Sgraffito

The subject of my artwork is a simple road bicycle, etched into a fragment of clay. I began this project with a large, round piece of clay, and originally planned to have some sort of a background. My initial idea was ended fairly quickly after I accidentally ruined the entire tile whilst attempting to cut excess clay off. Instead of restarting entirely, I decided to drop the idea of making a background, and use the biggest chunk of clay I had for my project. I then under glazed the clay black, scraped out my design, applied a clear glaze, and put it back in the kiln. I used balance, contrast, emphasis, and texture in my artwork.

I wanted my artwork to look like a simple silhouette of a bicycle, which I did by not adding unnecessary details. I like the way the project turned out in the end, however, if I could do the project over again I would have rolled out a smaller piece of clay to begin with. This project improved both my clay skills, and my etching/carving/scratch boarding skills.