’re ready to sell, you aren’t.
The floral one is my favorite
Yes, take better photos. Make sure it is non toxic
People. Will buy. Anything.
Also these look nice so that helps 😂
You could sell these and they might go at that cost once in a blue moon to someone whose style is more rustic than uniform.
But honestly, I don’t feel you should charge this much for your practice products, even though they’re cute and made with love. And as it’s been mentioned, you will probably lose money with packaging and shipping costs at this rate. You will lose money anyway at this stage and perhaps for quite some time. You should view this as a hobby, not a side hustle. Hobbies are generally quite costly and they are best started with motives that are for your benefit only. Hobbies are, by definition, activities outside of work for pleasure or relaxation. To want to make any money, especially at the beginning, really blurs that line of work and leisure. A very common rhetoric I’ve heard throughout my life is that people will invest 10’s of thousands of dollars into a hobby and they have no rational way to explain why they are so invested in something that, to all appearances, is impractical. They become enthralled with this activity because it’s for themselves to enjoy and is never a chore.
It’s not impossible, but it’s my belief that it’s rarely fruitful to begin a hobby with the intention to make it lucrative. When you are focusing on making something specific and marketable, you miss the soft, playful nature of having no destination. It very much feels like going to work instead of going outside on your day off with no errands or chores to do. The double whammy is that without the joy, you very well may not stay committed to it long enough to ever make profit. Of course pottery can become profitable with many hours honing your skills and developing a style. Many hobbies do become profitable after years of pure enjoyment for enjoyments sake. Any notion of recouping some cost while you create will make you create differently and judge your art adulterated by a filter of how you think others might judge it. Make what you like over and over and you can’t lose. Even in the absurd hypothetical scenario that you never make a dime and nobody likes your art, you do, and that’s a very worthy endeavor to gift yourself.
I think these would make very cherished gifts to loved ones ☺️
Then when you find yourself eating off of it at your friends house months and years later, you get a touching reminder of how far you’ve come
Yes - it looks like the early work of many of my potter buddies - and my own. You should do well starting at neighborhood area festivals.
DO NOT UNDERPRICE YOUR WORK!! You can offer a discount but you can’t mark it up!!
You could make a killer dish set by making ~6~ plates with a different flower theme on each of them! I’d buy haha
Unfortunately people don't generally pay much for ceramics. I completely understand the effort and cost that goes into making these but the price you're listing for is unlikely to get much attention I actually personally really like the rough look of hand made ceramics and enjoy how yours look, but in today's economic situation I myself could not justify the cost.
I love your illustrative style but I think they would work better on a contrasting background. Maybe experiment using white/coloured slips underneath the illustrations. I love where you're going with it!
3 is gorgeous
The shell plate is really nice. I like your style.
I would buy it! Congratulations on your skills!!
Looks like you’re using a speckled buff clay. I would stick with the color of clay but try to find something like special buff which is sans specs
Your artistry is busy and the specs make almost too much and take away from the rest
Other than that try doing the art on the outside of the pots and just glaze the inside with a cream of saying colored glaze. The underglaze will stay perfectly fine even without being glazed over. I think it would look really good that way especially because clear glazes come with tons of issues in my opinion.
I work with underglaze a lot, feel free to look at my past posts and shoot a message if you need any tips/have questions
I love your style! What are you using to achieve the illustrative effect?
I LOVE your drawings
Sure! A couple thoughts for you.. I would recommend try the drawings on mugs.. in my experience people seem to buy mugs more often than plates. Also I totally agree with the suggestion of trying a farmers market!
I think your pieces are gorgeous and I would definitely purchase a tray. Etsy is a great place to start, but you should invest time and attention into creating a social media account on tiktok or Instagram. And then invest double or triple the amount of time by creating a pinterest account with very, very descriptive keywords. There are great free resources online for milking etsy's system to your greatest advantage. Great descriptions and beautiful photography will make the biggest impact.
I dont sell pottery online, but I do sell handmade, customizable lighting. Anticipating what people will search for is what most artists overlook when they try to sell their work online.
Ramble aside, your work is gorgeous. If you ever make frames or trays, I would definitely buy!
And you need to fill out the rest of your etsy profile. It doesnt indicate who you are, your personality, nothing.
Yes, but you should work on taking really good pictures so people will understand what they are getting.
I'd buy them. Only criticism is when I pick a plate I want it to be a back drop for my food, this is a very nice plate with nothing on it but could look odd with food on it
True! Fair I definitely want to create more plates which just a solid glaze but I’m hopping I get a little better so the plate is more smooth
I take it back, this would looks great with cheese on it hahaha. You're talented as so I'm sure you'll make all sorts of plates
Yes, those are sellable. I would recommend selling a few for cheap or giveaway in order to get some ratings. The first sells are the most important to get the ball rolling.
That’s what I was thinking toooo I just need to sell a couple I’ve been trying to advertise it on Etsy too so maybe it will help if it’s cheaper
Don’t sell it cheap. Sell it for what it’s worth.
Yes, they're beautiful!
You’d be doing people a disservice if you didn’t sell them! These are amazing!
Absolutely beautiful. I would display this in my kitchen
Thank you so much! They’re so fit for like those shelves for like the plate bookshelves!!!
These are beautiful and have a lot of charm to them. I would certainly buy one. I am curious to see them from other angles as well. Good luck on your journey.
I will buy your pottery! You have wonderful illustrations :) what’s your process?
Thank you so much! I throw the plates, trim and hand plate the illustrations with this like semi moist glaze and ceramic pencil!
Those are gorgeous, I’d say look into SEOs and tags on your Etsy listings they have a specific algorithm and tagging things will help get you more foot traffic.
Thank you! I didn’t know about the SEOs and I’ll definitely try adding more tags too
I LOVE every single one. Yes sell them. You truly should.
Well, I’m not nearly as picky as everyone else in the comments, but I would buy the citrus piece and the flower piece right now!
Yes
They look lovely! Very impressive art! If I may with some feedback; the photos and the shadows on the items are not showcasing your pieces in the best light. Consider this?
I rally like the floral one... the veggies have potential
They’re cute!
I will buy a number three right now
Definitely! Your pieces are gorgeous 🔥♥️
I like it
I WOULD BUY THE HELL OUT OF THESE PLATES AHHH yes you would definitely sell 🥹🥹
Ah! The shells are my favourite- you absolutely should
They are pretty but 40-50$ per plate is pricey. Compared to a set I can get at Target etc
To me. Sell it to me. Lol
Sorry there is no promotion (self or otherwise) outside of the pinned "Self Promotion " post in this Sub-Reddit.
This includes promoting businesses, blogs, pages, or social media. This included watermarks on photos.