Roan on earthenware

Advantages of True Roan:

Uses less material and takes less time to decorate than most horse colors. No slip tint, and only one sprayed color.

Can have random dark "corn spots" and scars on the body, so kiln ash, spots from painting, and overspray can be interpreted as natural markings. Thus, fewer seconds.

Can have random pale spots, such as from decorator handling rubs, which can also be interpreted as natural markings. Again, fewer seconds.

Has a degree of variation in coverage on legs (aside from the basic Roan Rules).

Shows off the molds well with a very light shading across body.

These are real True Roan on black Tennessee Walking Horses.

The True Roan Rules:

1. The head is always dark, except some can have a diagonal line on the cheek where pigment ends.

2. The ears are always dark.

3. The front leg dark stockings make arrows pointing up, only on fronts of knees.

4. The hind legs dark stockings make mirror-reversed arrows, going up the back tendon.

5. The top of the back and rear are usually pale or white.

6. The mane and tail are dark, but can have light hairs where they grow out of the coat. So, it's OK to have some light on the dock of tail, roots of mane.

7. True Roan can modify any base color, so you may see chestnut roans or bay roans, as well.

Above, a chestnut roan. Below, my ceramic bay roan.

The red roan color formulas involves two sprayed colors, not just one.

Black True Roan, shown here, requires a white slip body and one sprayed pigment: black.

The legs are sprayed following the Roan line rule, but leaving the hooves pale. Then, the very edges of the soles are hit with the black spray, to give them weight. The result is a shaded gray hoof under a black leg, just like a real black Roan.

This is an excellent color choice for molds with the tail attached to one leg, because the spray direction of the tail also catches the correct Roan line for the hock and leg stocking.

Note the dock of tail is left pale, as is the middle of hock joint.

The body shading is very light, and from slightly below and behind the horse, at an oblique angle. One rapid swipe from a bit far back is all it takes.

 The shading is very delicate and rubs off easily, until fired. This is how I grasp the horses after shading:

The belly and top of back should be white, so this means no rubs from holding in this way. If you feel fancy, you can spray a bit of white over the back and top of rear for more effect, or to hide a pesky seam line.

This is just the raw underglaze spray on greenware. 

You can imagine how much richer and shaded the color is, after firing!

The front of the face and brows should be dark. The forelock (on horses that have one) should be dark. The chest may be pale, or shaded lightly from below to catch the pectorals. This trophy mold had no pectorals.