Licorice
MBG140
Step one: undercoatLicorice is a glossy brush-on glaze from Coyote's Texas Two-Step line, fired cone 5 to cone 6.
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Friendly studio tip for this glaze
If you want the spots to be the whole point, start here. Black is the highest contrast ground in the set, so whatever you put over it reads hardest. Marshmallow over Licorice is about as loud as this line gets, and Sea Mist over it is the quietest thing that still obviously works. Tiles 1 to 6 on the board are all Licorice, in overcoat order.
The quick version of Licorice
What it does with a partner
Loading the pairings.
Based on the two you last chose
Undercoat on bisque. Two or three brushed coats, or one dipped. Let it dry completely.
Overcoat on top. Two or three coats, over all of it or only part of it.
Fire and stand back. The top glaze pulls away and the one underneath breaks through in spots.
Thickness is the dial, and no photograph can show it. Coyote say the thicker the glaze goes on, the larger the spots get. Their optimum is two coats under and three over. The full explanation lives on the family page.
What this glaze does
A true black, glossy and even. The highest contrast ground of the six, which is why it is the one to reach for when you want the spots to be the whole point.
Clays that suit Licorice
Applied over cone 04 bisque. Any of our clay bodies works, and the undercoat covers the body well enough that what is underneath matters less than the thickness of what you brush.
Applying this glaze to your work
Goes on the bare bisque, so this is the coat that has to be even. A thin patch here turns into a patch with no spots later, because there is nothing underneath for the overcoat to pull away from.
Undercoat first, on cone 04 bisque. Two or three brushed coats, or one dipped, dried all the way through before anything else touches it. Then the overcoat.
Thickness is the dial here, and no photograph can show it. Coyote say the thicker the glaze goes on, the larger the spots get, and less regular with every extra coat. Their optimum is two coats under and three over, and they say plainly that you should experiment from there.
Layering
Pair it with any of the six overcoats we stock: Birch, Blue Moon, Clementine, Marshmallow, Sea Mist, Texas Rose. Every one of those pairings is on this page. It also works over glazes outside the family, which Coyote encourage you to try.
Cover all of the undercoat or only part of it. A partial overcoat gives you a hard edge between solid color and oil spot on the same pot, which is worth doing on purpose.
It is not sealed off from the rest of the shelf either. The same pull-away effect turns up over plenty of glazes outside this family, so if a combination is calling to you, put it on a tile and find out.
From The Clay Hole University
More info about Licorice below, but first... Everything we teach about glazing, written down and taught properly. These are the glaze lessons, and they are a small corner of a library that runs from centering your first pot to selling your work.
GuideGlaze Brushing Techniques, Coat by Coat
GuideGlazing Big and Intricate Pottery Faster
GuideGetting the Most Out of the Mega Glaze Tool
GuideMaking, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles
GuideGlaze Problems, Causes and Fixes
GuideGlazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands
GuideBubble Glaze with Dish Soap
GuideMixing Your Own Glazes: What It Actually Involves
GuideMaking a Glaze Catcher
GuideOxide and Carbonate Washes
GuideWhen to Use Celadon Glazes
GuideHow to Use Dipping Glazes
UnderglazeHow to Use Underglaze: Techniques, Rules and Firing
UnderglazeMishima: How to Inlay Slip and Underglaze into Carved Lines
UnderglazeWipe-Away Texture: Underglaze and Oxide Washes on Bisque
Firing Licorice
Coyote make these for cone 5 and 6 in an electric kiln. Our glaze kilns run cone 5½, right in the middle of that.
None of this is yours to manage. We handle everything on the kiln side, and every glaze on our shelves can be fired safely in our studio.
Common problems with Licorice
Why did I get no spots?
You need both halves. An undercoat or an overcoat on its own fires as a solid color.
Why are my spots tiny?
Thin glaze. Coyote say the thicker it goes on, the larger the spots get.
Why is it uneven across the pot?
That is the effect working. Thickness varies as you brush, and the spots follow it.
Food and function
Rated for functional ware by Coyote, and the oil spot surface is glassy rather than open, so it wipes clean the way an ordinary gloss does.
Coyote have the Texas Two Step glazes independently certified non toxic and dinnerware safe. Test your own finished work if you sell it.
Our test tile pots
Every glaze family on our shelves has its own test tile pot, and it is the fastest way to decide what to put on a piece. It is a fired pot wearing the whole family, one numbered tile per glaze, on a surface built to show you what that glaze actually does rather than just what color it is.
- 1Find the pot The brand and family name are written on the rim. This glaze lives on the Coyote Texas Two-Step pot.
- 2Find the tile This one is tile #1 to 6. The numbers match the ones in the Glaze Bible.
- 3Read it properly Look at what the glaze does across all four textures, not just what color it is.
What to look at on the tile
Some glazes tell you loudly that they run. Others hide it. Look at how the brushed lines fired: crisp edges mean a stable glaze, and edges that went soft and fluid mean it moved, and it will move on your pot too.
About the Coyote Texas Two-Step Family
Twelve glazes that are really one system. Six undercoats, six overcoats, and thirty six combinations between them.
Oil spot is normally a cone 10 trick. Coyote built this line to get the same effect at cone 5 and 6 in an ordinary electric kiln, by having the top glaze pull away as it melts and letting the one underneath break through in spots.
Two glazes, one over the other, and the kiln does the rest. Three moves, then the detail that decides how it turns out.
More ways to pick a glaze
Membership levels that may use this glaze: Purple & Black
Not sure whether this glaze suits what you are making, or how it works with our system here? Ask an instructor. That is what we are here for, and a two minute conversation at the shelf beats a fired pot you did not want.
About these images and what your pot will actually look like
We have done our best to represent every glaze here accurately, and you should still expect your pot to look different from what is on this screen.
Our glaze tile images are digitally created. They are built to show the character of a glaze, not to be a color match.
A screen is not a printout, a printout is not a test tile, and a test tile is not a finished pot. Each step in that chain shifts what a glaze looks like, sometimes a lot.
On top of that, the pottery itself changes the result: the clay body, how thick the glaze went on, whether it was brushed, dipped or sprayed, what was layered under or over it, where the piece sat in the kiln, how hot that spot ran, how fast it cooled, what was fired next to it, and how much texture the surface had. Two pots glazed from the same jar on the same day can come out different.
Treat every image here as a starting point, and treat a test tile fired on your own clay as the real answer.