MATERIALS AND TOOLS
The materials and tools needed are as follows: Clay; oil-cloth, 18 inches square; cotton cloth or flannelette, 18 inches square; a few simple modelling tools; a soft pencil; drawing paper; card-board, 6 ply; a plaster of paris "bat," or a piece of slate.
Clays.—It will be necessary to add a word of explanation in order that these materials and tools may be well selected. There is a great variety in clays, ranging from a very coarse red clay used for flower pots to the finest white clay used for porcelain. The latter is called kaolin and is very pure. A good modelling clay may be obtained from dealers in school supplies or from potteries. In some localities, especially in the neighbourhood of brick-yards or other clay industries, a satisfactory clay may be easily found. But, however obtained, some experimenting will be necessary to test its suitability. The modelling clay is probably the least liable to yield disappointing results.
The cotton cloth or flannelette is to be moistened and used to wrap up the clay in order to keep it from drying too rapidly during the intervals when it is set aside. This will not be necessary during the early part of the process, for then it is desirable for the clay to stiffen as rapidly as possible by natural means.
Simple tools used in pottery
Of the modelling tools needed some can be whittled from hard wood. They are not expensive, however, and the beginner will perhaps find it well to obtain most of them from a dealer in artists' materials. The accompanying illustration shows some of these, among them a very useful tool (F) with brass wire loops which are in turn wound with finer wire. F and C are especially useful for scraping clay too soft to be easily managed with smooth edges. The thumb-like tool A is perhaps the most generally useful of those shown here.
In this connection it is well to emphasize the fact that the greatest of all tools is the human thumb. Cultivate its use. Most modelling and building can be managed with the thumb, assisted by the fingers.
The Bat and How Made.—A plaster of paris bat will be found exceedingly useful. A sheet of thin, unsized paper serves well, however, for a surface on which to build; but the dry plaster of the bat absorbs the moisture of the clay at the bottom and hastens the stiffening process. This bat can be easily made. Take a small quantity of water (a half pint or more according to the size of the bat required), sift into this from the hand an equal amount of plaster of paris, and stir it in until a little dry plaster appears at the surface. After a little more vigorous stirring let it rest a few minutes and then pour it into tin pans which are 4 or 5 inches in diameter by 1 inch deep. The pans should be previously coated on the inside with a thick soap solution, made by dissolving soap in hot water to the consistency of a thick cream. The bats will harden in 10 or 15 minutes and may be easily removed from the pan, ready for use.