Sgraffito Enamel Technique

The word sgraffito means to scratch through. When used in enameling, it can mean to scratch through dry sifted enamel, dried liquid enamel, acrylic enamel, enamel marking crayons, etc. My favorite way to use this technique utilizes both dry sifted enamels and liquid enamel.

I usually apply a base layer of color, like a light blue in the case of the blue and gray earrings that you see below. After that layer is fired, it’s on to applying a layer of liquid enamel. I used black for all four pair below. Before the liquid enamel dries, I sift a layer of dry enamel powder and gently tamp it into the wet enamel with my fingers. Once this is done, it’s time for sgraffito.

With the case of the earrings directly below, I was interested in making something that looked like a lobster buoy - thus the lines and numbers.

Once the sgraffito is done, it’s time for firing. The surface of the earrings above was etched to create a matte surface, but you don’t have to do that. As you see in the images below, it looks equally as nice left shiny.

You can apply opaque or transparent sifted enamels over the liquid enamel with this technique. - In the two images above right, I used a combination of both dry sifted opaque and wet packed transparent enamels. Depending on the thickness of the transparent enamel, there may be pull through (white bubbles). You can see that to a certain extent in the gray earrings. You can also see it with the opaque enamels over the white. I rather like the look.

So, as you can see, there are lots of possibilities that can be achieved using sgraffito. If you are interested in learning more, I have a few sgraffito tutorials available here. I hope you give sgraffito a try. It can really set your work apart.