I’m easily confused (lol) but I would think it would be easier to keep track of everything if you started out using the same color for a base. Like the “sandstone series” of tests (where the first color on every tester is sandstone), the “denim series”, the “white series”, etc. So for the sandstone series you’d take one of the sandstone dipped testers, move over one bucket (bucket #2) and second-dip it, move over one more bucket (bucket #3) and third dip it. That one’s done; write it down. Then take another sandstone dipped tester and second-dip it in bucket #3 and then #4 for the third dip. Done; write it down. GOOD LUCK, MAN, cuz I just confused myself! lol
Thank you for sharing how you are making and recording your test tiles. I thought I would share how I record my test tiles. In my handy dandy note book I make a grid sheet. that the top I have a key of the glazes and a number assigned to the glaze. Then in a grid type fashion have the column labeled 1- tile number 2- YES we like the results 3- NO bad results 4 - number for each glazes you have then all you have to do is place an "X" on the glaze numbered column. This has made life so much easier for me. I just wanted to share because the 2,730 can be a daunting task. PLEASE take this with a grain of salt this is just what I found to work for me. THANK YOU FOR SHEARING!!!
Jon, I have goosebumps now. I didn't realize it on the day you released your kickstarter, but I did today! You featured one of my facebook messages to you. That means so much to me!!!! I cannot wait for my spiral cup. Im so proud of you for reaching for your dreams. And by the way, my home studio is finally set up!!!!
Gosh, I forget how complex glazes can be. In my ceramics class in high school, we’re always very much limited. And not exposed much to layering glazes either unless you ask the teacher personally So to me, this is so fascinating. Keep it up!
Hi Jon, I love your videos and your work! I love that you work with exposed clay and texture, it’s really made me think about how I want to experiment with my work! For a systematic approach maybe try focusing on one glaze at a time? So pick one glaze and use that as a base/middle/top later on all the tiles for the day and just go in order dipping them.
I like number stamps. Also if they are just two glazes you can do a grid. Like top glaze for x axis and bottom glaze for y axis. If you need to know the combo just follow the column.
I watched this video forever ago and forgot about it until youtube recommended it to me lol such a good vid! So glad you got your studio! Im actually going to be experimenting with different types of text tiles in one of my upcoming videos! Hope i do as great as you did! Keep making awesome content!
Never did this with three layers but for two layers. My system was to number each glaze then make as many tiles as needed so I had one for each color. Lable bottoms of tiles so that numbers did not repeat. (Other wise you will have many with the same numbers after many tests) all test tiles got the first glaze then each in a second color. Systematically working through all the glaze colors. Ex. My white was number 1, blue was number 3. Brown was number 4. Tile was marked 1-3 white then blue. Tile 1-4 was white then brown. Hope I made sense good luck and hope you get some great colors.
I'm glad that I watched this and thank you for sharing. I'll be simplifying my testing. Maybe do only one new glaze per firing and test it for possible combos with what I already have. That alone could take 12 or more test tiles. Like you pointed out, it can get way, way too complicated.
Thanks for the tips, I hope you find some new really cool combos! I wonder what it is in metallic green and buttercream that make them work so well at helping other glazes move. It’s interesting too that the matte white I use that is a recipe Selsor Waxy white, works so good as a middle glaze and is so stable on its own. Such amazing chemistry!
very coooool. if you choose 3 glazes, you have 9 testtiles, depending on the sequence. Making it systematic helps, not to lose track of things or do something twice
Well, no matter how you do it it’s going to be time consuming. If you approach it knowing it may take a year....then just pick 3-5 glazes you’re most hyped about. Do all the combos you want, then pick the next batch. You’ll want to test them with the glazes you have been using also! Yeps...maybe two years.......have fun
You could make a tile colour chart type thing where you have every colour written on both axis' and then you can test 2 or 3 together or test specifically what layer certain colours look best on.
