Surface and decoration · Relief carving

A surface with a foreground, a middle and a background.

Relief is carving that changes the shape of the surface instead of its color. Some parts stand up, some parts sit back, and the shadow between them does the work. It needs thick clay, firm leather hard, and a fixed order of operations.

This page walks that order with a tick list at every step: the plan, the outline cut, lowering the background, modeling, detail, cleanup and the slow drying that relief depends on. Six fixes and five videos from potters who do not work here.

This is the short version: the three levels, the five moves in order, and a tick list for each of the four steps. The reasoning, the additive method and the questions are all in the comprehensive version.

x3Levels. Foreground, middle, background. Never five
2 mmOf drop between levels casts a real shadow
x5Videos, from potters who have nothing to do with us
x4Steps, each with a tick list you can work off
Jump to a section
Why this page has words and video The whole idea in three lines The technique in six moves What you need on the table 1. Clay, stage and plan 2. Outline and lower 3. Model and detail 4. Clean, dry, glaze Five potters, five approaches The one video to watch When it goes wrong How it works at The Clay Hole Questions people actually ask Related lessons
An illustration of a smiling potter in glasses carving a raised bird and scrolling leaves into a vase on a turntable, carving tools on the bench in front

Every step, the additive method, the drying rules and five videos.

Read it, then watch it

Why this is written down and filmed, both.

Relief carving is a sequence more than a skill. Outline, lower, model, detail, clean, in that order, and most of what goes wrong is doing the fourth thing second. A sequence is exactly what writing holds and video loses, because you watch twenty minutes of hands and remember the flower. The hands are still worth watching: how a loop tool is held, how much it takes off per pass, what leather hard actually looks like under a blade. So the order and the tick lists live here, and the videos are for the hands.

Use both, in this order

Read the step. Watch the part of the video that covers it. Do it with the tick list open. This is a two or three session project, and the page remembers where you got to.

The whole idea

Decide three levels. Cut down to them in order.

Relief is a surface with a foreground, a middle and a background, and the trick is deciding which is which before the tool touches clay. Then it is five moves in a fixed order: outline the shapes, lower the background, model the forms, cut the detail, clean up. Firm leather hard, thick enough to carve into, dried slowly.

The five-minute version

The whole technique in six moves.

If you already carve and you just want the shape of it, this is the shape of it. Everything below is these six moves, slowed down and with the places they fail marked.

1Start thick, at leather hardThree eighths of an inch or more where the carving goes, or add a carving slab. Firm leather hard: nail marks it, fingertip does not.
2Draw it, and pick three levelsPencil on the clay. Decide what is foreground, middle and background before you cut. Simplify until it is obvious.
3Outline every shapeA needle or V tool around each shape, held upright. This stop cut is what keeps the edges crisp when you lower the background.
4Lower the backgroundA loop tool, in passes across the whole area, down to one set depth. Two or three millimeters is plenty. Check it with a toothpick mark.
5Model, then detailRound the forms, decide where the light comes from, undercut only where it reads. Fine detail last, with the sharpest tool, at the firmest clay.
6Clean, then dry it slowlySoft brush for crumbs, damp brush for edges. Under plastic for days, tiles between boards. Relief cracks when it dries fast.

Before you cut anything

What you need on the table.

Six things. Two loops and a needle do most of the work; the depth reference and the bag are the two that separate a finished relief from a lumpy one that dried out.

Loop tools, two sizesA medium loop for lowering the background and a small loop for modeling. Round loops leave soft floors; square loops leave flat ones. Our studio tools are open to every Level except Green, who bring their own.
A needle tool or small V toolFor the outline cut around every shape, and for the finest lines at the end. Held upright, not raked.
A wooden modeling toolAny small wooden tool with a rounded end for pushing clay, blending an added pad into the surface, and rounding edges without cutting them.
A soft brush and a damp brushOne dry, for sweeping crumbs out of the low points without touching the edges. One barely damp, for softening a cut edge. Never a sponge; a sponge fills every detail with slurry.
A depth referenceA toothpick with a mark, or a shallow groove cut at the edge to the depth you want. Without one, the background comes out lumpy every time.
Plastic, and a damp paper towelThis is a multi-session project. A bag with a damp towel keeps the piece at leather hard for a week. Label it with your name and the date.

Two loop tools, a needle or small V tool, a wooden modeling tool, a dry soft brush and a damp one, a toothpick marked to your depth, and a bag with a damp paper towel for between sessions. That is all of it.

