  PAINTING ON" China, Porcelain, Earthenware & Enamel. Colors Used, and the Process of Burning them in.At the present time this art is receiving a great deal of attention among the American people, and especially the intelligent class, who are taking every opportunity of informing themselves in regard to the plan of moulding the various ornaments for use, the art of decorating them, the particular kinds of paints used, and the operation through which they pass in the burning in of the colors. It would be useless for me to attempt a book on art that would meet the wants of the people, and omit China Painting, which is gaining universal favor among the higher classes in eastern cities. The art is applied directly to the ornamentation of the house, which makes it much sought after by ladies, who take pride After the paints are applied, the ware requires a certain amount of heat to fix the colors, and prevent it from being effaced by washing. Commence work by first Tracing the Drawing. For tracing, details should be left out as much as possible, or at any rate indicated soberly. Direct Outline. If the pupil can draw well, she will outline her subject lightly on the object she wishes to paint, directly, without tracing, by means of a lithographic pencil. Transferring. When you want to make a minute and complicated drawing, you are obliged to transfer, to avoid getting double lines on the china. Before transferring, prepare your piece of ware as follows: Pour three drops of alcohol on the plaque or white plate intended for decoration. It is very easy to trace on a perfectly flat surface. We shall mention several ways. First Method. Tracing by Rubbing. After having traced from the engraving, or original model to be reproduced, the outline of your subject (figure, ornament, or landscape), with one of the lithographic pencils, you reverse the tracing over a sheet of white paper, and go over the outline again very carefully with the same pencil; this being done, prepare your piece of china with medium as we have just described. The vegetal tracing paper is then fixed, by means of little lumps of modeling wax, on the exact spot the subject is to occupy; and when that is done, you have only to rub all over the outline with an ivory knife, to make the lead that is on the vegetal tracing paper convey itself distinctly on to the previously prepared oiled enamel. Second Method. Tracing with a Tracing Point. Take either black, blue, or carmine transferring paper, according to the tint of the painting that is to be done. The carmine gives To make sure of tracing on the exact spot, you must draw a horizontal line in the middle of your drawing, one also in the middle of the tracing paper, and one as well on the porcelain, with crosses and letters to each end as landmarks; two crosses marked A and B on the horizontal line of the enamel, and + + a b on the horizontal line of the tracing paper. The piece is prepared with oil of turpentine or spirits of wine. At the end of two or three minutes you place your drawing on the porcelain in accordance with the marks + + a b, taking care to place the middle lines one on the top of the other, a on A, and b on B; you fix the vegetal tracing paper by means of small bits of gummed paper, or else with little balls of modeling wax; the sheet of tracing paper being quite firm, you slide beneath it the piece of paper rubbed with carmine, blue, or black lead; you then take a porcupine quill with a fine point, and without leaning too hard you go over all the outline. You must be careful not to press your fingers on the drawing, for it often causes the deposit of powder to be of the same color as your transferring paper, which spoils the result and prevents careful painting. Before finishing all the work, lift up a corner of the overlying paper to see if the tracing does mark. It will be but an affair of habit to trace well, for it is by experiments frequently repeated that one comes to know exactly the amount of strength to be used so that the transferring paper may mark sufficiently. This paper lasts a long time, and improves as it grows old; you must prevent it from getting creased. For this, each time it has been used, it should be put away into a brown paper cover, wherein the tracing papers are also placed. Third Method is by pricking the outline with small holes, and in making what is called a “Poncif.” Cleaning brushes with spirits of wine has to be done every day. From time to time a more thorough cleaning with soft soap is resorted to; the brushes are steeped in the soap, and are washed the next day only. PORCELAIN AND EARTHENWARE.—COMPOSITION, USE AND MIXING OF THE COLORS.GENERAL INFORMATION. We borrow from M. Lacroix his classification of colors, which is very practical with regard to their employment in painting: “Classification of colors with respect to iron.—Iron plays an important part in the composition of a great many enamel colors; for this reason I have taken it as a standard for my classification of colors into three groups. “First Group.—Colors that do not contain any iron: First, the white; secondly, the blues; thirdly, the colors from gold. “A horn or ivory knife is preferable for the use of colors of this group. “Second Group.—Colors with but little trace of iron. This group includes the yellows and greens, several of which colors contain iron in small quantities. “Third Group.