The Colors Of The Ceramic Oxides

Under clear glazes iron containing clay bodies can show a very similar range of colors.

The colors of the ceramic oxides. These colors are often quite a problem with standard minerals be they in the form of oxides carbonates nitrates sulfates chlorides or even the basic metal itself. Lead in larger amounts will enhance and darken the green the presence of alkalies or high boron will shift it toward blue. Iron s natural presence in most clay bodies produces clay colors ranging from light gray to deepest brown. One such system is the cobalt zinc alumina chromite blue green pigment system where varying the amounts of cobalt and chrome oxides produces a range of colors from green to blue green to blue.

The solution is to use a green ceramic pigment of which there are several. Under normal oxidizing conditions cuo produces clear green colors in most glazes. Iron oxides in clay not many potters would challenge iron s place as the most important of the ceramic colorants. Carbonates and oxides of certain metals characterize most colorants including the commonly used cobalt carbonate cobalt oxide chrome oxide red iron oxide and copper carbonate.

Ceramic colors include powdered and liquid preparations of precious metals such as gold platinum and silver. In the manufacture of ceramic colors colored mineral substances are obtained from oxides of heavy nonferrous metals or more rarely from sulfurous and selenious metal compounds such as cds and cdse. These colorants can create a multitude of colors depending on other materials they interact with and to which temperature and in which atmosphere they are fired. The green color produced by chrome only is generally a drab army helmet green chromium is used in the glass industry to make green glass up to 1.

It is also used in paints and dyes. Ceramic colorants are added to a glaze or a clay to create color. How to add color to your ceramic art. Ceramists looking for difficult to achieve colors might want to consider prepared stains particularly in the yellow violet and purple ranges.