CHINA PAINTING.
CERTAINLY you can paint on china; have confidence, and do not hesitate
because you may never have studied art, but select the china you wish
to decorate and we will go to work. First, take what is needed for
present use from the following
=List of Materials.=
PALETTE.
A common square, white china tile is the best palette for mineral
colors; but in case you have no tile, an old white plate will answer
the purpose.
BRUSHES.
These are of camel’s-hair, Figs. 173 and 174, are broad and flat, and
are used in placing the color on the china when the surface is to be
tinted. Fig. 175 is for blending the color after it is on the china; it
is called a blender, and is useful where borders and surfaces are to
be tinted. Figs. 176 and 178 are for general use. Fig. 177, with its
long, slender point, is for gilding, another similar brush is needed
for India-ink. Mark the two brushes in some way to distinguish them
one from the other, and never use either for any paint except that for
which it is intended. Fig. 179 is a stipple for blending the colors
when painting a face, a fish, the sky of a landscape, or wherever
delicate, fine blending is needed.
[Illustration: Brushes for China Painting (about one-half actual size).]
To clean the brushes after using: dip them in turpentine and wipe off
the paint on a cotton cloth, repeating the operation until the brushes
are perfectly clean; then dip them in fat oil, and bring them out
smooth to a fine point. Do not allow the brushes to become bent over,
if the box is not long enough for them to lie out straight, remove the
quills from the wooden handles and they can easily be replaced when
needed. Should the brushes seem a little stiff at the next painting,
immerse them in turpentine; this will make them soft and pliable.
To save the expensive gold paint, the gilder should be kept exclusively
for gilding, and need not be cleaned, as it will not be injured if the
hairs are carefully straightened out and the brush put away with the
gold.
KNIVES.
Fig. 180 is a horn palette-knife for mixing Lacroix white, the yellows,
and all such colors as are injured by contact with metal. It is the
only knife used with the mat paints for Royal Worcester decoration.
Fig. 181 is a steel palette-knife for general use. Fig. 182 is a steel
scraper for removing paint from the china when necessary. Always clean
the knives after mixing one color, before using them for another.
[Illustration: Horn Palette-knife. Steel Palette-knife. Steel Scraper.
(Reduced sizes.)]
PAD.
This is made of a ball of cotton tied in a piece of soft lining-silk,
fine linen, or cotton-cloth (Fig. 183) and is used for tinting.
[Illustration: Printer’s Pad.]
THE PAINTS
are Lacroix’s colors; they come in tubes and should be squeezed out
on the palette and used as in oil painting, with a little turpentine
and fat oil when desired. To moisten the colors while painting dip
your brush, carefully, without shaking or moving it around, into the
turpentine or oil, and then in the color. Allow the paint to lie on the
palette as it comes from the tube, except when two colors are mixed,
or when using the stipple for blending one tint with another, or when
tinting, then the paint must be mixed and rubbed down with oil and
turpentine. Keep the colors in a _cool_ place, and when returning them
to the box, after you have finished painting, do not lay them back on
the same side. Always remember to turn them over so that the color
will not separate from the oil. If you are careful and follow these
hints, your colors will keep in a good condition. We would advise
you to purchase the paints as they are needed, thereby avoiding all
unnecessary expenditure.
OILS.
Fat oil is for general use in painting. Clove oil is used in its place
when two or more tints are to be blended together, as in painting a
face, etc. Capavia oil is always mixed with the colors for grounding.
TURPENTINE
is in constant demand in china painting. It is used with all the
different oils, paints, bronzes, and gilt, and should be poured in a
small cup or any little vessel, and kept convenient while painting.
TAR PASTE
comes in bottles, and is used to take the color off of tinted
backgrounds, in order to leave a clean surface of the china in which to
paint the design in different colors. The paste should be rubbed down
smooth on the tile with the palette-knife; if it is too hard, a little
tar oil may be added. A small brush is best to use for the paste in
covering the design you wish to wash out; but be very careful to keep
within the outlines, for this mixture will take off the color wherever
it touches. When the tint is light the paste may be wiped off in a few
moments; but when it is dark, the paste must be allowed to remain on
for perhaps hours before the paint will be sufficiently softened to
remove.
