Painting on velvet as well as on glass is an old art revived. No art
that is really beautiful in itself will pass away entirely. As these
paintings are very pleasing to the eye, and easy of execution, it is
well to know how to paint them. The following directions are taken from
a reliable English work.
The colors for this style of painting are sold at the drawing material
warehouses in a liquid state, and prepared for use. In addition to
these, a brilliant rose-color is obtained from the pink saucers, by
dropping a little weak gum water upon the color, and rubbing it with
a brush. A deep yellow may also be produced by pouring a few drops of
boiling water upon a small quantity of hay saffron.
It is necessary to mix gum water with all the colors made, to prevent
their spreading into each other; gum dragon is the best for this
purpose. The brushes used are called scrubs; they consist of a small
stick, with a camel’s-hair brush cut off quite short at one end, and at
the other, a brush of bristles of a much harder description. A small
box of black lead is necessary, and a piece of list rolled tightly
round, to the diameter of about two inches, to be used as a sort of
brush with the black lead, for making outlines in the manner we shall
presently direct. A piece of linen rag, to wipe the brushes on, should
also be provided.
The most brilliant flowers, fruits, shells, birds, &c., are well
adapted to this style of painting. The outline of the subject may be
sketched in pencil on the velvet, which is of such a very delicate
nature, that the greatest nicety is necessary to keep it in a state
of neatness. Care should also be taken that the sketch is correctly
made, as an error cannot be effaced by rubbing out, as on paper. It is
a safer method, however, to make the sketch on drawing-paper, and to
prick the outline very closely with a fine needle; then, the velvet
being previously nailed on a flat piece of wood of a proper size, the
pricked pattern may be laid over it, the roll of list dipped into the
black lead powder, and rubbed regularly over the pattern from side to
side; be careful to touch every part, and on removing the pattern, a
perfect outline in black dots will appear on the velvet.
Where a set of articles of the same pattern is undertaken, this is a
very good plan, as it insures accuracy, and saves the trouble of making
separate sketches.
Even those who have no knowledge of drawing on paper, may produce a
design on velvet with ease and correctness, by tracing off against a
window, or by means of tracing paper, any drawing or print which they
wish to copy, and pricking the tracing on the velvet in the manner just
described. In order to keep the margin of the velvet from being soiled
in the progress of painting, a piece of thick paper should be laid
over the whole, and an aperture cut in the middle, sufficiently large
to expose the part to be worked on. Each brush should be kept for that
color alone, to which it has once been appropriated.
A small quantity of the color about to be used should be poured into a
little cup, and a drop of gum-water added, and stirred with the stick
of a pencil prior to its being taken on the brush. The mode of its
application is so simple, that a short description of the execution of
a single flower will suffice to give an idea of the process of painting
almost any other subject on velvet. A very small portion of color is to
be taken upon the brush, and the darkest part of the leaf touched with
it; the brush is then to be dipped in water, and the color gradually
softened to the edge; each leaf ought to be colored separately, and the
darkest parts in the centre of the flowers may be finished with a small
brush without softening. India ink is used to make the dark shadows of
crimson flowers. The veins, and all the petals of flowers, and all the
fine lines, should be done with a pen. Each leaf, as it is shadowed,
should be brushed with the hard end of a brush that way of the velvet
in which the pile runs most easily, and then in the contrary direction,
so as to set it up again to become dry. A deeper shade should never
be added to a leaf or flower until the color previously laid on is
perfectly set, or the two colors will spread, and run into each other;
this will be prevented by the gum, if sufficient time can be allowed
for each shade to dry before a subsequent one is applied.
When the piece is finished, and quite dry, it should be brushed over
with a small, round brush, about two inches in diameter, with hard
bristles of an equal length, to raise up such parts of the pile as may
have been flattened in the process of painting.
Toilet sets, sofa cushions, fancy tables, pincushions, and a variety of
articles may be ornamented in this way.
26.--CASTING IN PLASTER, SULPHUR, &c.
Taking the impression of coins, metals, &c., is, independently of its
utility, a most interesting amusement. This art is of considerable
importance to collectors of antique coins, &c. It is often difficult
and always expensive to purchase superior specimens, of which, however,
exact models may be obtained by casting, without the slightest injury
to the originals. The mould is made in the following manner:--
Take a strip of paper, a quarter or third of an inch wide; roll it
twice tight around the rim of the coin or gem, of which a cast is
intended to be taken, and fasten the end with very stiff gum-water,
which will hold it instantly. Rub a very little oil, with a
camel’s-hair pencil, over the coin, in order to prevent the plaster
from sticking; then mix some fine plaster of Paris, with as much
water as will make it almost as thick as treacle; apply it quickly to
the coin, on which it will be held by the paper rim. It sets almost
instantly, and may be taken off in a few hours; but the longer it
remains undisturbed the better. The mould which is thus obtained is
the reverse of the coin; that is, the impression is concave, like a
seal. When the moulds are so dry that they will not wrinkle a piece of
paper laid flat upon the surface, let them be well saturated with the
best boiled linseed oil, placing the moulds with their surface upward,
that the whole of the oil may be absorbed. They must be covered from
dust, and nothing should touch their surface, lest they suffer injury.
Moulds, well prepared in this manner, and dried about two days after
being oiled, will stand a long time for the casting of either plaster
or sulphur. When used, either Florence oil or a little hog’s lard (the
latter to be preferred) should be applied very tenderly over the mould
with a little of the finest cotton wool, and the cotton wool, without
lard, afterwards passed lightly over the surface, to leave as little as
possible of the unctuous matter upon the mould, that the casts may be
the finer. Put paper around them, as was before done to the coin; pour
on plaster in the same manner, and a facsimile of the original will be
produced.
Good casts may be made of sulphur, melted in an iron ladle, either
pure, or colored with a little red lead or vermilion, powdered and
stirred up with it. The moulds and casts are made in the same manner
as with plaster of Paris, only that the sulphur must be poured on the
mould when hot, and water, instead of oil, must be used, to prevent
adhesion. Sulphur makes the best moulds for plaster casts, and _vice
versa_--as similar substances can seldom be prevented, by either water
or oil, from adhering, in some degree, to each other. Plaster cannot be
used twice; that is, old or spoiled casts cannot be powdered and again
employed; for the moment the material is moistened, being a species of
lime, it is no longer plaster without being reburnt.
Another way of making casts of almost any color, is with a strong
solution of isinglass; it must be used when quite hot; and it is so
thin that a box, exactly fitting the rim of the coin, is required,
otherwise it will escape. It may be colored with saffron, wood, &c.
Very beautiful impressions may be taken by pouring melted wax upon the
metal, which comes off easily when the wax and metal are perfectly
cold; but any one attempting this had better try it first upon a penny,
or other coin of little value.
Impressions may also be taken in wax, which, for this purpose, should
be rendered pliable by kneading it with the hand before the fire, a
little oil having been previously mixed with it. When softened to about
the consistency of putty, lay it and press it close down on the coin,
the form of which will then be perfectly obtained.
The following is another mode of taking impressions: Procure tin or
lead foil as thin as possible, place it on the coin, and with a pin’s
head, or any small, smooth instrument, work it into every part; then
take it off, revert it into a shallow box, and pour plaster into its
concave side; a durable plaster cast is thus obtained, covered with tin
foil, which will resemble silver.