{"id":924,"date":"2026-05-28T00:13:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/?p=924"},"modified":"2026-05-22T00:18:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:18:37","slug":"full-color-dragon-on-ceramic-plate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/?p=924","title":{"rendered":"Full-Color Dragon on Ceramic Plate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For as long as I can remember, I\u2019ve had a deep fascination with Chinese dragons. While a lot of my ceramic work leans toward specific fan art and pop culture icons, the powerful, fluid imagery of the traditional dragon is something I always find myself coming back to in my private sketchbooks.  This time,  I wonder if I could take those years of sketching practice and successfully transfer them onto a completely different medium: a ceramic plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Merging Traditional Motif with Comic Energy<\/h3>\n\n\n<div  id=\"jtg-923\" class=\"modula modula-gallery modula-columns\" data-config=\"{&quot;tabletHeight&quot;:800,&quot;mobileHeight&quot;:800,&quot;desktopHeight&quot;:800,&quot;enableTwitter&quot;:false,&quot;enableWhatsapp&quot;:false,&quot;enableFacebook&quot;:false,&quot;enablePinterest&quot;:false,&quot;enableLinkedin&quot;:false,&quot;enableEmail&quot;:false,&quot;randomFactor&quot;:0.5,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;grid&quot;,&quot;columns&quot;:12,&quot;gutter&quot;:10,&quot;mobileGutter&quot;:10,&quot;tabletGutter&quot;:10,&quot;desktopGutter&quot;:10,&quot;enableResponsive&quot;:true,&quot;tabletColumns&quot;:2,&quot;mobileColumns&quot;:1,&quot;lazyLoad&quot;:0,&quot;lightboxOpts&quot;:{&quot;animated&quot;:true,&quot;Thumbs&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;modern&quot;,&quot;showOnStart&quot;:false},&quot;Toolbar&quot;:{&quot;display&quot;:{&quot;right&quot;:[&quot;close&quot;]},&quot;enabled&quot;:true},&quot;Carousel&quot;:{&quot;Panzoom&quot;:{&quot;touch&quot;:true},&quot;infinite&quot;:false},&quot;keyboard&quot;:{&quot;Escape&quot;:&quot;close&quot;,&quot;Delete&quot;:&quot;close&quot;,&quot;Backspace&quot;:&quot;close&quot;,&quot;PageUp&quot;:&quot;next&quot;,&quot;PageDown&quot;:&quot;prev&quot;,&quot;ArrowUp&quot;:&quot;prev&quot;,&quot;ArrowDown&quot;:&quot;next&quot;,&quot;ArrowRight&quot;:&quot;next&quot;,&quot;ArrowLeft&quot;:&quot;prev&quot;},&quot;wheel&quot;:&quot;slide&quot;,&quot;touch&quot;:true,&quot;backdropClick&quot;:&quot;close&quot;,&quot;l10n&quot;:{&quot;CLOSE&quot;:&quot;Close&quot;,&quot;NEXT&quot;:&quot;Next&quot;,&quot;PREV&quot;:&quot;Previous&quot;,&quot;Error&quot;:&quot;The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.&quot;,&quot;PLAY_START&quot;:&quot;Start slideshow&quot;,&quot;PLAY_STOP&quot;:&quot;Pause slideshow&quot;,&quot;FULL_SCREEN&quot;:&quot;Full screen&quot;,&quot;THUMBS&quot;:&quot;Thumbnails&quot;,&quot;DOWNLOAD&quot;:&quot;Download&quot;,&quot;SHARE&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;ZOOM&quot;:&quot;Zoom&quot;,&quot;EMAIL&quot;:&quot;Here is the link to the image : %%image_link%% and this is the link to the gallery : %%gallery_link%%&quot;,&quot;MODAL&quot;:&quot;You can close this modal content with the ESC key&quot;,&quot;ERROR&quot;:&quot;Something Went Wrong, Please Try Again Later&quot;,&quot;IMAGE_ERROR&quot;:&quot;Image Not Found&quot;,&quot;ELEMENT_NOT_FOUND&quot;:&quot;HTML Element Not Found&quot;,&quot;AJAX_NOT_FOUND&quot;:&quot;Error Loading AJAX : Not Found&quot;,&quot;AJAX_FORBIDDEN&quot;:&quot;Error Loading AJAX : Forbidden&quot;,&quot;IFRAME_ERROR&quot;:&quot;Error Loading Page&quot;,&quot;TOGGLE_ZOOM&quot;:&quot;Toggle zoom level&quot;,&quot;TOGGLE_THUMBS&quot;:&quot;Toggle thumbnails&quot;,&quot;TOGGLE_SLIDESHOW&quot;:&quot;Toggle slideshow&quot;,&quot;TOGGLE_FULLSCREEN&quot;:&quot;Toggle full-screen mode&quot;},&quot;Images&quot;:{&quot;Panzoom&quot;:{&quot;maxScale&quot;:2}},&quot;mainClass&quot;:&quot;modula-fancybox-container modula-lightbox-jtg-923&quot;,&quot;Html&quot;:{&quot;videoAutoplay&quot;:0,&quot;videoTpl&quot;:&quot;&lt;video class=\\&quot;fancybox__html5video\\&quot; controls muted playsinline controlsList controlsList=\\&quot;nodownload\\&quot; poster=\\&quot;{{poster}}\\&quot; src=\\&quot;{{src}}\\&quot; type=\\&quot;{{format}}\\&quot; &gt;  Sorry, your browser doesn&#039;t support embedded videos, &lt;a href=\\&quot;{{src}}\\&quot;&gt; download &lt;\\\/a&gt; and watch with your favorite video player! &lt;\\\/video&gt;&quot;}},&quot;inView&quot;:false,&quot;email_subject&quot;:&quot;Check out this awesome image !!&quot;,&quot;email_message&quot;:&quot;Here is the link to the image : %%image_link%% and this is the link to the gallery : %%gallery_link%%&quot;,&quot;grid_type&quot;:&quot;automatic&quot;,&quot;rowHeight&quot;:250,&quot;lastRow&quot;:&quot;justify&quot;,&quot;lightbox&quot;:&quot;fancybox&quot;,&quot;lightbox_devices&quot;:&quot;both&quot;}\">\n\n\t\n\t<div  class=\"modula-items grid-gallery\">\n\t\t<div class=\"modula-item effect-pufrobo\" >\n\t<div class=\"modula-item-overlay\"><\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"modula-item-content\">\n\n\t\t<a data-image-id=\"922\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"jtg-923\" data-caption=\"\" aria-label=\"Open image in lightbox\" class=\"tile-inner modula-item-link\"><\/a><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"pic wp-image-922\"  data-valign=\"middle\" data-halign=\"center\" alt=\"\" data-full=\"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_05.jpg\" title=\"Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_05\" crop=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/littlebeak.studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_05-scaled-e1779433672681.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/littlebeak.studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_05-scaled-e1779433672681.