Of course, it is necessary
to leave some clay here and there to attach the various forms to the
slab. The under-cutting may be carried to such a pitch as to make the
design look weak, and as though it would fall to pieces with a puff of
wind. When this is the case, I reckon the finishing has been carried too
far. Clay should always look strong enough to hold together, and I may
say I never thought much of that fancy china one sees which is covered
with flowers and foliage modelled as delicately as though wrought in
some precious metal. Sooner or later the edges get chipped off, and the
charm of such work is immediately gone. Of course we know that an
accident may destroy work that is not wrought in this delicate manner,
but modelled clay should be delicate without being weak--it should at
least look as though it could hold its own with fair usage.
Get as much of the work done as possible while the clay is plastic, and
with a little practice a modelled design can be finished entirely while
the clay is damp. In fact, the work is better when wrought from the
plastic clay than when finished up with steel tools after the clay is
dry.
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