1

Step one

Start with enough clay, at the right stage, with a plan.

Relief is spent from the wall. Every millimeter you lower the background is a millimeter the pot no longer has. A slab for a tile wants to be half an inch thick. A thrown pot wants to be thrown heavy where the carving will go, three eighths of an inch at least, or it wants a carving layer: a thin slab, scored and slipped onto the leather hard wall, that takes the carving instead of the pot.

The stage is firm leather hard. A fingernail marks the surface; a fingertip does not dent it. Softer than that and every edge drags and closes up behind the tool. Harder than that and the edges chip into crumbs. It is a window of a few hours on a warm evening and a day or two under plastic, and the whole project lives inside it, which is why a bag and a damp paper towel are on the tools list.

Then the plan, and this is the part nobody wants to do. Draw the design in pencil on the clay. Then decide, for every shape, whether it is foreground, middle or background. Three levels. Not five. A leaf in front of a stem in front of a plain ground is a relief; a drawing where everything is at its own height is a muddle that takes twice as long and reads as noise. Simplify the drawing until the three levels are obvious, and then simplify it once more.

Adding clay

Build it up first if the shapes are big

A raised shape can be added rather than carved around. Score and slip the area, press on a pad of soft clay, blend the edges with a wooden tool, and let it firm up to match the piece. It is faster than lowering a whole background by hand and it costs no wall thickness. Most good relief is an added rough shape refined with a loop.

Taking clay away

Carve when the edges matter

Added clay gives you a shape. Carving gives you an edge. The crisp line where a petal meets the background, the shadow under a rim, the fine vein: all subtractive, all at firm leather hard, all with a sharp tool. If the design is small and detailed, skip the adding and carve the whole thing from a thick slab.

Tick list, before the first cut0 of 5
2

Step two

Outline everything, then lower the background to one depth.

The outline cut comes first, always. Run a needle or a small V tool around every shape, held upright, a couple of millimeters deep. This is a stop cut. When you lower the background afterwards, the loop tool runs into that cut and stops, and the edge of the shape stays crisp instead of getting torn as the loop drags past it.

Then the background. Decide a depth and mark it on a toothpick, or cut a small guide groove to that depth at the edge of the piece. Two or three millimeters is enough to cast a real shadow on a tile; more than that on a pot means a carving layer. Take the background down with a medium loop in shallow passes across the whole area, not one corner to finish before the next. The loop takes off a curl at a time. Check against the toothpick often. Stop at the depth, everywhere, and resist the last pass that would make it perfect, because that pass is how backgrounds go lumpy.

If the design has a middle level, lower it now too, to its own depth, before any modeling starts. The order is levels first, forms second. A piece where the forms were modeled before the background was set never quite reads right, because the eye can tell the shadows do not agree with each other.

The tool angle

Hold the loop nearly flat to the surface for the background, so it planes rather than gouges. A loop held at forty-five degrees digs a trench. The floor of the background should be one continuous plane, and the way to get one is to think of the tool as a rib with a hole in it.

Tick list, outline and lower0 of 5
3

Step three

Model the forms, then cut the detail last.

Now the shapes become things. A raised disc becomes a petal when one edge rolls down toward the background and the other stands up. Decide where the light comes from, and round the edges that face away from it. Use the small loop and the wooden tool. Take small amounts. A form that has been over-modeled cannot be un-modeled.

Undercuts are the temptation here. An edge carved back under itself throws a deep shadow and looks wonderful on the bench. It also traps glaze, and makes the piece impossible to press or slump later. Undercut where the shadow is the point, on the one or two edges the eye lands on, and leave the rest of the edges as clean vertical or sloped cuts.

Detail goes in last, when the clay is at its firmest and the tool is at its sharpest. Veins, hatching, the line down a stem, the texture on a background: a needle held upright, one pass each, no going back over. Fine lines cut twice are twice as wide. If the clay has dried past leather hard while you were modeling, stop, mist it, bag it, and do the detail tomorrow. That works for clay a little past leather hard; bone dry clay will not come back evenly.

Tick list, model and detail0 of 5
4

Step four

Clean it, dry it slowly, then glaze for shadow.

Crumbs out, edges softened, then leave it alone. A dry soft brush sweeps the low points. A barely damp brush run along a cut edge takes the sharpness off without filling the detail. No sponge, ever: a sponge turns crumbs into slurry and slurry into filled detail.

