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The Clay Hole University · Surface and Decoration

Engobes: What They Are and When to Use OnePrintable pottery guide

What an engobe is, how it differs from underglaze, slip and glaze, which stage to coat at, the ten steps from stirring the jar to the kiln, and the rules for bringing your own jar to The Clay Hole.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Intermediate
  • 29 printable pages
  • 19-term glossary
  • 7-question quiz + answer key

Flip through the free sample
  • Instant download
  • Prints on any printer
  • The lesson stays free
The printable, at a glance

What is the Engobes: What They Are and When to Use One printable guide?

It is the engobe lesson on paper: what an engobe is and how it differs from underglaze, slip and glaze, the six situations where one earns its place, wet, dry or bisque, the ten steps from stirring the jar to the kiln, the honest problems and the rules for bringing your own jar to The Clay Hole. Built to be printed, kept beside the jar and written on.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Engobes: What They Are and When to Use One” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 29printable pages, US Letter
  • 7quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 7QR codes, each on a short Clay Hole address
  • 19glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For the color we will never carry

A black pot, from a light clay

Every clay we stock is light or medium, and that is not changing. An engobe is how you get a black, a dark brown or a red anyway: a thin coat of color, brushed on, that stops the surface being the color of the clay underneath.

It is easy to get wrong in small ways. Two thin coats beat one thick one, the stage you coat at matters, and the glaze that goes over the top has to go over color that has already been fired on. None of it is hard, and all of it is easier with the steps in front of you.

The guide puts the choices in the order you make them, gives you one page to keep beside the jar, and has a log for every test tile so the good piece starts from a result instead of a guess.

Look inside

Real pages, for the bench next to the jar

These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark.

  • Page 6 of the “Engobes: What They Are and When to Use One” printable guide: engobe, underglaze, slip or glaze, shown with the sample watermark
    Engobe, underglaze, slip or glazeThe four side by side on one page: what is in each, whether it hides the clay, when it goes on, how it comes out and whether it is food safe on its own.
  • Page 10 of the “Engobes: What They Are and When to Use One” printable guide: wet, dry or bisque, shown with the sample watermark
    Wet, dry or bisqueThree cards, one for each stage you can coat at, with what each is best for, what to watch out for and a verdict, and the one thing that is true at every stage.
  • Page 11 of the “Engobes: What They Are and When to Use One” printable guide: how to put it on, shown with the sample watermark
    How to put it onThe start of the ten steps: stirring the jar, pouring a cup so the jar stays clean, and choosing a soft, wide brush.
  • Page 22 of the “Engobes: What They Are and When to Use One” printable guide: every engobe test tile, shown with the sample watermark
    Every engobe test tileA log to write in: the clay, the color, the coats, the stage, the glaze over it and how it fired, so the good piece starts from a result instead of a guess.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

You will want it open beside a jar of color

Brushing engobe is a few habits kept steady with wet hands: stir, pour, go thin, wait. Paper suits that.

  • The steps stay in view

    Ten steps on two pages that you can prop beside the jar, with the reason under each one.

  • It holds still

    A page stays where you put it while both hands are busy. It does not lock its screen and it does not mind a splash of engobe.

  • A tile to write down

    The log has a row for every test tile: clay, color, coats, stage, glaze and result. A page of them will tell you more about your jars than any chart can.

  • One page for the jar

    The one page summary has which job takes which jar, which stage, how to put it on and the rules that never bend. Pin it up beside the shelf.

How this one is built

Rebuilt for paper, not printed from a web page

Every guide in the series is set from scratch for print. Here is what that meant for this one.

  • Read against our other lessons

    The bisque rule, the kiln cookie, who gets studio underglaze and what counts as food safe were each checked against the lesson or page that teaches them, and where this lesson said something looser than the rest of the University, the guide and the free lesson were made to match.