Use small balls of raw cotton-batting in wiping off the paste, and take
a fresh piece for every stroke. If any of the tar paste is left on the
tile after using, scrape it off with your palette-knife, and return it
to the bottle.
MAT GOLD
is for gilding, and can be either burnished or highly polished. It
comes on a little square of glass inclosed in a box. This gold can
also be used as solid ornamentation or for delicate tracery, and is
sometimes used over colors, greens excepted, but is then never so
bright as when on the plain white china.
The gold is prepared for painting on a tile kept expressly for the
purpose, and which must not be used for any other paint. Place some
of the gold on the palette with your palette-knife, and mix a little
turpentine with it by dipping your palette-knife in the turpentine and
rubbing down the gold with the turpentine on the knife. If more is
needed, again dip your knife in the liquid, and do so as often as it is
necessary; but you must use the utmost care not to have the gold too
thin; gild with it as stiff as it can be smoothly applied.
Should any gold remain on the palette after the gilding is
finished, mix in a little turpentine and scrape it all up with your
palette-knife, then replace the gold on the square of glass.
Silver is used the same as gold.
The bronzes are for handles and conventional flowers or figures; they
are rich and pleasing in effect.
PURE GOLD
cannot be employed for gilding plain white china. It also comes on a
little square of glass and is used for gilding over colors. It can
be applied over any mineral paint or relief, and may be polished or
burnished as desired.
This gold is mixed with turpentine, for use in the same manner as mat
gold.
RELIEF.
The best is mat relief, which comes in a powder, and is used for both
tube and mat colors. It is prepared by mixing with a very little fat
oil and turpentine, and should be applied stiff enough to make a raised
line. It is useful where a small raised surface is desired, as on
the edge of a leaf or the petals of flowers. A fish-net is much more
effective if the gilt be put on over the relief. Should the relief dry
and become too stiff while using, soften it from time to time with a
little turpentine, always using the horn knife for mixing, as the steel
knife should never be used with the relief, and the relief must always
be fired before the gilt is applied.
Enamel white can be mixed with delicate tints, turpentine, and a very
little fat oil for raised flowers; or the white alone may be used for
pearls, imitation of lace, or embroidery, but its use is limited and it
will not stand two firings, so should always be the last paint applied.
MAT COLORS
are for Royal Worcester decorations. They come in powders, and when
mixed with a little oil and turpentine are used in the same way as the
Lacroix tube paints.
BOX FOR MATERIALS.
Select a light wooden box, or one of strong pasteboard; have the box of
a convenient size to contain all your painting materials.
PIECES OF SOFT, OLD MUSLIN,
torn in different sizes, and plenty of them, are very essential for
cleaning brushes and rubbing paint off the tile or china; the demand
for clean pieces will be constant while painting.
CHINA.
Have this of the very finest French ware, without spots or other
imperfections of the surface, and never attempt to decorate china after
it has been used, for it seldom proves satisfactory.
=A Monochrome Painting.=
For this we will need a tile, a pad, a broad flat brush (Fig. 173),
some turpentine, capavia, two tubes of paint—one copper-water green,
the other brown green—a palette-knife, and some pieces of cotton cloth.
Now be sure your china is perfectly clean and dry, then mix your
copper-water green for
=Tinting.=
Place enough color on your palette to cover the entire surface to be
tinted; dip your palette-knife in the capavia oil and tap it off the
knife on the tile; in the same way place turpentine on the tile with
the oil, and use your palette-knife to _thoroughly_ mix the paint, oil,
and turpentine. If the mixture seems too stiff add a little more oil
and turpentine, but be careful not to have the paint too thin so that
it will run; test its consistency with a brush on a clean place on the
tile.
As a rule, the proportions for tinting should be five drops of paint to
three of capavia, mixed with a little turpentine.
The paint being prepared, take the flat brush and begin to paint;
rapidly cover the entire surface with color. Then go over the tinting
with a pad, touching lightly and gently, not letting the pad rest
a moment on the paint, nor touching it twice in the same place in
succession. Continue going over and over it until the grounding is even
and of a uniform tint. Then set the china away to dry, in a safe place,
where it will be free from dust. Always make a fresh pad every time
you tint, and a separate one for each color used, as a pad cannot do
service more than once.
