Sgraffito design on a bowl exterior
Take your scratch skills to a real piece.
The task
- Coat a leather-hard bowl with contrasting slip (dark slip on light clay, or vice versa)
- When the timing is right, scratch a repeating pattern or botanical design around the exterior
- Clean burrs with a dry brush (never damp; it smears)
- Work under raking side light (shadows reveal your lines as you carve)
Design ideas
- Repeating leaf shapes around the circumference
- Geometric bands (triangles, chevrons)
- A continuous vine wrapping the bowl
- Abstract flowing lines
Quality markers
- Consistent line depth throughout
- No smeared edges
- The design "reads" clearly from across a room