Kathi Cardinalli shows a simple way to use painted animal motifs to turn a plain ceramic bowl into a personalized piece. It will look great holding your favorite fruit or your dog's favorite bones.
Materials:
white ceramic bowls
ceramic paints from craft stores (Black, brown, terra cotta and red were used on the show.)
black marker
high-quality paintbrushes
samples of animal prints
Steps:
- Paint a design--or two--on a plain ceramic bowl. One example is to paint a black-and-white zebra print on the outside and a cheetah or other spotted animal print on the inside.
- For a zebra print, turn the bowl upside down and make a couple of large block letters such as an "N" or "V" (figure A).
- Make the same letters right side up, then vary them all the way around.
- For leopard spots, draw a circular amoeba shape. (Remember high school biology?) Draw another closed shape inside the first one.
- Put black ceramic paint on a high-quality paintbrush, then fill in the zebra stripes with long strokes (figure B).
- For the interior, use a sponge brush to paint a background color on--perhaps a terra-cotta color (figure C). The outlines will still be visible through this coat.
- Use a square-ended brush and brown paint for the outer portion of the spots that have been drawn.
- Use black paint for the inner portion of the spots (figure D).
- Add a red color around the rim to "frame" the piece.
- Follow the instructions on the paint to bake the piece after it dries.
Tips
- Don't be too careful about covering all the lines in a zebra print.
- Leaving portions of the outline visible adds to the natural look.
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