All tinted grounds and borders are made in this way, the capavia oil
and turpentine being mixed with any of the grounding colors you may
wish to use. Tinting is very easily and quickly done; but should
anything happen to spot or mar the evenness of the grounding, the paint
must all be washed off with turpentine, and the china tinted over again.
When your green-tinted china is perfectly dry, gather some maple leaves
and with the brown-green paint try a
=New Method of Decorating China.=
The leaves must be free from dust and moisture and perfectly fresh.
Place a small quantity of paint on the palette, do not mix the paint
with oil or turpentine, but rub it down well on the tile as it comes
from the tube; make the paint perfectly smooth, now press a small
clean pad down lightly, lifting and again pressing until the paint is
smoothly distributed on the pad; next select a leaf and place it face
or right side downward on a piece of folded newspaper, then press the
pad down on the under side of the leaf, which is now lying upward,
repeating the operation until the leaf is sufficiently covered with
paint. This done, carefully place the leaf painted side downward on
the china, over it lay a piece of common wrapping-paper, and rub your
finger gently all over the covered leaf. Then remove the outside paper
and very carefully take up the leaf, when an exact impress of the
natural leaf will be printed on the china. Repeat the operation with
another leaf either larger or smaller, and still another, using as many
as you wish; connect the leaves to a central branch by making the stems
and branch in the same color with a small paint-brush. To do this paint
a long line for the branch and other smaller ones for the stems of the
leaves. Set the china away to dry, and it will be ready for firing.
Very pretty effects may be secured by using two shades of one color for
the tinting and designs. First tint the china, and when it is perfectly
dry, ornament it with the same paint in the manner described, making
the ground of a lighter tint than the decorations. The colors of fall
leaves can be used on white china, or you may make the combinations and
designs of whatever is most pleasing.
It is well to have some idea of what your decoration is to be like
before commencing with the leaves. If you desire a spray, try to place
the leaves as they are on the natural spray, or as represented in
some picture taken for a guide. The prints also look well used in a
conventional style. As any kind of leaves or grasses that will print
can be employed, your decorations will always be original and true to
nature.
Flowers are more difficult to print, yet when the impressions are
successful they are very beautiful.
You will find this new idea an interesting method of ornamenting china,
while the decorations may be made in much less time than is usually
required. The style is suitable for dinner-sets, vases, tiles, plaques,
and lamps, and it requires no knowledge of drawing or painting to
decorate china in this simple yet effective manner.
=Tracing.=
Lay a piece of tracing-paper over the design to be copied and trace
the outlines very carefully with a hard lead-pencil. Then have your
china perfectly clean and dry, and give it a wash all over with a
clean cotton cloth wet with clear turpentine. Place a piece of red
transfer-paper on the china, and having determined exactly where you
wish the design, lay the tracing-paper over the transfer-paper on the
space for decoration. Use bits of gummed paper on the corners of the
transfer- and tracing-paper to hold them in place, and carefully go
over the lines with a lead-pencil, remove the papers, and the design
will be clearly outlined on the ware. Now rub a little India-ink on a
common individual butter-plate of white china, and using a fine brush,
very carefully paint over the red marks with the India-ink, making your
lines as distinct and delicate as possible. When this is finished,
again wash the china with turpentine to remove any of the red coloring
which may be apparent on its surface. Thus prepared the design can be
painted, or the china may first be tinted and allowed to dry, when the
outlines will be plainly visible through the tinting, and the color can
be removed from the design with tar paste. Use the scraper to take the
grounding off of minute spaces. For those skilled in drawing it will
not be necessary to trace the design, as it can readily be sketched on
the china with a lead-pencil after the ware has first received a coat
of turpentine, and when tinted the decoration can be drawn on after the
grounding has thoroughly dried, and the color may be removed as before.
=Mottled Grounds.=
Prepare the paint as for tinting, only make it more moist, and dab it
lightly over the china by means of a piece of cotton cloth on the end
of your finger; this will give the china a mottled appearance which in
some cases is preferred to the plain grounding.
=Snow Landscape.=
We will take for example Fig. 184.
