Final Review for Ceramics

Line

A continuous mark made on a surface with a pointed moving tool.

Shape

A closed line that has 2 dimensions and encloses space (triangle, circle, square.)

Organic Shapes

A shape having none of the geometric angularity associated with squares, triangles, rectangles, etc. Organic shapes are fluid and often are associated with things that occur in nature.

Geometric Shapes

Recognizably named areas based on straight lines, angles and curves such as square, circle, triangle, etc.

Space

The emptiness or area between, around, above, below or within an object.

Negative Space

The area of space that SURROUNDS the object

Positive Space

The area of space that the object OCCUPIES.

Form

An enclosed space that is 3 dimensional (has height, width & depth. Pyramid, sphere, cube.)

Value

Lightness or darkness within the artwork. It is a range of tones from light to dark.

Texture

How things feel or how they LOOK LIKE they might feel.

Color

The element of art with 3 properties: hue, value, and intensity.

Elements of Art

The language of art. They can be used to describe a work of art.

Composition

The organization of a given space.

Principles of Design

The rules by which an artist organizes the Elements of Art to create a work of art.

Rhythm & Movement

Taking the viewer’s eye to focal areas throughout the artwork.

Balance

Creating equal visual weight in a composition.

Symmetry

Two identical halves of a balanced composition (mirror images of each other.)

Asymmetry

Informal balance, in which unlike objects have equal visual weight.

Radial

The elements come out from a central point (often circular.)

Proportion

Dealing with size relationships

Variety

Dealing with differences and using several elements of design to hold the viewer’s attention and guide the viewer’s eye through the artwork.

Emphasis or Focal Point

An area of interest within a composition.

Unity & Harmony

The visually satisfying effect of combining similar, related elements throughout the piece of artwork to create a sense of completeness.

Positive & Negative Space

The balance of the actual object and the space around the object.

Color Spectrum

When a beam of white light passes through a wedge-shaped glass, called a prism, the beam of white light is bent and separated into bands of color. The colors of the spectrum always appear in the same order: R, O, Y, G, B, V.

Hue

Pure color.

Primary Hues

Red, yellow, and blue, these colors cannot be mixed from any other color.

Secondary Hues

Orange, green, and violet are obtained by mixing two equal amounts of primary colors.

Intermediate/Tertiary Hues

Created by mixing one primary and one secondary color YO, YG, RO, RV, BG, BV. These are found between the primary and secondary colors.

(Chromatic) Neutrals

Browns & grays achieved from mixing complementary colors.

Achromatic

Without color: white, black, and the mixture of white and black.

Tints

The lighter value of a color, the result of mixing white with a color.

Shades

The darker value of a color, the result of mixing black with a color.

Intensity

The brightness or dullness of a color, also called it’s saturation.

Value

The lightness or darkness of a color.

Transparent

Quality of a material that allows light to pass through. Opposite of opaque

Opaque

Light cannot pass through

Color Harmony

A plan for organizing colors according to their relationship on the color wheel.

Warm Colors

Reds, yellows, oranges. Warm colors suggest warmth and often seem to advance toward the viewer.

Cool Colors

Blues, greens, violets.  Cool colors suggest coolness and often seem to recede from the viewer.

Monochromatic

A color scheme that uses only one hue and the tints and shades of that hue for a unifying effect.

Triadic

Any three equidistant colors on the color wheel.

Complementary

Colors opposite each other on the color wheel.

Analogous

Colors adjacent on the color wheel sharing a common hue.

Split-Complementary

One color plus the two colors that are on either side of its complement on the color wheel.

Medium

The type of art supply used to create a piece of artwork

Subtractive Technique

Removing material from the whole piece of art to achieve a finished product. In drawing it could use an eraser to erase a highlight in a drawing of a sphere. It could be carving away clay…

Additive Technique

Adding material to the whole piece of art to achieve a finished product. In drawing it could be marking a line on a piece of paper…using pencil to shade a drawing. It could also be adding a raises clay design to a ceramic piece.

Atmospheric 5 Visual Cues

Used to create the illusion of depth on paper are size, overlapping, place, color, and value.

Bat

A flat disc made out of plaster, wood, or plastic which is affixed to the wheel head with clay or pins. Bats are used to throw pieces on that would be difficult to lift off the wheel head. 


