Steve's First Piece of Art - A mug

My friend Sonia convinced me to go to Petroglyphs, a place where you can piece out something for the house, paint it and have it fired and glazed for you.

I was originally going to paint some coasters with the MacOS logo on them, but as they were out of coasters, I chose a mug.

I am no artist, but I am really happy with how it turned out! Now that I know how the colors change when the paint is fired, I can have more accurate control on my next piece!

I am working on a QTVR movie of the mug, but for now this image will have to do :)

I did all of the drawing by hand, in pencil after having practiced in a notebook. I then filled in with lighter colors. Next were the bands of colors, with no trace lines (I should have used some!) and finally the one coat black to finish off the piece.

Shiver Me Timbers!

This morning I heard a "pop" and went into the kitchen. The blue paint to the left of the logo had popped off the mug! Turns out this is called "shivering" and happens when the bisque is not molded properly. I am getting a free mug and studio session as an apology.

However I have a different theory - Skin oil. The pattern of the shivering fits my left thumb where I held the mug a lot while painting the logo. My hands are naturally oily, so I think this was the case here.

I will be taking some latex gloves to Petroglyphs when I paint Mug 2.0!