Maybe a spreadsheet could help you organize the combinations of glazes in dipping order or by the effect you get from each of them? Then you could search a specific glaze and it'd show the cells that have those combinations that have already been tested and you could rank those by looks/success
It sounds like you need to find a computer nerd who can write you a program and then print out all your possibilities! Wow! You could spend your life just testing them. Why don't you just test fire the 15 glazes by themselves then discard the ones YOU know you wouldn't use, or like. It might cut down a few combinations. Have fun. Cheers Bob 🇬🇧
Use an excel spreadsheet. You can set it up to say, Number, First glaze, second, ect.. Then maybe grade or just comments in the last column for how well it turned out.
You might try giving each glaze a number and on each tile put the first layers number 1st, 2ndayer 2nd and 3rd last. That way you always know what each tile has on it. (If that makes any sence😁)
You could number the 15 glazes. 1-15 then you could stamp the combos. I like to do series like I’ll do 1 base glaze then other combos on top. So like 1-2-3, 1-2-4, 1-2-5 in one kiln. Then so 2s. Obviously you don’t want to do every bottom layer you could on 1 glaze. just do 4 of each but a stamp would add texture
instead of numbering the pieces and writing down a bunch of names, what if you number the glazes? if each glaze is assigned a number, then you could write those numbers in whatever order you dip them in on the bottom of the test pieces. that way you wouldn't have to refer back to the notebook every time to figure out what the combination is, you could just look at the numbered buckets of glaze. might save you some time!
why not use a clay pencil so you can write the combo at the bottom of the tile and it won’t burn off in the kiln?? i feel like this is an obvious suggestion so sorry if u have already thought of it but it’s what we do at our studio on the bottoms of all our test stuff so it’s super simple and easy!
Wow, i also tend to cut thrown pieces for testtiles, but your method is super good. BUT: I would appreciate it, when people showing or telling others to overlayer glazes, they would also mention that the logic of pouring one "so called" food safe (whatever that is these days) glaze on top of another food safe glaze, that this does not necessarily result in another food safe glaze in the end. Expecially when you use ready made glazes, where you might not know the glaze formula or ingredients. Simple Chemistry. Please correct me, if I am wrong! Or maybe I just missed that remark in the video...
Quite the daunting task there .... but one way you could approach it ...you could focus on one color each week and do 15 testers of that as the bottom color A, 15 as the middle color and 15 as the top color ....by dipping say 15 of color A , then dipping once in each different color for your second dip for the third dip on each I would just dip a corner a second time.... so you have your first color plus two layers of your second color ABB. ACC ADD AEE and so on That “set of 15” could be made several times and add a different top color to each set ABA ABB ABC ABD and so on you could then make that same set and use your A color in the middle... so dip 15 tiles, one of each color first ,then dip each of those in your A color... and possibly the first color on top again like color BAB CAC. DAD. EAE and so on to see the color as a middle color make another set of one of each color and choose a second color for a middle color for all and then use your A color for the top coat.... BCA CCA DCA ECA seeing A for your top coat if you made 15 a day in one month you could have 450 tests!🤯 It seems like you would have a good idea of what would make a good base and a good top .... you could try combo sets of (color A ) and (color C) as base and top for all colors.... ABC ADC AEC AFC and so on note taking could be simplified too, if you gave the colors a letter, so for example tile #1 could be dipped in ABB...(1dip in color A and 2 dips in color B) It’s fun to watch you , thanks for taking this on! Don’t give up😊if you make a shelf for them you could lay it out like a color chart seeing how all the colors affect each other. It could be a cool wall art thing for your new studio😊
Hey, Jon! Love your energy! Looks like there are a few suggestions in the comments for developing a computerized system for keeping track of combinations. My sis (who does all things computer for me) would probs suggest a database (MS Access) from which you can generate reports - so, like, you could pull a report showing all of the combinations you've done with a certain glaze, or a certain two glazes, in a certain order. So... I wanted to alert you to a thing... If that's ok... *whispers apology* The way you're pronouncing "Rouge Red" is incorrect. You're saying "rogue" as in Rogue One (great movie!); "rouge" is with an "oo" sound and a soft g. It refers to the cheek color our grandmothers and great-grandmothers used to wear, hence the pink color the glaze is supposed to be by itself. Hope this is helpful and not offensive! Luv ya'! Love your vids and tutorials; you are a great help to many of us!!