Banding Wheel

A revolving wheel head that sits on a pedestal base. It is turned by hand and used for finishing or decorating pottery.

Clay Modeling Tools

Wood rib, sponge, ribbon tool, loop tool, needlepoint tool, wood modeling tool, wire clay cutter, steel rib.

Potters Wheel

A device with either a manual (foot-powered) or an electric rotating wheel head used to sit at and make pottery forms.

Extruder

Device used to press clay through a small opening to make uniform lengths of coils.

Wooden Modeling Tools

Ribbon Tools

Clean Up Tool

Wooden Rib

Sgraffito Tools

Ergonomic

comfortable and efficient

Wedging

Method of kneading clay to make it homogenous; ridding the clay of all air pockets. Pottery will explode in the kiln if air bubbles or impurities are in the clay or if certain areas are drier than others. To remove any air bubbles and evenly distribute water throughout the clay, it must be repetitively kneaded.

Hand Building

This term refers to one of several techniques of building pots using only the hands and simple tools rather than the potter's wheel. The term used for creating pottery using the potter’s wheel is “throwing”.

Pinch

“Pinch” in ceramics is a method of shaping clay by inserting the thumb of one hand into the clay and lightly pinching with the thumb and fingers while slowly rotating the ball in the palm of the other hand. Pots made in this manner are called “pinch pots”.

Coil

This is the technique of building ceramic forms by rolling out coils, or ropes, of clay and joining them together with the fingers or a tool.

Slab

A method in which forms are created by joining flat pieces of clay; the pieces are thinned and flattened with a rolling pin or slab roller.

Slip

A liquid clay. The easiest way to make a slip is to gradually sift or spoon dry, powder clay into a small cup of water. Stir well as you add because it will tend to thicken up after it sits for a minute or two. You want it to be about the consistency of thick cream.

Score & Slip

Refers to a method of joining two pieces of clay together. First, score the clay; this means that you make scratches on the surfaces that will be sticking together. Then you slip it; that is you wet the surface with some slip, using it like glue. Next, you press the two pieces together. It is very important to always score and slip clay that is leather hard. If you do not, the pieces will likely pop apart when they are fired.

Molding

In this technique, flat slabs of clay are pressed into molds to create various shapes or forms.

Stages of Dryness

When speaking of clay, we refer to three basic stages of dryness: wet, leather hard, and bone dry.

Leather Hard

Clay, which is dried sufficiently to be stiff, but which is still damp enough to be joined to other pieces.

Bone Dry

The condition of unfired clay when it is as dry as possible prior to firing

Throwing

Creating ceramic shapes on the potter’s wheel

Wheel Thrown

The term throw comes from Old English meaning spin. A piece of clay is placed on a potter's wheel head which spins. The clay is shaped by compression while it is in motion.

Firing

This is the process of heating the pottery to a specific temperature to bring about a particular change in the clay or the surface.

Bisque

The term bisque refers to ceramic ware that has been fired once without glaze.

Greenware

Unfired pottery that is bone-dry, a state in which clay forms are the most fragile.

Glaze

A glass-like surface coating for ceramics that is used to decorate and seal the pores of the fired clay.

Underglaze

A method of decorating the surface of ceramics before it is glazed. Most commonly used for detail.

Mouth

The opening at the top of a vase.

Neck

The (usually) narrower part that leads from the body of the vase to the mouth.

Body

This is the main part of the vase. It is usually the largest part.

Foot

This is the part of the vase that meets the table/floor.

Dry Foot

Glaze-free area at the bottom and 1/4” up the sides.

Primary Clay

Clay found at the original site where it was formed by decomposing rock

Secondary Clay

Clay that has been transported from its original site by water, air, or ice and deposited in layers elsewhere.

Earthenware

Clay that hardens at a low temperature but remains porous (able to absorb moisture). Earthenware is a secondary clay. Porosity The capacity of a clay body to absorb moisture

Plasticity

The quality of clay that allows it to be easily manipulated and still maintain its shape

Kneading

Working clay on a surface with the palms of the hands to remove air from it and obtain a uniform consistency

Kiln

A furnace, built of refractory (resistant to heat and melting) material, for firing ceramic ware

Warping

Distortion of a clay shape caused by uneven stresses during shaping, drying or firing