Mishima Platter -- Brief Process Recap

Mishima Platter. Completed! Lines not as fine as my first attempt (hot weather, timing..clay a bit too dry), but final product better overall.  Third time the charm?

a. Etch design in leather hard clay. 

b. Clean up the clay crumbs

c. Apply engobe (glaze) into the etched lines. Let it seep in, and then reapply to make sure you are getting the crevices filled. After my first attempt at Mishima,  I used a decorator tip (on bottle of glaze) to focus the glaze more directly into the etched lines. I found the decorator tip left less glaze spill-over mess to clean up.

d. When the engobe is dry, carefully clean up the excess  on the surfaces (above the etched lines).  I used a scraper and very lightly damp sponge. Watch that the sponge -- you don't want to allow glaze dust to stick to the flat clay surfaces -- it is hard to see, but it is there! Careful.  (You can sand it out post first fire, but easier to have it clean as comes from kiln. 

e. Fire.

f. Glaze as you want for second fire -- the design you made stays there, and the plane is relatively smooth on surface as emerges from second fire.