[Illustration: _Fig. 184_]
After tracing the design, paint a streak across the sky, just back
and a little above the trees, with carnation No. 1 mixed with clove
oil and turpentine, then another narrow streak above it of a lighter
shade, and another still lighter of the same color, allowing each
tint to meet. Next mix light sky-blue with clove oil and turpentine,
and paint as deep a tint as it will make across the sky at the top of
the plate, graduating it down to the red; use the stipple immediately
while the paint is wet to blend the colors and tints; this finished,
make the reflections on the ice, beginning with carnation No. 1 for
the ice nearest the castle, and ending near the bottom of the plate
with the deepest shade of light sky-blue, using the colors mixed for
the sky. Paint the foliage in the background with neutral gray and
sky-blue mixed with turpentine and fat oil for the darker tones, and
turquoise-blue with neutral gray, turpentine and fat oil for the
lighter parts, also for shading the darker portions of the snow. Then
take brown No. 4 as it comes from the tube, with a little turpentine
when necessary, for the shading of the trees in the foreground, the
outlining of the castle, and the tufts of grass and edges of the ice in
places where the copy requires it.
Leave the white china for the high lights and the white snow on the
roof of the castle, on the trees, and here and there on the ground.
Paint the castle with neutral gray and yellow ochre mixed with
turpentine and fat oil, and its windows with brown No. 4, using the
color as it comes from the tube. Now allow the plate to dry and then
have it fired, after which mix carnation No. 1 with clove oil and
turpentine, and touch up the sky and reflections on the ice, using
the stipple if necessary; then mix light sky-blue with clove oil and
turpentine and paint the sky where that color is required and the light
shadows on the snow; then take yellow ochre for portions of the trees,
places in the foreground, and touching up the castle; mix this color
with fat-oil and turpentine.
Again strengthen the trees and other places, where the painting
requires it, with brown No. 4, unmixed, except with a little turpentine
when necessary; for the last touches mix relief-white with fat oil and
clean turpentine, using the horn-palette knife always when mixing the
white; this is to be laid on, in little raised places, where the snow
is whitest on the ground and where the snow has lodged in the trees.
Now inclose the snow scene with a gilt band, using the stipple to make
an uneven edge of gilt on the surrounding white rim; the gold next to
the picture must be perfectly smooth and even; put this on with your
fine long-haired brush; then make a similar band on the edge of the
plate and it will be finished and ready for its last firing.
Almost any snow landscape with a sunset sky may be painted in this way.
Often you can find Christmas cards which will furnish very good copies.
[Illustration: _Fig. 185_]
=How to Paint a Head on China.=
Select a pretty copy from some photograph, as in Fig. 185; very
carefully trace the head on a plate and go over the lines with Indian
ink; next give the plate another wash with turpentine, to remove all
remains of the color from the transfer-paper; then mix thoroughly
two parts of carnation No. 2 with one part of ivory-yellow, adding a
little turpentine and clove oil; give the face and neck a wash with
this color and touch up the cheeks with carnation No. 1 mixed with
clove oil and turpentine; now lay on the shadows with neutral gray,
five parts, mixed with deep chrome-green, one part, using clove oil and
turpentine in mixing the colors; last, the deepest shadows with brown
No. 4, two parts, to one of ivory-black, mixed together with clove oil
and turpentine, and immediately before any of the paint dries use the
stipple to blend the colors, making the face round out and have the
blending soft and true to nature; set your copy before you and try to
have the shadows on the face you paint correspond exactly with those in
the copy.
Now leave the face and neck, and place some brown No. 4 on the tile;
do not mix it with anything; use it as it comes from the tube, dipping
your brush in turpentine when it becomes necessary to thin the paint a
little; with this paint the shading of the hair and follow with your
brush, as nearly as possible, the sway of the masses. That finished,
paint the eyes, eyebrows, and nostrils with brown No. 4 and ivory-black
mixed together as they come from the tubes, using when necessary a
little turpentine; then mix a little carnation No. 1 with fat oil for
the lips. Next turn your attention to the drapery; shade the white
material with gray No. 1, unmixed, and gray No. 2 for the deeper
shadows, mixed with fat oil and turpentine.
