Underglaze paints are essential tools for professional ceramic artists who demand precision, control, and color stability. Unlike standard glazes, underglazes retain their color and detail through multiple firings, allowing for complex designs, fine line work, and layering effects. Choosing a high-quality brand ensures consistent results, durability, and compatibility with different clay bodies and firing temperatures. Understanding each brand’s unique properties allows artists to tailor their materials to specific techniques and creative goals.
What Makes a Professional Underglaze?
Professional-grade underglazes are defined by their pigment strength, firing versatility, and smooth consistency. They must maintain color accuracy from application to final firing and adhere evenly to bisque or greenware surfaces. A quality underglaze should remain stable under transparent glazes, without running or blurring fine details. Professionals also value predictable firing behavior, allowing for reliable reproduction in studio production. Unlike traditional glazes, underglazes serve as the foundation for decorative expression rather than the final finish.
Criteria for Evaluating Underglaze Brands
When selecting underglazes, professionals consider several technical factors. A broad color range and high saturation provide creative flexibility, while consistent texture ensures smooth brushwork and clean lines. Compatibility across firing ranges—low-fire, mid-fire, and high-fire—is crucial for artists working with various clay bodies. Durability after firing and food-safe certification are also essential for functional pottery. The best brands combine vibrant pigments with reliability, adapting easily to different decorative methods such as sgraffito, mishima, and underglaze painting.
AMACO Velvet Underglazes
AMACO Velvet Underglazes are among the most respected products in professional studios. Known for their rich pigmentation and creamy consistency, they apply smoothly on both greenware and bisqueware. These underglazes maintain their color intensity from Cone 05 to Cone 10, offering excellent versatility. They can be left unglazed for a matte finish or coated with a transparent glaze for a glossy effect. The broad palette—ranging from subtle neutrals to intense primaries—makes them ideal for painters, sculptors, and potters who demand fine control and dependable performance.
Mayco Underglazes (Designer Liner & Stroke & Coat)
Mayco offers two standout underglaze lines popular among professionals: Designer Liner and Stroke & Coat. Designer Liner features a fine applicator tip that allows precise line work, ideal for intricate designs, lettering, and outlining. Stroke & Coat, often referred to as “The Wonderglaze,” functions as both an underglaze and glaze depending on application and firing. It delivers bright, opaque color with minimal color shift, even at higher temperatures. Mayco’s formulations provide consistency, smooth coverage, and compatibility with most transparent glazes.
Spectrum Underglazes
Spectrum Underglazes are valued for their high opacity, reliable color development, and broad temperature tolerance. Their thick, buttery consistency makes them easy to control while brushing or layering. These underglazes perform well on both bisque and greenware, maintaining vibrant hues even when fired under clear glaze. Spectrum’s palette includes over 30 colors that remain stable up to Cone 6, making them ideal for both low- and mid-fire work. Professionals appreciate their predictable firing behavior and seamless integration with a variety of clay bodies.
Duncan Concepts Underglazes
Duncan Concepts Underglazes combine ease of use with professional-grade performance. Their smooth consistency allows for excellent blending and gradient effects, making them ideal for painters and production potters alike. Available in over 50 colors, they provide strong coverage with minimal effort. Duncan underglazes perform consistently across a wide range of temperatures and exhibit minimal color change under clear glaze. They are especially suitable for studios producing functional ware, as most colors remain food-safe when properly glazed and fired.
Laguna Underglazes
Laguna Underglazes are known for their creamy texture and exceptional adherence to clay surfaces. Designed for both hand-painted decoration and broad surface coverage, these underglazes produce even, consistent color results. They work effectively on stoneware, porcelain, and earthenware, maintaining vibrancy at both mid- and high-fire ranges. Their stable formulation prevents streaking and blotching, allowing for detailed brushwork or layered applications. Professionals often use Laguna underglazes in combination with reactive glazes to achieve complex, textured effects.
How to Choose the Right Underglaze Brand
Selecting the appropriate brand depends on technique, clay type, and desired finish. Artists focused on illustration or fine detail may prefer AMACO or Mayco for their precise control, while those seeking rich opacity and strong coverage often choose Spectrum or Duncan. Laguna offers versatility for mixed-surface work and larger pieces. Regardless of brand, testing on sample tiles remains essential to evaluate color stability, texture, and compatibility with specific glazes. Controlled testing ensures that creative outcomes remain both intentional and repeatable.
Professional underglaze paints enable artists to achieve refined, durable, and expressive ceramic decoration. Brands such as AMACO, Mayco, Spectrum, Duncan, and Laguna each offer distinct advantages suited to different techniques and firing conditions. Mastery of these materials requires both experimentation and documentation to ensure repeatable success. By selecting the right underglaze for each creative goal, potters can produce work that combines technical precision with artistic individuality, resulting in consistently striking ceramic surfaces.
