• You will need water to wash your brushes in and kitchen roll (or similar) to dry your brushes.
  
• ONLY USE the paints supplied by us on your pottery, otherwise problems can occur during firing which can adversely affect the appearance of your piece.
  
• Before you start it is a good idea to take a look at our colour chart (opens in a new window) which shows what the paint colours will look like after firing (the colours are also shown in our online shop).  Don’t worry if the paints look pale or dull on your pottery/in the pot, the true vibrancy of the colours will not show up until after they have been fired in our kiln.
  
• Paints are washable and non toxic.
  
• Please make sure you have clean hands when painting. Anything like hand-cream, oil, grease from food like crisps etc can stop the paint from adhering properly.
• Any marks you make in pencil or felt tip will burn away when we fire the pottery. These are especially useful for planning/drawing your design. However, please note that some pencil marks may stop the glaze or paint from adhering as they contain a waxy residue or may react with the glaze. So please be sure to press lightly with pencil and take care not to scratch the paint off.
  
• You do not need to add any water to the paints; we usually dry brushes on kitchen towel or tissue after washing them and before using them in the next colour.
  

• To get a solid and even colour we recommend you paint the pottery 3 times, making sure the paint is dry before adding subsequent layers of paint. The paint dries very quickly! If you do less than 3 layers of paint it will look lighter and patchier in colour and you will see the brushstrokes (although this in itself is also a pretty effect). 3 layers of paint will give you a bolder colour. However do not apply the paint very thickly; too much paint can cause either a bubbled or milky finish on your fired piece.

• If you want to paint different colours over one another please paint light colours FIRST and then darker colours over the top. If you have a dark background or base colour, lighter colours will not show up once the piece is fired as the powerful pigments in the darker colours overpower the lighter shades.
• Paints can also be mixed on a palette (or plastic plate, something like a clean plastic yoghurt pot lid if you need to improvise!) so you can create your own bespoke/mystery colours. Be sure to mix enough for your 3 layers of paint. Also be aware that the colours always come out a lot darker once they have been fired.
• If you don’t paint your pottery it will still be glazed and shiny and will be a slightly off white colour, so don’t feel you have to cover every inch of the pottery with paint (but of course feel free to do so if you want to!)
• If you have a disaster don’t panic, the paint can usually be wiped off the pottery with a clean damp cloth or sponge.
• Tip: Dip the handle end of the paintbrush into paint and use it to do small neat spots on your pottery – simple but effective!
  

Have Fun!!