Carving

At last …. a method guaranteed to bring carving backgrounds to a clear, simple level. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced painter, you can use the following sheets of Celee’s very best carved shadows to learn how to use your silk for creating beautiful shapes on your own or you can fire them directly onto your piece for instant, beautiful backgrounds.

These 9 sheets are very versatile. Slide them under clear plastic and block in paint on any segment. Then, using Celee’s “Ready Carver” brush, copy Celee’s signature shapes using your silk and wipeout tool. You’ll learn where and how Celee places her negative spaces for the prettiest shapes. Doing this repeatedly is a great way to learn carving. OR you can choose the ideal cluster from the decal sheet, cut it out, and transfer it onto your porcelain for the perfect background shape with no work at all, except firing it like any decal! Either way you will greatly enhance your pieces with the technique Celee has become known for ……… carving!


Paint "over" original	Paper slid under plastic to check your blending and edging

To LEARN carving: First slide a decal sheet into a clear plastic sheet protector. Then choose from one of the clusters and lay in double loaded paints – use Celee’s “Ready Carver” or an equivalent #18 square shader to lay in the color with hard and soft edges. Next, slide white paper under the plastic to view your paint application. Then use silk over your index finger to scrape away or remove the wet paint exactly where Celee’s sample cluster has it. After carving out all of these negative spaces, use your large wipe out tool to clean the negative spaces you just carved. Re-insert the white card to view your beautiful finished carved cluster. If you repeat this process 4 or 5 times on the same cluster you will begin to intuitively learn the ratio of positive and negative spaces and the sequence that leads to the finished cluster, and you will be on your way to beautiful carving on your own piece. There are literally hundreds of segments to choose from on these sheets!

Finished "carved" cluster copied from Decal Sheet #5

The “Ready Carver” brush, silk, and wipe out tool were used to reproduce Celee’s original cluster from Sheet #5. Now try it on your porcelain! Use the decals conservatively; the tile below with 9 decals may be too busy for some tastes.

Especially for Teachers

This is a tool you cannot be without if you plan on teaching this carving technique! Have your students go through the previous steps and watch them conquer carving right along with you!!

Then there is the other use…..
Actually Firing the Decals

See what a difference these carved clusters make when you cut them out and you actually apply and fire them onto your porcelain.

Tile with 9 shadow decals added.
Can you find the 9 decals?
(Answer at the bottom)

Sheets 1 through 9

#1 - Garlands / Vertical Stylized Stems $12	#2 - Cluster Flowers / Foliage $10	#3 - Broad Leaves / Large Groups $10

#4 - Rose Leaves / Buds / Thorns $10	#5 - Generic Leaves / Some Thorns $10	#6 - Wild Roses / Thorny Foliage $10

#7 - Lemons / Lily of the Valley Sprigs $10	#8 - Leaf Variety / Curved Borders $12	#9 - Leaves & Stems / No Thorns $10

Each sheet can be cut apart, and that segment applied to porcelain (like any decal) and fired between 016 & 014!

Instructions included with each sheet.


Study with Celee's original hand-carved shadows fired	Here is the diagram. Did you find the 9 decals?

Colors used (in combination) on these background sheets:
Cool Shadow, Auburn, Tan, Chartreuse, Ruby Rosé, Blue Violet, Black Green, and Spearmint.