Angel Wing, Bird Wing Making in Clay

This is what I teach my over 200 high school ceramics students so that they can put bird or angel wings on their fantasy creatures. We do this demo with them making their own as they watch and hear my instructions, along with the bat wing making demo the same day. I have also seen them use this lesson to create angel wing handles on cups, angel wing pendants, and sculptural art with bird/angel wings.

[ashleypoole]

You are by far the best teacher, I've watched so many videos on how to make wings an never could get it down pat, but thanks to you I finally figured it out!! THANK U SOOOO

[sherripattenceramics]

I so relate to your issue! And so do most of my students! The first time you trace into (sgraffito) the clay, go lightly so that not much clay builds up. Put your clay work into a plastic bag with just perhaps a hole in the top the size of a quarter. Within a day or 2 the clay will be at the leatherhard stage. This is the time to carve more deeply into the clay. The easiest tool to use is a wire loop sgraffito tool that you can purchase at Amazon, Blicks, etc.... But I don’t have that much money to spend with my students so they use a pencil. A needle tool or paper clip doesn’t make a large enough crevice. You will find that in the leatherhard stage, the clay build up will easily come out! I especially like to put the clay work on it’s side and tap it so that gravity can help getting those little pieces of clay out!
I like to sgraffito quite deeply into the clay. Then, after the bisque fire, I can messily rub glaze into the lines, and next use a sponge to clean off the surface (before the glaze dries) so that the glaze stays only in the lines. It’s a beautiful, tactile effect! I hope that you enjoy it!😀

[dareggymeal]

This is so helpful! I have an official art exam tomorrow, and I had no idea how to make wings out of clay 😅 but thanks to you, it's going to be so much easier

[sherripattenceramics]

To be exact, about a 1/16th of an inch depth is good when you sgraffito (carve into) the clay.
You might really also like the effect of messily rubbing iron oxide into the lines, and then using a sponge to wipe off the excess. After that, you can put transparent glaze over it and it’s beautiful! Know that some glazes are opaque - you can’t see through them after they’re fired so you have to make sure that your glaze is the kind that you can see through to see the beautiful brown underneath but as I said below, you can do this same technique with any glaze underneath as long as the glaze on top is transparent. Have fun!

[dakotap]

Your video was so helpful. I just started taking classes about three months ago. With just about every piece I trace out, the excess clay that builds up is so frustrating. I was told to just brush them off, but that doesn’t take everything off. Just how deep should the tracing be? My problem is when I put the two coats of paint on, the paint often times fills the lines so they aren’t as noticeable. Any suggestions?