Sgraffito Creature (Nigel)

For this assignment, we were asked to create a clay sculpture of an animal of our choice, but we had to incorporate sgraffito technique too add texture and interest. To start, I made the torso of my koala by using the pinch pot technique, and shaped it to be longer and tapered. Then, I made a coil for his neck and another pinch pot for the head. The legs were made by a combination of pinch pots (thighs) and coils (toes). His arms were made of slabs and the fingers, coils. I needed to make my sculpture realistic and interesting, so I decided to make a branch for him to be grasping. I made a coil and hollowed it out by using a pencil. Once the body had dried out a little, I added smaller details, such as the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth just by sculpting them and attaching them using the slip and score technique.

When my koala was dry, I used three coats of black underglaze and once that was dry, I started carving my designs. For his back, I carved birch trees, his arms were loose, hair-like scratches, on one leg I did a floral-inspired design, and for the branch, I did a paisley-inspired design. I kept most of his face untouched, other than a few whiskers on his cheeks and ears.

After bisque firing, I applied three coats of clear glaze, making Nigel completely pink. After firing for the second time, my clay animal sculpture was complete. Overall, I am very happy with my koala sculpture. I love the designs I chose, especially the trees and the flowers on his thigh. If I could go back and change anything, I would make the branch almost completely scratched off, so the contrast between the bear and the branch was more visible and interesting.