Choosing the Right Velvet Underglaze Palette

Using underglazes in ceramics opens so many possibilities for color, design, and artistry beyond glaze. Colors that stay where applied and tell the story you want to convey. AMACO Velvets are the premier underglaze for their high color saturation, wide firing range, and their velvety surface without a glaze (most other brands of underglazes are chalky unless covered with a clear glaze).

The complicated part about underglazes is selecting your colors and developing your palette. I’m here to help you figure that out. The first step in choosing your Velvet palette is understanding how you fire. Maybe you work in a studio where only certain types of firings are available. Find out what firings are available to you. If you plan on firing at various temperatures, choose a palette that works at the highest cone that you fire to, as that’s where there will be the most variation.

Low-fire (cone 06-04) gives the brightest colors and most variety for Velvet underglazes. All Velvets work well at low-fire temperatures.

A good starter set of Velvets for low-fire would include:

These colors make up a strong starter set for low-fire ceramics, providing a balanced range of primary, secondary, neutral, and earth tones that work well for mixing, layering, illustration, and surface decoration. Together, these colors give an artist the flexibility to create both bright contemporary palettes and softer natural combinations without feeling overwhelmed.

Mid-range (cone 5-6) is a popular firing range for many artists. In this temperature range, Velvets still have excellent color response, with the added durability of higher-temperature firings.

Some colors will darken at mid-range, some fade or burn out, and some react adversely to the presence of zinc in a clear glaze. At mid-range, some Velvets start to flux (melt) and become satiny. Many professional artists use Velvets at mid-range without a clear glaze, because of their vividly colored surfaces. For food surfaces, Velvets must have a clear glaze over them. To find out what clear is best for you, check out our latest blog Choosing A Clear Glaze.

If you are building a palette for Cone 5–10 work, consider substituting a few colors to maintain brighter, more stable results after firing:

Instead of Light Green, try Cactus, as Light Green tends to darken at higher temperatures.

Instead of Rose, use Coral, since Rose can burn out and lose saturation in mid-range and high-fire firings.

Instead of Electric Blue, choose Medium Blue, because Electric Blue often darkens significantly.

Instead of Purple, use Amethyst, as Purple tends to shift toward blue when fired hotter.

Instead of Teddy Bear Brown, try Red Brown, since Teddy Bear Brown can become more fluid and flux at higher temperatures.

Making these substitutions can help preserve the intended color palette and produce more predictable results across mid-range and high-fire surfaces.

High-fire (cone 9-10) can be a great range for vitreous stoneware, porcelain, and atmospheric firings like reduction and salt. Some Velvet underglazes lose color at this range, and some darken considerably, so be sure to test before committing to a large series of work. Black, red, and some blue Velvet underglazes perform amazingly well at this temperature range, even in reduction firing.

You can also mix Velvet underglazes to get custom colors. Since the Velvets are highly pigmented, it takes less underglaze to achieve saturated colors than with other brands. If you want a lighter or more pastel hue, you can mix any Velvet with V-360 White to lighten the color. You can also use Velvets like watercolors, in thin washes, more easily than other underglazes.

To prevent dragging (or running) with Velvets, use a stiff, clear glaze like HF-9 Zinc-Free Clear or C-11 Mixing Clear Celadon. Dragging occurs when the glaze is too fluid, dragging the pigment along as it moves.

Velvets are available in 2-oz jars and pints. The 2-oz jars are perfect for trying out a new color.

PLUS select Velvet colors are available in spray cans with Velvet Sprayz!