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-caption=\"\"\/>\n\t\t<div class=\"figc no-description\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"figc-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div><div class=\"modula-item effect-pufrobo\" >\n\t<div class=\"modula-item-overlay\"><\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"modula-item-content\">\n\n\t\t<a data-image-id=\"928\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"jtg-923\" data-caption=\"\" aria-label=\"Open image in lightbox\" class=\"tile-inner modula-item-link\"><\/a><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"pic wp-image-928\"  data-valign=\"middle\" data-halign=\"center\" alt=\"\" data-full=\"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_02.jpg\" title=\"Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_02\" crop=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/littlebeak.studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_02-scaled-e1779434114309.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/littlebeak.studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_02-scaled-e1779434114309.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-caption=\"\"\/>\n\t\t<div class=\"figc no-description\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"figc-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div><div class=\"modula-item effect-pufrobo\" >\n\t<div class=\"modula-item-overlay\"><\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"modula-item-content\">\n\n\t\t<a data-image-id=\"926\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"jtg-923\" data-caption=\"Me holding the painted plate that is about to go in the kiln.\" aria-label=\"Open image in lightbox\" class=\"tile-inner modula-item-link\"><\/a><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"pic wp-image-926\"  data-valign=\"middle\" data-halign=\"center\" alt=\"\" data-full=\"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_01-e1779434069163.jpg\" title=\"Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_01\" crop=\"\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/littlebeak.studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_01-e1779434069163.jpg?fit=203%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/littlebeak.studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_01-e1779434069163.jpg?fit=203%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-caption=\"Me holding the painted plate that is about to go in the kiln.\"\/>\n\t\t<div class=\"figc\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"figc-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"jtg-description\">Me holding the painted plate that is about to go in the kiln.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n\t{\n\t\t\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t\t\"@type\"   : \"ImageGallery\",\n\t\t\"id\"      : \"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/?p=924\/#modula-gallery-923\",\n\t\t\"url\"     : \"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/?p=924\/\"\n\t}\n\n\t<\/script>\n\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I wasn\u2019t formally trained in traditional Chinese or Japanese brush painting, so when it came time to apply underglazes to the clay, I decided to lean into what feels more natural to me like bold outlines, expressive features, and dynamic, layered colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The process requires a completely different mindset than drawing on paper. You have to think about how the colors will mature in the kiln, how the lines hold their shape on a curved surface, and how the overall composition frames the fierce face of the creature.  I really enjoyed watching the dragon slowly come alive through layers of color, scales, and flowing lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is a closer look at the finished design:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Details:<\/strong> I wanted the dragon&#8217;s gaze to be intense and captivating, using bright yellow eyes to contrast against the cool purple, green, and blue tones of the face.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Background:<\/strong> Rather than leaving the rim bare, I filled the negative space with a hand-painted scale pattern to give the piece a sense of texture and depth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The entire process was incredibly rewarding, and I am absolutely thrilled with how the vibrant energy of the illustration survived the firing process. The plate was sold during one of the Richmond Potters Club Christmas Sales events, which made the project even more memorable for me.  Knowing that someone else connects with the energy of this design is exactly why I love being a maker! It&#8217;s a wonderful feeling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For as long as I can remember, I\u2019ve had a deep fascination with Chinese dragons. While a lot of my ceramic work leans toward specific fan art and pop culture icons, the powerful, fluid imagery of the traditional dragon is something I always find myself coming back to in my private sketchbooks. This time, I&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[87,67,94,119,19],"tags":[96,22,24,15],"class_list":["post-924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-designs","category-functional","category-mystic-creature","category-plates-and-dishes","category-pottery","tag-dragon","tag-functional","tag-plate","tag-pottery"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/littlebeak.studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dragon_Plate_Color_Design_1_02-scaled-e1779434114309.jpg?fit=810%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=924"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":929,"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924\/revisions\/929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlebeak.studio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}