—Colors with an iron basis, or of which iron is one of the coloring parts: First, the reds, fleshes, red browns, and violets of iron; secondly, the browns, yellow browns, ochres, blacks and a greater part of the greys.” The enamel colors usually designated by the name of iron colors are: All the browns; the greys, excepting platina grey; the blacks, minus iridium black; the ochres; the reds, and the violets of iron. The enamel colors said to be with a golden basis are: The carmines; crimson lake; the purples, and the violets of gold. Tests.—The amount of flux added to the coloring oxides for the manufacture of enamel colors varies according to the color; this difference, joined to the diversity of the chemical elements, causes actions in the firing which may modify certain colors and even make them disappear entirely; it is said expressively that they have been eaten up, devoured by the fire. We shall cite, as an example, the mixture of ivory yellow with carmine, as one of those which decompose in the firing. Other causes act likewise on enamel colors during firing; the intensity, more or less great, of the heat, the thickness, and the amount of oil in the color, the way it is used, etc. In order to well understand the various influences, and to secure yourself against accidents, you must be continually making tests of the mixtures yourself; it is the only way to paint with safety. It is indispensable for the test to be double, that is, on two small bits of precisely the same manufacture of china as the piece you wish to paint. The same mixture is made on both small pieces, they are both dried, and one only is fired in order to be able to judge what change is caused by the firing, by comparing it with the unfired test you have kept by you. Besides, Mixed colors should be stirred with the brush when used; without this precaution they would separate; light blue would rise on dark blue, yellow on green, ivory yellow on carnation. Some hints follow which it will be advantageous to verify and to carry out by tests. They apply generally to painting on porcelain or earthenware for the ordinary muffle. Fusibility. Hard colors (those which require the greatest heat to make them fuse) spoil and often destroy those of a softer flux (that fuse more easily). The flux added by the manufacturer to the coloring oxide lightens the tint of the color; dark colors are therefore generally harder than light ones. In the palette of M. Lacroix the colors more fusible than the rest, although taking the same time to fire, are light sky-blue, light carmine A, pearl grey, warm or russet grey, and ivory yellow, all light colors. Thickness. The tint of enamel colors get darker when you increase their thickness. But you must beware of doing it too much. Light and fusible colors used too thick, blister in firing; it is prudent to give them only a medium thickness. You should apply in drops those colors only that are specially designed for the purpose; permanent white, permanent yellow, and relief. They hold on earthenware, but their use on porcelain is liable to failure. Mediums. Experience will prove that if too much oil of turpentine is added to the colors used, which is called adding “fat,” they will craze in the firing. Make some trials by exaggerating this fault. You will remark nevertheless that colors applied very thin, although with much “fat,” do not craze. The cracks caused in the firing, by the action of the resinous part of the oil, which evaporates and causes the white of the enamel to reappear, is called crazing. Conduct of the Work. It is very important in the first painting to use the most fusible light colors, and those most easily SPECIAL INFORMATION CONCERNING PAINTING COLORS.MODE OF USE—MIXTURES—CONCORDANCE OF ENAMEL WITH MOIST AND OIL COLORS, AND THEIR USUAL TECHNICAL NAMES. Whites, belonging to the first group. White is obtained by permanent white, (for high lights), and Chinese white, a color of very limited use in painting, it being preferable to keep the white of the china when possible. Permanent white, alone or mixed with other colors for heightening, which is called high light, or relief, requires perfect grinding. It should be tried by repeated and well fired tests before using it for important works. It is lifted up with the point of the brush, and laid without spreading. It could not bear two firings; it is put at the second firing, which is always less powerful. Blues. (First group.) In his character as a chemist, M. Lacroix gives us, in his work already quoted, the general reason for excessive care in using blues. “All the blues, with very few exceptions, Blues are laid on in very thin coatings, particularly blue green. Ordinary oil medium. The first painting is but little loaded, and is shaded with the same tint in a second coating, added to grey in the last firing for the darkest parts. Here are some notes on the concordance of enamel colors with oil colors and their usual names. Sky Blue—sky blue. Light Blue—light sky blue. Blue Verditer—two-thirds ultramarine blue; one-third deep blue green. Slight oiling. Barbeau Blue, or Smalt—Victoria blue. Marine Blue (in oils)—half Victoria blue, half carmine No. 2. Cobalt—deep ultramarine. Prussian Blue—one-third dark blue; one-third Victoria blue; one-third ultramarine; a touch of grey No. 2; a very little touch of purple. Indigo—dark blue; a touch of raven black. Carmines and Purple. (First Group.) Carmines must be used very thin, lest they should turn yellow in the firing. You must put