Pheasant Platter

Designer: William Pulse

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Instructions

  1. Begin with properly cleaned greenware prepared by using the Clean Up Tool and Green Grit Pad to remove the seams and imperfections to the ware. Use a damp BT-910 Sponge to remove any excess clay dust from the ware.
  2. Using CB-618 Soft Fan to apply 3 good even coats of UG-32 Cocoa to the entire front of the piece. Let dry.
  3. Using the Blue Masking Tape to secure the pattern to the ware. Use a pencil and AC-320 Clay Carbon to transfer the pattern. Do not transfer any of the fine feather detail to the bird at this time. Only transfer the major sections of the bird, you should have 6 areas noted:  Upper back down above the wing, breast down to legs and rear, pointed oval shape below the wing area, two areas to the wing and a section behind the lower wing feathers.
  4. On a tile, place small amounts of all of the following colors. When blocking in the following colors, use the brush to your advantage but applying the color in the direction of the section being painted. Using CB-404 and CB-406 Pointed Rounds to apply 2-3 coats of color washes (color thinned with some water) to the pheasant as follows:
    UG-210 Forrest Green to the Head excluding the eye marking.
    UG-206 Fire Engine Red to the eye marking around the eye.
    *UG-213 Cinnamon and UG-57 Spice Brown mixed (1:1) to paint in the back section and breast section down to the rear of the body.
    UG-58 Harvest Gold to the section below the wing along the breast and to the beak.
    UG-53 Silver Grey to the upper wing section above the gold section.
    UG-31 Chocolate to the lower wing section.
    UG-73 Wedgewood Blue to the upper section behind the lower wing area.
    UG-57 Spice Brown to the bottom portion behind the lower wing. Blend this color up over the Wedgewood Blue slightly.
    UG-58 Harvest Gold to the tail feathers.
    UG-30 Sand to the feet and legs.
  5. Shading of the above areas are done with the following colors over them as noted using CB-406 Pointed Round loaded with water and tipped with color using the brush on its side. The shading should add dimension to the shape and contour of the pheasant: UG-91 True Teal to the upper edge on the head down the back side and just under the
    beak.
    UG-50 Jet Black to shade the back of neck over green and teal. Just under the beak for shadow and just below the eye over the red. Keep this color light.
    UG-31 Chocolate to the upper edge along the back, down the front of the breast to the rear, under the gold section below the wing, to the feet and legs, on the upper gold section next to the wing.
    UG-34 Chestnut Brown to the lower section of the wing section.
    UG-57 Spice Brown to the separation of the tail feathers and along the bottom edge of the tail feather.
  6. To the leaves of the bush apply some shading with thinned SC-85 Orange Sorbet and UG-21Leaf Green using CB-406 Pointed Round loaded with water and tipped with the color. Use the brush on its side to do the shading. Use some UG-21 Leaf Green to add some subtle shading of the grass areas near and around the feet, to the grasses behind the pheasant’s tail and along the bottom edge of the pattern near the rim and keeping the brush strokes going with the flow of the grass. Use UG-30 Sand to shade in amongst the leaves and grass areas around the pheasant. Darken these areas especially below the pheasant and below the individual leaves with UG-31 Chocolate.
  7.  Retrace the detail to the feather or sketch them in with a pencil. It is best to have some idea of the direction and location of the separations of the individual feathers and their markings prior to detailing the pattern. Keep the feathers in an alternating pattern and placement like scales on a fish.
  8. There are some markings on the upper back feathers that are done with a wet brush tipped ever so with thinned UG-50 Jet Black. These markings are done with the tip of the brush to form a light “V” shaped print.
  9. To the berries on the bush plant, use thinned UG-85 Orange Sorbet with thinned UG-206 Fire Engine Red using CB-220 Detail Liner. Keep these colors light especially the red.  Just a hint of color is needed.
  10. Shade along each individual lower wing feather with thinned UG-34 Chestnut Brown. Accentuate the shading along the lower feathers behind the wing as well.
  11. Detailing of the pattern is done with SG-406 Brown to note each feather keeping the lines as fine as possible. The feathers behind the wing are detailed by quickly outlining them in a free form “scratchy” style. The leaves and stems on the bush plant and to the grasses behind and around the bush plant are detailed as well. Draw in some detail lines to the grasses and background areas below the pheasant. Detail the legs and feet.
  12. The markings on the breast feathers, wings and tail are done with SG-401 Black. Add some fine detail to the head over the green and red areas. This can be done with fine dots of color as well as a fine broken line of black. To darken and reinforce some of the detail to the lower wing and feathers behind them by adding some lines  back over the previous detailed brown lines. Darken one side of the branches with some black dots and broken lines to give the branches dimension. Squeeze out some color on a tile and paint in the eye with CB-100 Liner.
  13. Use SG-402 White to paint in the ring feathers on the neck and add the highlight to the eye.
  14. Fire to Shelf Cone 04-05.
  15. Apply 3 coats of FN-023 Cinnamon to the back of the platter using CB-604 or CB-618 Soft Fan. Try to keep this edge even along the rim of the platter.
  16. Apply 2-3 coats of S-2101 Crystal Clear Brush to the front of the platter using CB-604 or CB-618 Soft Fan. The clear glaze can overlap the color on the back slightly. Let dry.
  17. Stilt and Fire the piece to Shelf Cone 05-06.

Supplies

Form

  • CD-956 Oval Platter

Colors

  • FN-023 Cinnamon
  • UG-21 Leaf Green
  • UG-30 Sand
  • UG-31 Chocolate
  • UG-32 Cocoa
  • UG-34 Chestnut Brown
  • UG-50 Jet Black
  • UG-53 Silver Grey
  • UG-57 Spice Brown
  • UG-73 Wedgewood Blue
  • UG-85 Orange Sorbet
  • UG-92 True Teal
  • UG-206 Fire Engine Red
  • UG-210 Forest Green
  • UG-213 Cinnamon
  • SG-401 Black Designer Liner
  • SG-402 White Designer Liner
  • SG-406 Brown Designer Liner
  • S-2101 Crystal Clear Brushing Glaze

Decorating Accessories

  • CB-110 #10/0 Liner
  • CB-220 #2/20 Detail Liner
  • CB-404 #4 Pointed Round
  • CB-406 #6 Pointed Round
  • CB-604 #4 Soft Fan
  • CB-618 #8 Soft Fan
  • AC-230 Clay Carbon Paper

Miscellaneous Accessories

  • Pencil
  • BT-910 Synthetic Sponge
  • Tile or Palette
  • Scissors
  • Blue Masking Tape (Painter’s Tape)
  • Clean Up Tool
  • Green Grit Pad
  • Pattern

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