Writing down the names is going to take too long and be hard to skim to see if you've done a certain test already. Buy 15 different little stamps (star, circle, triangle, smiley face, ect). Each stamp corresponds to a different glaze bucket and should mark it. Make a huge (large font) legend you can hang above your glaze area. As you dip, just stamp next to the number in your book! Quick and easy.
Yeah, that's a lot of time consumption! Maybe label each color with a letter and make a spreadsheet with all the possibilities and then start...? Wow. You have some work cut out for you👍
Hi John, You need more scientific approach. ☺️ Hope that this comment is going to be understandable. You say that you mark each tile by a number. That is good, even great. But how do you make diference between the first serie of test tiles from your fifth série ? In the end they are all going to finish in the sime box for test tiles. When you make the tests you have to bee very, very, very... Very precise. If not, all the hard work is gone 😭😭😭 (I know the feeling). There is a simple solution. If you use the sime numbers (from 1 to 16) for each serie of tests and you mark your tiles when they are still wet (as you did on this video). In this case you just have to add a date on your tile (and in your note book also). And you do thid with the brush and the iron oxide (because your tile is fired once at this point). So you'll have your tile number 8 from 20.02.2019 and you'll know exactly what you did because you've marked it in your notes as 8 20.02.2019. (for exemple). If you mark your tiles from 1 to 2560 than you just have to be very careful not to mark the sime number twice (I did that too). And I will not enter into the thickness of each glaze testings or you're gong to 😭. You can do the glaze testing all your life and still you will not be close to an ending. 😁 But in the end just HAVE FUN with it, that's most importaint. 😊 🇫🇷
Your math is a little bit off. To test all 15 with 3 layers being different would be 2730. But if you wanted to test all possible 3 layer combos it would be 3375 which would include dipping it in the same colour three times. And if you wanted to test ALL possible combinations with 15 colours it would be 3615 options (this would include one and two layer glazes). Which is a lot of options. Not that this comment necessarily helps I just wanted to figure out the math. Btw love your work.
Hey Jon, thanks for sharing. And just being a cool dude to watch. I was wondering. Do you have a favorite book for glazes. I make my own, but I need something more exciting Like you got. Thanks.
Oh, and I put holes on the top so that I can hang the tiles from a peg board.
I’m easily confused (lol) but I would think it would be easier to keep track of everything if you started out using the same color for a base. Like the “sandstone series” of tests (where the first color on every tester is sandstone), the “denim series”, the “white series”, etc.
So for the sandstone series you’d take one of the sandstone dipped testers, move over one bucket (bucket #2) and second-dip it, move over one more bucket (bucket #3) and third dip it. That one’s done; write it down.
Then take another sandstone dipped tester and second-dip it in bucket #3 and then #4 for the third dip. Done; write it down.
GOOD LUCK, MAN, cuz I just confused myself! lol
I think I would hire a college professor and his class
Thank you for sharing how you are making and recording your test tiles. I thought I would share how I record my test tiles. In my handy dandy note book I make a grid sheet. that the top I have a key of the glazes and a number assigned to the glaze. Then in a grid type fashion have the column labeled
1- tile number
2- YES we like the results
3- NO bad results
4 - number for each glazes you have
then all you have to do is place an "X" on the glaze numbered column. This has made life so much easier for me. I just wanted to share because the 2,730 can be a daunting task. PLEASE take this with a grain of salt this is just what I found to work for me. THANK YOU FOR SHEARING!!!
Wow! I find it amazing the way you test out all those glaze combinations! Awesome work, weldone!
Glad to see you doing this because it would blow my mind!!!!
Jon, I have goosebumps now. I didn't realize it on the day you released your kickstarter, but I did today! You featured one of my facebook messages to you. That means so much to me!!!! I cannot wait for my spiral cup. Im so proud of you for reaching for your dreams. And by the way, my home studio is finally set up!!!!