For the handkerchief on the head mix emerald-green with fat-oil and
turpentine; put it on in a light tint, so that the handkerchief can be
shaded, when dry, with the same color.
When the plate is dry, it is ready to be fired. After it has been fired
touch up the shading on the face and neck with two parts of carnation
No. 2 mixed with one of brown No. 4, using clove oil and turpentine
while mixing; and for the deepest shadows mix two parts of brown and
one of ivory-black together with clove oil and turpentine. This must
be put on carefully, so that the shadows will not be too dark. Use the
stipple to blend the shadows; then give the hair a wash of yellow ochre
all over, and touch up the handkerchief on the head with emerald green,
the same you used before.
For the background of the head mix light coffee, turpentine, and
capavia oil; make it an even tint with the blender (Fig. 175); the
brush must be clean and dry, and used in the same manner as the pad in
tinting, then, for the outer border, mix celestial-blue with capavia
and turpentine, and with your large flat brush paint the border and
blend it to an even tint with your pad. When this is finished wipe off
the paint around the edge as evenly as possible, so that the bare china
may be left to receive a band of gold. Roll up a piece of white cotton
cloth into a small point and with this remove the paint around the
inner edge of the blue border, making an even narrow white band; this
is also to be gilded.
On a clean tile mix the mat gold with turpentine, and using the
slender, fine, long-haired brush, carefully cover the white bands of
china with gold; when this is finished the plate is ready for the
second and last firing. If a fairer complexion be desired, make the
flesh-tints of the same colors, only lighter in tint; try the paint on
the edge of the tile until the tint is correct. Always try your colors
this way when painting any design. For blue eyes use sky-blue shaded
with black; the high light of the eye may be left the white of the
china. If you wish the hair very light, take ivory-yellow and shade
with sepia and black.
Once more we say, be _very_ careful in tracing not to get the head or
features out of drawing, as so much depends upon the correct outlines.
Before sending china to be fired, paint in small figures the date on
which it was decorated and add your name or initials.
=How to Paint a Carp, Sea-weed, and Fish-net on China.=
Having traced in your design very carefully, mix one part of neutral
gray with two parts of sky-blue, some clove oil, and turpentine; with
this paint the upper edge of the back of the fish dark, graduating to
white along near the centre of the fish; stipple this so that it will
look even, soft, and rounding, keeping it dark on the edge and tinting
down to the white china; paint the tail and dorsal fins a flat tint
of gray No. 2 mixed with fat oil and turpentine; then mix carnation
No. 2 with fat oil and turpentine for a flat tint on gills, mouth, and
ventral fin; shade the mouth with the same color and paint the anal and
pectoral fins a flat tint of carnation No. 2 mixed with sepia; when dry
shade with the same color, and also shade the gills and fins painted
carnation with carnation, and the dorsal fins and tail shade with
ivory-black mixed with fat oil and turpentine; try the paint with your
brush until you get rather a gray tint instead of black, and use this
for the shading; now paint the rows of spots along the back of the fish
ivory-black, making the dots smaller as they approach the tail; and
with your eraser take the paint off of the eye, leaving a clean white
spot of china; paint a fine circle around this in ivory-black; then
paint a portion of the eye black, leaving the white china for the high
lights; in painting the scales and lower part of the fish use gray No.
1 as it comes from the tube, mark an outline of gray along the lower
edge of the fish and stipple it off in the white, remembering this gray
must occupy only a narrow line along the lower edge of the fish.
[Illustration: _Fig. 186_]
[Illustration: _Fig. 187_]
Commence to mark the scales in gray No. 1 by making a line of them
with a fine-pointed brush downward across the body of the fish (Fig.
186) and this will be a guide to build out from (Fig. 187); after the
painting has thoroughly dried begin again by marking, on the head and
around the eye, the tiny scales in gray No. 2, with a little fat oil
and turpentine, and paint a line along the upper edge of the head and
back with brown No. 4, and another lighter line of the same color
along the back just below and adjoining the first one; paint the eye
and markings on the head brown and strengthen the tail and dorsal fins
with gray No. 2; touch up around the gills with sky blue, also with
yellow ochre where the copy requires it. Then turn your attention to
the sea-weeds; mark the thread-like branches of these in different
colors, using carnation, brown No. 4, gray No. 2, and brown-green;
paint each weed in one color, place the sea-weeds on one side or corner
of the plate, making them branch out this way and that, as in nature.