Then the drying, which is where relief pieces die. A relief is thick in the foreground and thin in the background by design, and thin clay shrinks first. Dry it fast and the background pulls the foreground apart along the deepest cuts. So: under loose plastic for the first few days, then uncovered but out of any draft, and tiles between two boards, flipped daily, so both faces dry at the same rate. Our drying lesson and the flat tiles lesson are both worth the ten minutes.

Glazing is the second place relief dies. Three coats of an opaque glaze fill the low points, round every edge and turn an evening of carving into a faint suggestion. Relief works on shadow, so glaze for shadow: a wash wiped back before a clear, a celadon or translucent satin that pools in the low points, or simply two thin coats of a transparent. If your wash is underglaze, it has to be fired on in a bisque before any glaze goes over it, so never put a clear straight over a fresh wash. Our wipe-away lesson is the natural next page, because relief is the best texture there is to wipe a wash back from.

Tick list, clean, dry, glaze0 of 4

Watch it done

Now watch five people do this five ways.

Watch this one, then go carve.

None of these potters work here or know we exist. Between them they cover a carving tutorial with examples, a drawing transferred onto clay, ten tips in chapters, relief on a round vessel and a time lapse of a flower tile. Nothing but the still frame loads until you press play.

Twenty-four minutes of examples, advice and a carving demonstration. The other four videos are in the comprehensive version.

Start here: examples and a demonstration How to Relief Carve on Clay! Miss Linnea Lark
Twenty-four minutes of examples, advice and a carving demonstration. The description calls it a tutorial on relief carving. Watch on YouTube
Low relief from a drawing Relief Carving Clay: Part I C.A. Traen
Relief carved from a drawing, in chapters: graphite transfer, tracing, tools, carving and details. The description calls it a minimally subtractive process, pressing along the lines to define the separation from the background. Watch on YouTube
Ten tips, in chapters 10 Tips for Carving Pottery Little Street Pottery
Ten tips from Ann, in chapters: the clay, leather hard, tools, sketching, edges and depth, modeling, cleaning up, added clay, texture, undercutting and a carved bird, ending on drying. Working at leather hard is one short chapter, under a minute, so use the chapter markers. Watch on YouTube
On a vessel, not a tile Relief Carving Vessel: A Masterful Sculptural Technique ceramic creation
Relief carved onto a round vessel, in a tutorial the maker describes as step by step, from choosing materials to finishing touches. Watch this if the pot you want to carve is round. Watch on YouTube
A flower tile, in time lapse Time Lapse: Ceramic Flower Relief Tiles Miknstuff
A twelve minute time lapse of a flower relief tile being made. The description is a single line, so treat it as one to watch, not one to follow step by step. Watch on YouTube

When it goes wrong

Six ways it goes wrong, and what to do about each.

The three failures that happen on the first night.

Pick the one that looks like your piece. The first three are clay problems and all three are recoverable. The last three are patience problems.

How it works here

At The Clay Hole, relief is a leather hard job.

This page is written for potters everywhere. A few things are specific to our building.

Four things to know here

Carve at leather hard, not bone dry: bone dry carving makes silica dust at a shared table. Loop tools are studio tools for every Level except Green, who bring their own. Bag your piece with your name and the date between sessions. Bisque is cone 05 and free; the glaze firing is cone 5½ at five cents a cubic inch, measured on the longest dimension in every direction, so relief that stands proud of a tile is measured to the top of the relief. A kiln cookie goes under every glazed piece.

Tools by Level

Loop tools, ribbon tools, needles and wooden modeling tools are studio tools, open to Yellow, Purple and Black Level Members. Green Level Members bring their own. A basic set of loops costs less than a bag of clay and lasts for years.

Between sessions

We do not have a communal damp box. A plastic bag with a damp paper towel keeps a piece at leather hard for a week on your shelf. Write your name and the date on the bag; unlabeled work on a shelf is how relief tiles go missing.

Slabs and slab molds

Relief tiles start on the slab rollers, which need the free slab roller and slab mold certification. Carve on a board, never on a slab mold; the slab molds are shared and a loop tool through one is a fee nobody enjoys.

Firing

Bisque is cone 05 and free. The glaze firing is cone 5½ and a flat $4.80 for anything 125 cubic inches or less, then five cents a cubic inch above that, and the measurement is the longest dimension in every direction, so a tile with relief standing up off it is measured to the top of the relief. A kiln cookie goes under every glazed piece, and no cookie means no firing. Thick relief takes longer to dry than you think; a piece that is cold to the cheek is not dry, and one that is only cool can go either way.

