CERAMCIS FINAL

Vocabulary Terms

1. Pinch Pot – A pot formed by pinching the clay between your fingers and thumb.
   
   

2. Leather Hard – Clay that’s partially dry but still soft enough to carve or join pieces.
   
   

3. Wedging – Kneading clay to remove air bubbles and make it uniform.
   
   

4. Scoring – Scratching lines into clay to help pieces stick together.
   
   

5. Slip – A liquid mixture of clay and water used as glue for joining clay pieces.
   
   

6. Kiln – A special high-temperature oven used to fire clay.
   
   

7. Firing – Heating clay in a kiln to harden it.
   
   

8. Hand building – Making pottery by hand without a wheel using techniques like pinching, coiling, and slab building.
   
   

9. Greenware – Unfired, bone-dry clay that is fragile.
   
   

10. Bisqueware – Clay that’s been fired once and is ready to be glazed.
    
    

11. Slab – A flat, even sheet of clay used to build shapes.
    
    

Tools

• Rib
  
  

  • Metal: For smoothing and shaping, often flexible.
    
    

  • Plastic: Used for smoothing, not flexible.
    
    

  • Wooden: For shaping and compressing clay.
    
    

• Sgraffito – A technique where you scratch through a layer of colored slip or glaze to reveal the clay body underneath.
  
  

• Small Trimming Tool – For fine trimming of small areas.
  
  

• Large Trimming Tool – For removing larger amounts of clay, usually from the bottom.
  
  

• Wooden Sculpting Tool – Used to shape and carve clay.
  
  

• Cleaning Tool – Often a small loop or metal tool used for cleaning up seams and edges.
  
  

• Wire Cutter – A wire with handles used to cut clay from a block.
  
  

• Sponge – For adding or removing water and smoothing surfaces.
  
  

• Needle Tool – For scoring, cutting, and detailing.
  
  

• Fettling Knife – A thin knife used for cutting and trimming clay.
  
  

Projects: Animated Character (Pixar Films)

1. Did it resemble you? – Answer based on your personal design.
   
   

2. How many characters did you combine? – Example: 2-3 characters, combining features from each.
   
   

3. What style of art? – Animation/Character design.
   
   

4. Five ways you constructed it: Pinching, coiling, slab building, sculpting details, and attaching parts.
   
   

5. Main technique? – Hand building.
   
   

6. Define it – Building forms using hands and basic tools (pinch, coil, slab).
   
   

7. How you created it – Describe step-by-step: built body shape, added details like eyes and limbs, scored and slipped pieces.
   
   

8. Finishing – Applied underglaze or glaze, fired in the kiln.
   
   

Projects: Salt & Pepper Shakers (Joan Miro and Louise Nevelson)

1. Who are they?
   
   

   • Joan Miró: Spanish artist known for surrealism and playful abstract shapes.
     
     

   • Louise Nevelson: American sculptor known for monochrome wooden assemblages.
     
     

2. Their styles?
   
   

   • Miró: Surrealism/Abstract.
     
     

   • Nevelson: Assemblage/Abstract Expressionism.
     
     

3. Definition of styles
   
   

   • Surrealism: Dream-like, unexpected combinations.
     
     

   • Assemblage: Art made from assembling found objects.
     
     

4. Materials they used
   
   

   • Miró: Paint, ceramics, bronze.
     
     

   • Nevelson: Wood, found objects, painted monochrome (often black).
     
     

5. Design elements?
   
   

   • Shapes, texture, form, balance, contrast.
     
     

6. Colors used?
   
   

   • Miró: Bright primary colors (red, blue, yellow), black.
     
     

   • Nevelson: Monochrome (black, white, gold).
     
     

7. Clay method used?
   
   

   • Slab building and hand building.
     
     

8. Wall thickness?
   
   

   • About 1/4 inch thick for even drying and firing.
     
     

Project: Rainstick (Myra Burg)

1. Who is she? – Myra Burg is known for mixed media and clay art, often with cultural and natural themes.
   
   

2. Kind of art? – Decorative and functional clay art.
   
   

3. Materials? – Clay, natural fibers, and sometimes found objects.
   
   

4. Steps to make:
   
   

   • Roll slab → Form tube → Add internal pins → Score and slip ends → Dry → Fire.
     
     

5. Fibers applied? – Tied or glued around the finished piece after firing.
   
   

6. Origins of rainstick? – South America (Chile, Peru), Africa, and Asia.
   
   

Measuring in Inches (Draw a Ruler)

• 1 inch is divided like this:
  
  

  • 1/2 (half)
    
    

  • 1/4 (quarter)
    
    

  • 1/8 (eighth)
    
    

  • 1/16 (sixteenth)
    
    

  • 3/8 (three-eighths is between 1/4 and 1/2)
    
    

(Let me know if you want me to generate a diagram showing exactly where each is — I can make you a ruler image.)

Make it in Clay

1. 3 Methods of forming clay
   
   

   • Pinching
     
     

   • Coiling
     
     

   • Slab building
     
     

2. Methods combined in projects
   
   

   • Pixar character: Slab + Pinching + Sculpting
     
     

   • Shakers: Slab + Coiling
     
     

   • Rainstick: Slab + Sculpting
     
     

Elements of Art / Principles of Design

(Check your worksheets — but here are the basics)

• Elements of Art: Line, shape, form, color, value, texture, space.
  
  

• Principles of Design: Balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, unity.
  
  

Color Theory Vocabulary

• Primary colors: Red, blue, yellow.
  
  

• Secondary colors: Green, orange, purple.
  
  

• Complementary colors: Colors opposite on the color wheel (e.g., red & green).
  
  

• Warm colors: Red, orange, yellow.
  
  

• Cool colors: Blue, green, purple.
  
  

• Hue: Another word for color.
  
  

• Tint: Color + white.
  
  

• Shade: Color + black.