Now clean off your palette and mix some mat relief for the fish-net,
which is to be placed over and across a portion of the plate; with a
lead-pencil mark the netting on the plate, but do not touch the fish;
then with a very fine brush follow the markings with the relief, when
it is necessary to paint across the fish, your eye and the copy must
be your guides, as it would take the paint off the fish to attempt any
marking on it. The relief on the fish cannot be altered, so be careful
to have it correct the first time. Should the line of relief be too
broad in other places, remove it with your scraper and make another
trial. When the plate is perfectly dry it must be fired, after which
put in a background of warm gray mixed with capavia and turpentine;
bring this to an even tint with the blender, and if any paint blends
over on the fish wipe it off while the color is damp; also remove
the paint from the netting and set the china away to allow the color
to thoroughly dry; next paint broad sweeps across the plate, but not
over the fish, with gray No. 2 mixed with fat oil and turpentine, to
represent the different tints of the water, and again remove the paint
from the net; now touch up the sea-weed and the fish where they need
strengthening, then give the fish a very light wash of gray No. 1.
Here and there along the upper edges of the water colored gray No. 2
make a very fine line with enamel or relief-white mixed with a little
fat oil and turpentine; gild the fish-net, using either pure gold or
mat gold, cover the relief carefully with the gold, and put it on thick
but in fine lines; this accomplished, finish by gilding the edges of
the plate with mat gold, and when dry send it to be fired. To avoid
mistakes when sending china to be fired, state whether you wish the
gold burnished, dull, or polished.
=Foliage on China Made With a Sponge.=
Prepare the paint with fat oil and turpentine, rub it down smooth, then
with a small sponge apply the colors, using different shades as the
first dry, and touching up afterward with a brush; in this way you can
also paint backgrounds which cannot be made with the brush.
=Mixing Colors.=
The best way to paint with safety when you are in doubt what colors
will mix, is to test them yourself. For this purpose take a French
china plate and make experiments with different colors on the plate;
at the same time write down a memorandum of the paints used and of
those mixed, have the plate fired; then paste your memorandum on the
back. Use this for reference, and with experience will come the full
knowledge of the use of all the paints.
=Royal Worcester Ware=
is very delicate and dainty and something quite novel for amateurs in
the way of china decorations.
Very beautiful pieces of this ware may be seen now in all the leading
china establishments in New York City, and so choice is it that even
some of the largest jewelry stores have rare Royal Worcester vases
among their most valuable articles on exhibition.
We know of no book that teaches this art of decoration, and although we
have seen some amateur work which only an expert could distinguish from
the genuine article itself, we think our exposition of the method is
the first of its kind printed in this country; and girls, if you would
know the secret, so that you also may be able to paint and gild in this
beautiful fashion, you have only to listen while the writer tells how
to decorate a Royal Worcester vase as she did; then you will have a
practicable and detailed method which we know to be good, having tried
it.
[Illustration: Fig. 188.—Royal Worcester Vase.]
Select a vase of the finest French china, and be sure that it is
perfectly clean, dry, and free from dust. Then with a clean white
cotton cloth give the vase a wash all over with clear turpentine,
and having chosen your design, make a tracing of it on the vase, and
it will be ready for grounding. Mix enough mat lemon-yellow to cover
the entire surface of the vase. First place a little of the powder on
the tile, then dip your palette-knife in the capavia oil and tap it
off on the tile; in the same way drop turpentine on the tile with the
oil. Use a horn palette-knife and _thoroughly_ mix the paint, oil, and
turpentine; if the mixture seems too stiff, add a little more oil and
turpentine, but be careful not to have the paint too thin, so that it
will run; try the paint with a brush on a clean place on the tile to
see if it is of the right consistency and shade; do not let the color
be too intense; it should be of a delicate tint, and if it is too dark
add a very little more oil. Take a broad, flat brush and begin to paint
at the top of the vase, passing around with short strokes rapidly over
its whole surface; go over the tinting with a pad, touching lightly and
gently; then set the vase away to dry in a dry place free from dust.