Te 44444444re 344444
Thanks for sharing this video about glazes and textiles! I really appreciate these videos! Ceramics is fun!
I have been making my test tile like this for a few years but your idea of a trap is excellent, I will be adding that to my next ones! Thank you.
Gosh, I forget how complex glazes can be. In my ceramics class in high school, we’re always very much limited. And not exposed much to layering glazes either unless you ask the teacher personally
So to me, this is so fascinating. Keep it up!
Hi Jon, I love your videos and your work! I love that you work with exposed clay and texture, it’s really made me think about how I want to experiment with my work!
For a systematic approach maybe try focusing on one glaze at a time? So pick one glaze and use that as a base/middle/top later on all the tiles for the day and just go in order dipping them.
I like number stamps. Also if they are just two glazes you can do a grid. Like top glaze for x axis and bottom glaze for y axis. If you need to know the combo just follow the column.
I watched this video forever ago and forgot about it until youtube recommended it to me lol such a good vid! So glad you got your studio! Im actually going to be experimenting with different types of text tiles in one of my upcoming videos! Hope i do as great as you did! Keep making awesome content!
You need a spreadsheet - LOL -
Alternatively,
Make a grid 15x15 on 15 pages. Indicate tile number in the square along with page number for notes for reference later.
Hi, Jon! Your pottery is really amazing! I'm hoping to become a successful potter like you :) Keep up the good work!
That looks like SO . MUCH . FUN!
Never did this with three layers but for two layers. My system was to number each glaze then make as many tiles as needed so I had one for each color. Lable bottoms of tiles so that numbers did not repeat. (Other wise you will have many with the same numbers after many tests) all test tiles got the first glaze then each in a second color. Systematically working through all the glaze colors. Ex. My white was number 1, blue was number 3. Brown was number 4. Tile was marked 1-3 white then blue. Tile 1-4 was white then brown. Hope I made sense good luck and hope you get some great colors.
I'm glad that I watched this and thank you for sharing. I'll be simplifying my testing. Maybe do only one new glaze per firing and test it for possible combos
with what I already have. That alone could take 12 or more test tiles. Like you pointed out, it can get way, way too complicated.
Thanks for the tips, I hope you find some new really cool combos! I wonder what it is in metallic green and buttercream that make them work so well at helping other glazes move. It’s interesting too that the matte white I use that is a recipe Selsor Waxy white, works so good as a middle glaze and is so stable on its own. Such amazing chemistry!
I was told about this app Called Pottery Notes....... It helps keep track of what you are doing ....Very cool ....
Great video. Testing glazes It's really my favourite part of making pottery :)
Super helpful, thank you!
cant wait to see the test tiles!!!! Jeeej!!
I donated what I could and shared everywhere! I can't wait for your finished studio! -Jessi I
Hey Jon. I recommend watching the videos of John Britt for a system to test glazes. Very good info. He also has a couple of books
snow rides at the end, yeah!
very coooool. if you choose 3 glazes, you have 9 testtiles, depending on the sequence. Making it systematic helps, not to lose track of things or do something twice
Well, no matter how you do it it’s going to be time consuming. If you approach it knowing it may take a year....then just pick 3-5 glazes you’re most hyped about. Do all the combos you want, then pick the next batch. You’ll want to test them with the glazes you have been using also! Yeps...maybe two years.......have fun
Love your channel. Inspired..I love pottery stained glass and fused glass. Now retired would like to sell my art ..thru craft shows ect.
You could make a tile colour chart type thing where you have every colour written on both axis' and then you can test 2 or 3 together or test specifically what layer certain colours look best on.
I love your videos! What are the songs you used in this video? :)
Maybe a spreadsheet could help you organize the combinations of glazes in dipping order or by the effect you get from each of them? Then you could search a specific glaze and it'd show the cells that have those combinations that have already been tested and you could rank those by looks/success
How is it going with the test tiles? I’d like to see some of the combos!
What do you do with the glazes you don’t like/ don’t want? Throw em out? Return them?
