The first stage of clay is slip. Slip is watery clay; it is most often used to "slip and score", which I used to attach the features of the mug to the mug itself.
The second stage of clay is wet. Wet is moist, very plastic clay. Wet is the type of clay I love to use, just because it feels so fresh, and because it is moist enough that I don't have to soften it with water.
The third stage of clay is leather hard. Leather hard is the stage my mug was in after being left on the shelf for twenty-four hours or so. It is easier to cut but very difficult to sculpt.
The fourth stage of clay is greenware. Greenware is completely dry clay that is fragile and breakable. I would say that greenware is an overdose of leather hard for the clay. In other words, leaving clay out for a longer amount of time can turn leather hard clay into greenware.
The fifth stage of clay is bisque. This is the clay after its first firing. If it was grey clay, it is now white in this stage. It is now completely hard and no longer soft in any way. Bisque, luckily, is only one stage away from glaze...
The sixth stage of clay is glaze. This is the final firing and results in a smooth texture and a shiny look. I loved the way my glaze came out. While I was painting the mug, it was more of a ruddy red-brown but when it glazed, it turned out to be this beautiful spotted green.
Geometric pen drawing detailed with stippling. What started out as a simple mountain doodle turned out to be a bit more chaotic than I'd anticipated but I like the end result!
