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Drawing and Ceramics:
                            Pioneering a Digital Solution


                            Written by Eugene Hön
                            I am a ceramic artist with a passion for ballpoint pen drawing. In the past, I used my drawing as a design

                            tool to create modelled, press-moulded and fired figurative ceramic sculptures. The renderings were executed
                            on acid free paper in bound books as ballpoint drawings fade with time when exposed to direct light. With

                            the advances in ceramic and digital technology, I am now able to capitalise on my ballpoint drawing skills
                            to create digitally printed ceramic transfers, which can be fired onto a range of  ‘readymades’ as well as expressive

                            ceramic statements. This was a real breakthrough for me. When the first batch of digitally printed ceramic
                            transfers was test fired onto commercially produced ceramic plates, my ‘impermanent’ ballpoint drawings

                            were instantly immortalised. The intricate crosshatching detail was perfectly visible in the fired transfers,
                            even when the rendered image was radically reduced in size. This article sheds light on the techniques involved

                            in producing digitally printed ceramic transfers, focusing on creative drawing opportunities in the field
                            of ceramics.


                            I am a lecturer in ceramics to Industrial Design students at the University of Johannesburg. Through my work,

                            I am exposed to the latest 3D printing and manufacturing technology. Although I wholeheartedly embrace
                            the advances in digital technology, I do not lose sight of my creativity, rooted in ceramic craft traditions.

                            I consider myself a ceramic artist who celebrates the handmade whilst exploring a range of digital creative
                            options  −  seeking  new  possibilities  for  this  art  form.  My  first  ceramic  installation  featured  a  projected
                                                                                                                                                                        Manufraction IV (shard). September 2017, 540mm length, 290mm height.
                            animation of my ballpoint drawings entitled …. and the ship sails on. My latest work rises to the challenge voiced                              Digitally printed ceramic transfers of a barn swallow fired
                            by Paul Scott in the ceramic handbook series, Ceramics and Print.                                                                                    onto a press-moulded shard (earthenware).







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