What kind of Pug Mill do you use?
It sounds like you need to find a computer nerd who can write you a program and then print out all your possibilities! Wow! You could spend your life just testing them. Why don't you just test fire the 15 glazes by themselves then discard the ones YOU know you wouldn't use, or like. It might cut down a few combinations. Have fun. Cheers Bob 🇬🇧
Actually what would be really cool is to create a machine learning program that "learns" what the likely best combinations are from the results.
Use an excel spreadsheet. You can set it up to say, Number, First glaze, second, ect.. Then maybe grade or just comments in the last column for how well it turned out.
Testing! Haha, yes! Science!
I hope I can see the final result
anyone know how much clay you use to make this test tiles??
You should create an excel spread sheet and if you use google you can get it to where you can highlight something if you had done that combo already.
You might try giving each glaze a number and on each tile put the first layers number 1st, 2ndayer 2nd and 3rd last. That way you always know what each tile has on it. (If that makes any sence😁)
You could number the 15 glazes. 1-15 then you could stamp the combos. I like to do series like I’ll do 1 base glaze then other combos on top. So like 1-2-3, 1-2-4, 1-2-5 in one kiln. Then so 2s. Obviously you don’t want to do every bottom layer you could on 1 glaze. just do 4 of each but a stamp would add texture
Wow, I was just thinking about ways I could throw business card holders.
I'm an organization maniac, I have an idea of an option to do your testers! I'd like to be able to share it with you if possible
What brand of glazes are those? Simply stunning results!
Continental Clay in Minneapolis, MN!
Anyone know the song that starts playing at 6:42?
Zach Smith you x you From ooyy
instead of numbering the pieces and writing down a bunch of names, what if you number the glazes? if each glaze is assigned a number, then you could write those numbers in whatever order you dip them in on the bottom of the test pieces. that way you wouldn't have to refer back to the notebook every time to figure out what the combination is, you could just look at the numbered buckets of glaze. might save you some time!
The BEST one is going to be called SHIRIO! =} Are you going to NCECA this year?
Yes I am!
subscribed😊
why not use a clay pencil so you can write the combo at the bottom of the tile and it won’t burn off in the kiln?? i feel like this is an obvious suggestion so sorry if u have already thought of it but it’s what we do at our studio on the bottoms of all our test stuff so it’s super simple and easy!
Triaxials?
Wow, i also tend to cut thrown pieces for testtiles, but your method is super good. BUT: I would appreciate it, when people showing or telling others to overlayer glazes, they would also mention that the logic of pouring one "so called" food safe (whatever that is these days) glaze on top of another food safe glaze, that this does not necessarily result in another food safe glaze in the end. Expecially when you use ready made glazes, where you might not know the glaze formula or ingredients. Simple Chemistry. Please correct me, if I am wrong! Or maybe I just missed that remark in the video...
Of course I am only talking about glazes applied on the inside for pieces that get in contact with foods & drinks.
you should create a wheel with all your glazes on it and just spin the wheel three times in a row to get a combination and then fire it.
If you put it on an excel spreadsheet, maybe you can make your system. I make a lot of notes on my Chinese herbs in excel.
Quite the daunting task there .... but one way you could approach it ...you could focus on one color each week and do 15 testers of that as the bottom color A,
15 as the middle color and 15 as the top color ....by dipping say
15 of color A , then dipping once in each different color for your second dip
for the third dip on each I would just dip a corner a second time.... so you have your first color plus two layers of your second color ABB. ACC ADD AEE and so on
That “set of 15” could be made several times and add a different top color to each set ABA ABB ABC ABD and so on
you could then make that same set and use your A color in the middle... so dip 15 tiles, one of each color first ,then dip each of those in your A color... and possibly the first color on top again like color BAB CAC. DAD. EAE and so on to see the color as a middle color
make another set of one of each color and choose a second color for a middle color for all and then use your A color for the top coat.... BCA CCA DCA ECA seeing A for your top coat
if you made 15 a day in one month you could have 450 tests!🤯
It seems like you would have a good idea of what would make a good base and a good top .... you could try combo sets of (color A ) and (color C) as base and top for all colors.... ABC ADC AEC AFC and so on
note taking could be simplified too, if you gave the colors a letter, so for example tile #1 could be dipped in ABB...(1dip in color A and 2 dips in color B)
It’s fun to watch you , thanks for taking this on! Don’t give up😊if you make a shelf for them you could lay it out like a color chart seeing how all the colors affect each other. It could be a cool wall art thing for your new studio😊
Hey, Jon! Love your energy! Looks like there are a few suggestions in the comments for developing a computerized system for keeping track of combinations. My sis (who does all things computer for me) would probs suggest a database (MS Access) from which you can generate reports - so, like, you could pull a report showing all of the combinations you've done with a certain glaze, or a certain two glazes, in a certain order.
