Thread: Anyone do custom mug/scuttle paint?

SO I saw some of those old mugs with the professions on them that people used to have back in the day in the barber shop and I thought why not see if I could get one made with my profession? ? I'm certain my profession was not around back then so I pieced together an image that I thought would be really cool for one and now I'm posting here to see if anyone has the capability to hand paint such a drawing onto a scuttle! I'm in no rush to do this, as the desired scuttle that I would put it on is probably an all-white super scuttle (since they're so big).

I suppose the paint would have to be able to stand up to the heat of the water that is put into the scuttle without coming off, also ideally not easily scratched off, not sure what type of paint would work.

Also the images are black and white, but I would hope to be able to find someone that maybe could paint something like this and add some color to it, I'd be willing to work with the person to see what we could come up with.

Again I'm in no rush to do this as I don't have a super scuttle yet nor have I ordered one, just thought I'd throw the idea out there and see if anyone had the skill to do this. I would pay for shipping both ways, provide the scuttle and pay what would be a reasonable price for the actual work on the scuttle (not sure what this would run).

If you have the skill and would be willing to take the time to do this send me a PM or reply in the thread, also if you know someone that may be able to do this please let me know. Thanks.

Attached is the image... it's in .pdf format.

PM Honedright. He did a nice mug for me!

Ditto, great work. Nice vintage mug with wonderful art.

That is very hard to paint by hand (well, at least for someone as bad at painiting as me). What you want is a decal. Now there are two kinds of decals: one uses colours that are "glued" to the surface at around 200°C, which fixes the colours and makes them quite (but not completely) hard-wearing. The other kind of decal uses colours that are melted into the glaze at around 800°C. That kind is absolutely permanent. For both kinds you will need to find someone who has the means to print the images out with the respective colours needed. If you do use decals it may be a good idea to apply the different parts of the image seperately.
Greetings
oskar

Ok, since there is some risk involved with doing this on something that is already made (fired) - may crack - I was wondering how long decals have before they must be placed onto the stoneware that is being fired? Say for example the guy that makes them can't make the decals, but I pay for some and have them shipped to him so he can then apply them when he does the glaze on the scuttle. Would this be possible, is there a time-frame that the decals have from print-application within which they must be done? Thanks for the responses!

There is no risk of cracks when re-firing ceramics to put a decal on (well, there is, but it is no greater than in a normal firing). There are no restrictions on how long after the firing a decal can be applied.
There are, however, other problems. The decal would have to be made by screen-printing, and with several colours involved any printer would have to charge a lot for this. Making decals is only worth the effort when hundreds of prints are made.
The other problem would be to get a ceramic colour/glaze that works at a specific temperature and is fine enough for the printing process.
So if you can get Honedright to actually paint your image on this would probably be the easier solution. It is amazing sometimes what people can paint.
Greetings
oskar

I've looked at the image from the original post and, in my opinion, it is very clip art like. Meaning it has very precise lines. It's possible that I could come very close by hand, but to get the exact precision of the original image, I agree that a decal would be needed.

As to damage, my only concern for damage during firing is to the glaze. I use iron oxide decals made on a printer. These require firing at cone 04 which is much hotter than decals usually require (usually cone 018-017 about 1300-1400 F). Cone 04 is hot enough to actually start fluxing, or melting, the glaze on the ceramic body. I've found that on some pieces this causes irreversible blistering. On good quality porcelain and china, this isn't a problem. Occasionally an improperly bisque fired piece will break during firing, or an old piece that has absorbed moisture might do the same, but that doesn't concern me. It happens, but not often.

I've also suggested to bevansmw the option of sublimation which is long-lasting, but not permanent such as a kiln fired, over-glaze decal/ hand painting would be. Sublimation is very common these days for putting photos on coffee mugs at malls. Of course the mug has to have a special sublimation coating added during its manufacture.

And I've shopped the custom ceramic decals - they are very expensive to produce unless you buy them by the hundreds or thousands.


Scott

Thanks for all of the replys, sounds like the hand-painting is probably the best option

Changed it a little, just putting this up for the person doing the painting!