The Indian-ink outlines will be plainly visible through the paint, and
when the grounding or tinting has _thoroughly_ hardened, to remove the
color from the design, mix a little of the tar paste upon a clean tile
by working it with your palette-knife until it is smooth. Use a small
brush and go over the design with this mixture, covering every part
except the stems and fine grasses; be very careful not to go outside of
the lines. When the design is all painted with the paste, begin at that
first covered and wipe off the tar paste with small pieces of cotton
batting rolled into little balls, using a fresh wad for each stroke;
clean it all off carefully and the vase will present vacant white china
spots where the flowers, leaves, and bird are soon to appear. For a
guide we will take Fig. 188. Now mix a little mat pink with fat oil and
turpentine in the same way you prepared the grounding yellow, only this
time fat oil takes the place of capavia; use the horn palette-knife as
before; the steel knife should never be used with the Royal Worcester
colors, as the metal is apt to rub in with the paint, dulling and
spoiling the colors. Paint all the flowers a flat tint of light pink.
Always try the color first on the tile until you have the desired
shade. By the time all the flowers have received their tint of color,
those first painted will be dry enough for shading. Observe attentively
the copy, and notice where the different flowers are shaded; then shade
yours with the same color, following as nearly as possible the copy
before you.
For painting the leaves, mix separately with turpentine and fat oil,
mat light yellow-green, mat dark-green, and mat blue green. These
colors can be used separately or any two mixed if desired. Shade the
leaves with mat yellow-brown mixed with the different greens. Paint
the body of the bird a flat tint of mat gold-yellow and the top of its
head and back green; the edges of wing and tail and eye must be of mat
black. When the bird is dry, shade its breast with broad sweeps of mat
gold-yellow, according to the copy; then mix black with yellow-brown
for the other shading on the bird’s breast, and mix black with blue for
painting and shading the wings and tail.
While the paint is drying on the vase mix the mat relief for the raised
edges of bird, flowers, and stems. Mix the relief with turpentine
and fat oil, making it as stiff as it can be used. With a very fine
brush outline the bird, its wings, and tail; also a few strokes on its
breast, tail, and back; be sure the relief is stiff enough to make a
fine raised line; then outline the flowers and the stems; the leaves
are not raised on the edges. When this is finished the vase is ready
for its first firing. Allow the ware to become perfectly dry before
sending it to the firers.
As great care should be taken with the firing of royal Worcester china,
send your vase to the most reliable firers you know of, and when it is
fired and returned, all that remains to be done is to carefully gild
the vase. Mix pure gold with turpentine, but do not have it too thin,
as the gold should be applied as thick as possible. For fine gilding
use a fine small brush with long hairs; this will make a distinct
thread-like line; first cover all the relief with the gold, next
outline the leaves, veining them if necessary; then with thick gold
make your grasses according to the copy. When the gold becomes too
stiff work in a little more turpentine. After you have finished this
gilding, mix some mat gold with turpentine and gild the top rim of the
vase; use the small stipple brush cut off square at the end (Fig. 179),
and bring the border down unevenly along its lower edge, making it the
same way on the inside of the vase; then with the fine long-haired
gilder cover the upper edge of the vase thick with gold. This finished,
gild the bottom of the vase in like manner and make the handle solid
gilt; after it is all dry the vase is ready for its second and last
firing, and when it returns again from the firers you will have a piece
of beautiful Royal Worcester ware similar to that seen at Tiffany’s.
The mat colors used, remove all the gloss from the china, and when
mat lemon-yellow forms the grounding, the china comes from the firing
having the appearance of beautiful decorated ivory without any glaze.
This ware must be seen to be appreciated, and is suitable for vases
and ornaments, but the Royal Worcester colors cannot be used on table
china, for any grease coming in contact with the colors would spoil
them.
Exquisite little vases of all shapes are decorated in this manner; the
delicate gold tracery and outlining brings the designs out effectively.
In this style of painting the decoration is more conventional, and does
not require the same amount of working up and shading, but is as a
rule, treated simply, flat tints with a little shading being all that
is required. Almost any floral design can be used on royal Worcester,
when outlined with relief and gold; there are, however, copies which
come expressly for the purpose.
[Illustration]