So... I wanted to alert you to a thing... If that's ok... *whispers apology*
The way you're pronouncing "Rouge Red" is incorrect. You're saying "rogue" as in Rogue One (great movie!); "rouge" is with an "oo" sound and a soft g. It refers to the cheek color our grandmothers and great-grandmothers used to wear, hence the pink color the glaze is supposed to be by itself. Hope this is helpful and not offensive!
Luv ya'! Love your vids and tutorials; you are a great help to many of us!!
Rouge is the French word for red.
first love ur videos!
Writing down the names is going to take too long and be hard to skim to see if you've done a certain test already.
Buy 15 different little stamps (star, circle, triangle, smiley face, ect). Each stamp corresponds to a different glaze bucket and should mark it. Make a huge (large font) legend you can hang above your glaze area. As you dip, just stamp next to the number in your book! Quick and easy.
Or just name your glazes A, B, C, ....
It would be easy to track the colors since it’s in a video lol
Yeah, that's a lot of time consumption! Maybe label each color with a letter and make a spreadsheet with all the possibilities and then start...? Wow. You have some work cut out for you👍
"БУКВЫ" хочу читать русские "БУКВЫ" где мои субтитры?
Hi John,
You need more scientific approach. ☺️ Hope that this comment is going to be understandable. You say that you mark each tile by a number. That is good, even great. But how do you make diference between the first serie of test tiles from your fifth série ? In the end they are all going to finish in the sime box for test tiles.
When you make the tests you have to bee very, very, very... Very precise. If not, all the hard work is gone 😭😭😭 (I know the feeling). There is a simple solution. If you use the sime numbers (from 1 to 16) for each serie of tests and you mark your tiles when they are still wet (as you did on this video). In this case you just have to add a date on your tile (and in your note book also). And you do thid with the brush and the iron oxide (because your tile is fired once at this point). So you'll have your tile number 8 from 20.02.2019 and you'll know exactly what you did because you've marked it in your notes as 8 20.02.2019. (for exemple). If you mark your tiles from 1 to 2560 than you just have to be very careful not to mark the sime number twice (I did that too). And I will not enter into the thickness of each glaze testings or you're gong to 😭. You can do the glaze testing all your life and still you will not be close to an ending. 😁 But in the end just HAVE FUN with it, that's most importaint. 😊 🇫🇷
You look like shad roughar
From Utah? (I noticed your profile image.) I grew up with a Shad Roughar in northern Utah but lost track of him.
Ex-cit-ing!
Your math is a little bit off. To test all 15 with 3 layers being different would be 2730. But if you wanted to test all possible 3 layer combos it would be 3375 which would include dipping it in the same colour three times. And if you wanted to test ALL possible combinations with 15 colours it would be 3615 options (this would include one and two layer glazes). Which is a lot of options. Not that this comment necessarily helps I just wanted to figure out the math. Btw love your work.
why dont you try doing combos of 2 first, there are only 13 * 12 of these combos = 156. then you can cherry pick the 3 X combos
Hey Jon, thanks for sharing. And just being a cool dude to watch.
I was wondering. Do you have a favorite book for glazes. I make my own, but I need something more exciting Like you got. Thanks.