Laser Cut resist

Laser cut resist is laser cut paper which can be used to resist in interesting patterns . They are pre-glued , so all you have to do is peel them off and stick there on the glazed ware .Then simply sponge china paint right over them or apply lusters or you can also paint over them with a brush .

The paper laser cuts are then left in place and fired. They will burn off in the kiln .

There are also laser cuts from the UK ( pictured on the right ) that have a vinyl coating. These need to be peeled off before firing but can be reused.

Peel laser cut from its backing paper. They are pre-glued so just stick them down onto the piece and press down with your fingers making sure all the little ends are pressed down well. I often burnish them down with the backing paper to make sure they are stuck down well.

Cover the entire lasercut with chinapaint. The easiest way to do this is with a sponge...but you can also just paint over it, however if you paint over it, you have to take care to make sure that paint didnt "snowplow" against the edges of the lasercut.

On this piece, I pounced the entire piece with turquoise china paint right over the laser cut snowflakes, then wiped out the snowman and snowcat with a Q-tip. I wiped out the hat and scarves with a wpeout tool , painted in the color and the detail for the face...then I removed the snowflakes.. and fired. ( If you are using the paper laser cuts, you dont have to peel them off. They will burn off inthe kiln )

Leave the lasercuts in place and fire. ( If you are using the UK vinyl lasercuts, DO NOT FIRE THEM ... Instead,stick a pin under one edge of the laser cut and peel it up...You can store them on a piece of cardboard covered with tin foil to use again )

The paper burns to a heavy ash and will not fly around the kiln so you can fire the pieces flat ( Eg. on the top of a box) ...You can also fire them on the sides of a box etc where gravity will pull the ash down as long as it will fall on the kiln shelf and not onto another piece or onto another section of the piece.

If you are firing a plate that requires you to place it in a plate rack for firing, the ash from the laser cuts can drop onto other parts of the piece, so its best to either fire them flat ...or lean them against the wall of the kiln backwards so the ash will fall onto the kiln shelf.

CAUTION: If the glaze is a soft glaze, the ash can stick into the glaze... so if you arent sure if the glaze is hard enough , fire the piece so that the ash will fall onto the kiln shelf

Special Effects with Laser Cuts

Luster over laser cut snowflakes

You can marble lusters over the laser cuts. Apply laser cuts, then paint luster into the little crevaces in the laser cuts. Paint on patches of several colors of luster, taking care to leave white space so that the lusters will have room to mingle.
Drip on dispersing fluid while tipping a nd tilting the piece. This will cause hte luster to run and create patterns.
Remove laser cuts after the luster has set up . ( Removing the laser cuts too soon can cause hte luster to flow back into the design area )

You can sponge paint over the laser cuts, then wipe off all trace of the paint with a paper towel. Enough paint will catch along the edges of the laser cuts that you will have a penwork-type effect . This can be effective done with a couple different colors of china paint

You can also use black paint which will give you a black pen work look that can be effective filled in on another fire with lusters or chinapaint.

Another effective look is to sponge the piece with paint and then wipe the paint off half of the piece. ( eg. Leave the paint on a box top and wipe it off the bottom ) . You will have an interesting postive-negative effect

You can also sponge the laser cuts with matt paint or with gold underlay and then fire. The result will be a matt look on the background and a shiny look where the laser cuts were. You can then cover with Liquid Bright gold for a matt/shiny faux acid etch look... or with mother of pearl for a subtle white on white look.