  • Mayco’s words, checked

    Everything the lesson credits to Mayco was read against Mayco’s own pages. Four places where the lesson said more than Mayco does were corrected, in the guide and in the lesson.

  • Written for any studio

    Where The Clay Hole does something its own way, the guide names it, so a reader working somewhere else knows which line is a Clay Hole rule and which is the craft.

  • The colors as a list

    The seven approved engobes are a table with a small square of color beside each name, so you can see the whole list at a glance.

  • A quiz that explains itself

    A short quiz, and an answer key that gives the reason behind every answer rather than only the letter.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every link is a short Clay Hole address. If a page moves, we repoint the address and your printed copy still goes to the right place.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free “Engobes: What They Are and When to Use One” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Think of an engobe as a change of outfit for the pot, not a change of body.

If that would bother you, decide before you buy a jar, not after.

Then make one tile. It costs almost nothing, and it is the only honest way to find out what your clay, your color and your glaze do together.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
The series

Build a little pottery library

Every printable guide in The Clay Hole University series takes one free lesson and rebuilds it for paper, with workbook pages, a glossary and a quiz with a worked answer key. Each one keeps its number for good, so a guide you buy today is the same guide in the same place next year.

Put any five printable guides in your cart and the cheapest one is on us. Put in nine and the two cheapest are on us. It happens automatically at checkout, no code to remember.

See every printable guide

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Sits next to

Three lessons that pick up where this one leaves off

Each one is free to read online, and the codes in the guide take you straight there.

Questions

Good to know

How is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is not going anywhere. The guide is that teaching rebuilt for paper: a learning dashboard at the front, a log to write in, a one page summary, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Do I need this if I only want to paint designs on pots?
Probably not. Underglaze is the tool for drawing on a pot, and the guide says so plainly. An engobe is for changing the whole surface: a black, a dark brown, a red, a clean white ground to glaze over, or a coat to carve through.
Can I put a glaze over an engobe?
Yes, after a bisque firing. The guide is clear that at The Clay Hole an engobed piece is bisque fired before any glaze touches it, brushed or dipped, and it gives the reason.
Are engobes food safe?
Not on their own. They fire matte and stay porous, so anything that holds food or a drink needs a glaze over the top that is rated for food. The guide says how to check.
Which engobes does it cover?
Mayco Stoneware Engobes, in the seven colors listed in the guide. The rules section is specific to The Clay Hole, and the guide marks which lines are a studio rule and which are the craft.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Intermediate. You should be comfortable brushing on an even coat and telling leather hard from bone dry. Nothing in it needs a wheel.
What do I need besides a jar?
A soft fan brush or a hake, a cup to pour into so the jar stays clean, a leather hard piece if you plan to carve or a bisque piece if you do not, and a scrap of your own clay for a test tile. The dashboard lists it all.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. It is set for an ordinary home or office printer on regular US Letter paper, with nothing important near the edges, so normal printer margins cut nothing off.
Does it print in black and white?
Yes. The text, the tick boxes and the tables are black on white, and every color is written out by name. The small squares beside the seven engobes are the only use of color for its own sake, and the names carry the meaning.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The one page summary and the test tile log are the two worth having beside the jar. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
Can I read it on a screen instead?
Yes. It is an ordinary PDF and it reads fine on a tablet or a phone. The workbook pages are the ones that want paper, because you write on them.
How does delivery work?
It is a digital download. The link arrives by email and on the order confirmation page right after checkout, so you can have it printed and beside the jar the same evening.
What happens if the guide is updated?
Every edition carries its version number on the last page. When we correct or improve one, the new edition replaces the old one in the shop, and we can send the updated link to anybody who already bought it.
Can I share it?
It is licensed for your own use. Print as many copies for yourself as you like, on as many of your own devices as you like. Please do not pass the file on, upload it or use it with a class or a group without asking us first.

Make one tile first

An engobe rewards the person who fires a test tile before the good piece. The guide puts the steps in front of you, keeps the rules in one place and gives you a log for the result.

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