Stains, Underglazes, and Pigments

I have also been testing Velvet underglazes, stains, and making my own Talavera paints out of pigment and frit. As well as square test tiles, I made little goats and birds to test out these glazes.

I read online that a 50 50 mix of pigment and frit is ideal for the traditional terracotta paints I am testing.

The end result is not as bright as I expected, so I may try more pigment in the next batch.
Although the colors came out smooth and shiny, they are not as vibrant as I hoped.

Oxidation Fired vs Reduction Fired

These are oxidation kiln fired, as yet I have not been able to reproduce the dark tones created in the reduction atmosphere of the gas kiln I had access to long ago.

This first image is of a Raku fish with copper oxide on both the tail and the fins, but the inside of the tail has clear glaze added to it which resulted in the beautiful blue-green color. I was pleasantly surprised since I know so little about ceramics and was not expecting to see the radical color change.

In order to achieve the color and texture of the reduction atmosphere, I apply the same oxide stains in the same quantity as I did before. I expect the results to be similar even though this is an oxidation firing. I paint 5 test fish using Cobalt carbonate, Nickle, Copper, Manganese, Rutile, and Red Iron either on their own or mixed in equal quantities.

The result is disappointing. Not only am I lacking the dark and earthy tones, the texture is smooth and soft which is the opposite of what I was aiming for.
My next set of test fish will have to have the textures painted on with a tiny brush.

Reduction Fired

These are test fish I made and painted with oxide stains... then fired it in a reduction atmosphere in a gas kiln. I love the colors and textures, earthy and rough. I am trying to reproduce the effect using an electric kiln and low fire clay, but so far I have not had much luck.