PORCELAIN CANVAS

The tiles are a transparent, very fine yet very strong porcelain tile. The smaller tiles are cut with a Laser and the edges are perfectly straight.  The larger tiles are cut by hand with a diamond saw and some edges may not be perfectly straight.  It is recommended these larger pieces be framed.  The larger sizes are also a little thicker than the smaller tiles and not so transparent.

 The Canvas tiles  have a satin look  and can be painted with our porcelain paints and enamels in exactly the same manner as we paint our glazed porcelain.  Either side can be painted on.  Lustres will not fire shiny as they require a glaze to show up their beauty.

Porcelain Canvas tiles are excellent for beginners as there is more grip when painting.

Firing: Porcelain Canvas is best fired at a lower temperature – about 750 deg Celsius.  No need to fire to 800 deg.  Stand in plate rack or  lay flat on your kiln shelf.  Laying flat is my preference. 

They will tolerate multiple firings.     Bring the kiln up slowly and a slow cool down.  They will take a high firing.  I took a test piece up to 1200 deg C and it fired perfectly. 

 Colours:  All colours fire well except Brown Greens as they have a tendency to fire brown.  This can be a good look on leaves.  I also have this problem with the brown greens on bisque porcelain.  Pure greens should be okay but if in doubt TEST FIRE  first rather than ruin that "masterpiece".

Sketch design on with a fine lead pencil very lightly.  It should fire out if not applied too heavy.   Do NOT use your graphite pencil.   If you want to take pencil off prior to firing, use a cream cleanser (such as Jiff) very gently and rinse in water.

The finished painting could be a little patchy.  If so, wash over with a Magnolia glaze.  Be careful if you have reds in your painting as if fired too high they could fire out.

Another alternative to the Magnolia Glaze (if you don't wish to do another firing) is to spray the finished, fired canvas with a light application of a spray sealer.  DO NOT fire after applying the sealer.  I prefer this method to finish my canvas.

This will also even up any patchy areas and leave your canvas looking very professional.  The spray sealer I recommend is “MICADOR” and can be purchased from most art shops.  There are two types – Crystal Clear and Matt.  The Crystal Clear gives a shiney surface to the finished Canvas and you will find your colours have more clarity and brightness.  Lovely for reds.  The Matt Micador Spray will leave a matt look to your canvas.

Decals can be applied.  I would recommend warming up the canvas first and floating the decal off in warm water.  When applying,  be very careful to smooth all air bubbles out with a soft dry cloth.   A little more care is required than on our highly glazed porcelain.

Acrylics and oil paints also work well on these tiles.

Happy painting

Sandra