An old Moorish / Arab technique which is a ceramic version of batik in which hot wax and manganese dioxide are drawn directly onto the unglazed tiles to produce bold and energetic outlines. These lines then create a resistant barrier to glazes in the next firing allowing many different coloured glazes to be used alongside each other without undue spreading or running into each other, creating a slightly raised glaze surface relative to the darker outlines.

A more complex form of this technique uses multiple layered glazes, sometimes 20 plus [ see both salmon panels], this can be more subtle, but equally the results are much more variable and one has to be open to chance!

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