Ready-made glazes have improved over the past few years and now include many color and textural choices. Many art material retailers carry the dry components and metallic colorants needed to concoct original recipes. Texts are plentiful on the subject, but for the fastest and most expedient start, ready-made glazes are the best choice. This type of glaze will give you a good foundation to do all sorts of topical decorating. It will be this base that covers the clay body, holds the colorants in place, and gives a uniform feel and appearance to the work.
Dark bases cover the clay body quickly, but allow for little or no topical spray decorating.
Colorants in glazes consist mostly of metallic materials that react in the firing to create a wide range of colors. Cobalt and iron are two favorites with potters and ceramists and can be used in so many application techniques that these two colorants alone offer myriad possibilities. Consider the combinations of both colorants and you have dozens of color possibilities. Even and perfect replicas of any cutaway shapes can be sprayed over a base coat and full scenes can be developed. Layering positive and negative shapes gives implied textures that cannot be duplicated with any other glaze application.