Sgraffito Tile

For this assignment, we were asked to create a negative space creation using a slab of clay and carving tools. The subject of my creation are two dancing skeleton figures, controlled by strings. To create each puppet, I had to take away from the black glazed clay to reveal its natural color; gray. To practice these skills, we created a scratchboard design which used the same principals of scratching in highlighted places rather than drawing in places of contour. After we created a design of interest inspired by some ancient models of sgraffito, we began the glazing step. I choose yellow glaze to serve as a kind of spotlight for the dancing skeletons, and red or the surrounding white areas. To color required three layers of this glaze.

To create this piece, I used the principals of value and emphasis. Emphasis was used to bring the eyes attention to the dancers, and value to separate the different tones; black and white, each on opposite ends of the value spectrum. I knew that I wanted to do someone that reminded me of the original sgraffito people. That is when I thought of the ida to use skeletons. Of course, the human skeleton would be far to hard to carve out as there are over one hundred bones in the human body, and each bone would be impossible to place, so I had to take away and but leave the bones that one would think of when imagining a skeleton. Og course, my first try was not perfect. On the skeleton to the left, the rib cage have my quite the trouble. I kept on seeing errors, or spots of improvement, and each time I made a mistake, I would go over that area with the black glaze, which eventually left this skeleton looking sloppier than the one to the right despite the fact that it took far more time, ironic.

There is no particular meaning behind this piece of art. I simply got inspired by the original sgraffito people, and decided to create something with these people in mind. I am most proud of the way that I was able to create something simple out of something that could be created very complicated and over detailed. Like I said earlier, I struggled the most with not being able to use an eraser whenever needed, there was no safety net, so each line had to be careful though-out. I still wish that I sis not add the lines around the skeletons. Originally, I though that each line would frame the skeletons, and bring the eye directly to them, but I am now realizing that each line only takes away from this center focus. To revise this in the future, I would think out each line more carefully, rather than acting spontaneously.