All honor to the worthy sire who produced the first pictures upon glass, paper or canvass, with oil; and, although those pictures have passed from sight of the present generation, we live to enjoy the knowledge given to us through history, that many a fine artist did live long enough to give to the world the highest productions of his artistic hand; and, although passed to “that bourne from whence no traveler returns,” his teachings are still practiced among men. And no man, however original he may be, can to-day sit down and paint the form or ornament of a house, but that it will be the development or degradation of forms practiced by the artists of early days. The style of painting which is given below is somewhat ancient, but very ornamental and useful; and, although to an extent it passed from existence years ago, the lovers of decorative art have again revived it in the East, and it is now being sought after and practiced by thousands on account of its being cheap and easy to attain. This plan of transferring the engraving from paper to glass, and discarding the paper wholly, is simply wonderful. We give it below:

Procure a fine quality of French glass, make perfectly clean with alcohol, then apply with a stiff brush a coat of damar varnish; after drying about an hour, apply another coat, evenly and smoothly; this allow to dry about ten minutes, or just long enough to make it sticky. Procure an uncolored steel engraving that you may desire to see painted, and trim off all the paper not connected with the picture. Dampen it with a sponge or wet cloth, and while yet damp place the engraving on the glass with the face to the varnish, rubbing with your dry hand or cloth until every part adheres to the surface, and all air has been removed, rubbing from the center.

Lay this away a few hours, until it is perfectly dry, then dampen the picture again, and commence rubbing therefrom the paper; continue this until you have removed every vestige of the same, nothing remaining upon the glass but the face of the engraving. Now apply a coat of boiled oil, let it dry fifteen or twenty minutes, and apply another, or a coat of varnish, evenly and smoothly; after laying an hour or two it is ready to receive the paint. As the paper has been all removed the colors will strike through readily. Arrange the glass to the light in such a manner that you may see through it, and apply the colors to the engraving on the back, as in the Grecian oil. The outlines and shades are already produced by the engraving, and all that is necessary now is to place the colors where they belong, which, with a little practice, can soon be acquired.

The paints used are, yellow lake, yellow ochre, chrome yellow, chrome green, Prussian blue, burnt sienna, Vandyke brown, ivory black, verdigris green, silver white, mixed with damar varnish. Use brushes as in Grecian oil.