Dust

Carve leather hard, not dry

Clay dust is silica and it does not leave your lungs. Leather hard carving makes curls. Bone dry carving makes dust that everyone at the table breathes. If a piece has dried a little past leather hard, mist it and bag it rather than carving it; bone dry clay will not come back evenly. Wipe the table down wet when you finish.

Dust

Carve leather hard, not dry

Clay dust is silica, and silica in your lungs does not leave. Carving at leather hard makes curls and crumbs that fall on the table and get wiped up wet. Carving or sanding bone dry clay makes fine dust that hangs in the air, and a shared studio is the worst place to make it, because everyone breathes what you make. If a piece has dried a little past leather hard, mist it, bag it and come back tomorrow; bone dry clay will not come back evenly. If you must work dry, a fitted respirator with P100 cartridges is the minimum, an N95 is a compromise, and neither is a reason to do it at a shared table. Wipe your table down with a wet sponge when you are done, never a dry brush.

Questions people actually ask

The ones that come up every week.

What is the difference between relief carving and sgraffito or mishima?

Relief changes the shape of the surface: parts of it stand higher than other parts. Sgraffito and mishima leave the surface flat and change its color. You can combine them, and a wash wiped back over relief is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but relief on its own works with no color at all, because it works on shadow.

Can I carve relief on a thrown pot?

Yes, if the wall is thick enough. Throw it heavier than usual where the carving will go, three eighths of an inch or more, and carve at leather hard from the outside. Or throw normally and add a carving layer: a thin slab scored and slipped onto the wall, carved instead of the wall itself. The vessel video on this page shows relief carved on a round form.

How deep should relief be?

Deep enough to cast a shadow, which is less than you think. Two to three millimeters of drop between levels reads clearly on a tile under a lamp. Deeper is dramatic and costs wall thickness; deeper than about three millimeters on a pot needs a carving layer. Depth is spent, not free, so put it where the eye goes.

Do I need a damp box?

No, but you need patience. A relief piece is usually a two or three session project, and it has to stay leather hard between sessions. A plastic bag with a damp paper towel in it does the job for a week. If you carve a lot, our damp box lesson is the upgrade.

How do I keep relief tiles flat?

Even thickness where you can, slow drying between two boards, flipped daily, and a slab compressed with a rib on both faces before you carve. Relief tiles warp more than plain ones because the carving thins them unevenly. Our flat tiles lesson is the full method for plain tiles, and its even drying carries over to relief.

What glaze shows relief best?

Anything that pools in the low points and thins on the high points: celadons, translucent satins, honey and amber glazes, or a wash wiped back before a clear, with any underglaze bisque fired first. Opaque glazes flatten it. Two coats, not three.

Should I add clay or take it away?

Both, and usually in that order. Adding is faster for big shapes and impossible to overdo: press on a pad of soft clay, blend the edges, and you have a raised form in a minute. Taking away is where the edges and the detail come from. Most good relief is a rough additive shape refined subtractively.

Related lessons

Six lessons that sit next to this one.

Three to read next.

Relief sits between hand building and surface decoration, and it borrows from both. These are the doors on either side.

Surface and decorationWipe-Away TextureThe best thing to do to a relief once it is carved: a wash flooded in and wiped back off the high points. Surface and decorationCarving Pristine LinesThe moisture window and the tool angle, for the detail stage. Hand buildingCeramic Tiles That Stay FlatHow to roll, dry and flip a tile so it stays flat. It is written for plain tiles, and the even drying is the part that carries over. Hand buildingHow to Use Sprig MoldsRaised decoration without the carving: press, attach, blend. Trimming, handles and dryingHow to Properly Dry Your PotteryThe slow, even drying every relief piece depends on. Hand buildingKurinukiCarving the whole pot from a block. Relief taken to its conclusion.

That is the whole technique

Three levels. Outline, lower, model, detail, clean.

Your first relief will probably have a lumpy background and one edge you undercut because it looked good at the time. That is normal. The second one will have a toothpick with a mark on it and a plan with three levels, and it will look like something. Relief is patient work, and it rewards exactly the amount of patience you put in.

If you want the additive method, the drying rules, the glazing choices and the answers to the questions everybody asks, switch to the comprehensive version at the top. Otherwise, go roll a thick slab.

Back to Clay Hole University Then wipe a wash back over it

Written for potters everywhere. Where our studio does things differently, the page says so.