but little oil to avoid shrivelling. Never touch them with a knife; the brush must be sufficient. It is also recommended, when using purple, to fill the brush well and to turn it round and round to dissolve the little gritty lumps generally found at the opening of the tubes. When a pink color has had an addition of purple to it, spirits of lavender with a drop of oil of turpentine should be preferred to turpentine only. “When carmines are fired in the muffle at too low a temperature, silver takes the upper hand and the color has a dirty yellow tint; if, on the contrary, the temperature is too high, the silver shade is completely destroyed, and the carmine becomes lilac or violet, which explains the difficulty in firing carmines. The same thing takes place with purples, but in a considerably less perceptible degree, because of the shade being much darker and cassius being in a larger quantity.”—A. Lacroix. Enamel carmines and purples are equivalent to the oil colors of the same name. Light Pink—Carmine A and carmine No. 1. Deeper Pink—Carmine No. 2 with carmine No. 3. Laky Red—Crimson lake. Purple Lake—Carmine No. 1 and a touch of purple. Peony Pink—Half ruby purple; half carmine No. 1. Chinese Pink—Carmine No. 3; touch of ruby purple. Lakes (in oils)—Carmines. Crimson Lake (in oils)—Purples. Red Purple—Deep purple. Crimson—Crimson purple. Lilacs and Violets. (1st group, except the violet of iron, which belongs to the 3d group.) The same precautions are required in using lilacs as for carmines. Lilac—Half carmine No. 1; half sky-blue; a touch of carmine No. 3. Mauve—Half carmine A; half ultramarine. Magenta—Two-thirds carmine No. 3; one-third deep ultramarine; a touch of ruby purple. Deep Violet—Deep violet of gold. Light Pansy—Light violet of gold, with a touch of deep ultramarine. Deep Pansy—Deep violet of gold, sustained more or less and with an addition of ultramarine. Reds. (3d group, except the purples.) Red, a predominant color, is nearly always used alone. Thus, the reddish tips of green leaves are obtained by placing the red next the green, but not by putting it over. With the dark colors, on the contrary, it is red that disappears. Chinese vermilion in oils has an equivalent tint in coral for porcelain applied thin; backgrounds are made of it, but it would be risking a great deal to use it in painting, on account of its extreme sensibility in firing; besides, it suffers no mixing. Scarlet vermilion is approached by adding a touch of flesh No. 1 to capucine red, and laying on this mixture in a moderate thickness. Capucine Red—Capucine red. Poppy Red—Half capucine red; half deep purple. A satisfactory result is obtained only at the third application of this mixture, which loses at each firing. Madder—Capucine red; a touch of purple and of carmine No. 3. Gules (in heraldry)—Capucine red and a touch of purple. Venetian Red (in oils)—Violet of iron (third group). Yellows. (Second group.) Certain yellows greatly destroy the colors mixed with them, and even make them disappear entirely. This disadvantage is perceived when too much ivory yellow is mixed with red, or when that yellow is placed abundantly over other colors. “The yellow called silver yellow contains no silver; it is composed of jonquil yellow and orange yellow. Yellows that contain no iron (yellow for mixing and jonquil yellow) are generally preferred for making fresh greens. On the other hand, for mixing Light yellows scale very easily; the dark yellows, being less fusible, need to be used moderately thin in the first painting, for the first fire develops them; at the second firing they increase in depth, and if they are too heavily loaded they cannot be made lighter again. Avoid using yellows next to blues, which would produce a green tint. For the centers of blue flowers, which necessitates some yellow, the place must be well scraped before putting the color. Permanent yellow, (half white and half yellow for mixing), serves for placing lights in drapery and yellow flowers, as well as high lights in ornaments. Lemon Yellow—Yellow 47 of Sevres, with a touch of silver yellow. Golden Yellow—Half silver yellow; half jonquil yellow. Saffron Yellow—Two-thirds ivory yellow; one-third flesh No. 1; a touch of capucine red. Salmon—Two-thirds ivory yellow; one-third flesh No. 2; a touch of carmine No. 3. Straw Color—Yellow for mixing, used very lightly. Yellow Lake—Yellow for mixing. Dark Chrome Yellow—Silver yellow; a touch of jonquil yellow. Light Chrome Yellow—Jonquil yellow. Indian Yellow—Half jonquil yellow; half ochre. Naples Yellow—Ivory yellow. Orange Yellow—Orange yellow. Maize—Half ivory yellow; half orange yellow. Greens. (Second group.) For foliage it is well to remember that dark tints placed in advance of light ones destroy the latter in the firing. All the greens, whether in foliage or in drapery, can be shaded with browns, reds, and carmine tints. Dark green, being very powerful, should be used with caution. The blue-greens are used for the distance, but then excessively light; they are tinted with capucine red for the horizon. Emerald-stone Green—Emerald-stone green. Water Green—Half apple green; half deep blue-green. Veronese Green—One-third apple green; one-third chrome green; one-third emerald-stone green. Malachite—Apple green; a touch of emerald-stone green. Blue-green—Deep blue-green. Dark Green—Two-thirds chrome green 3 B; one-third dark green. Bottle Green or Sap Green—Sap green. Emerald Green—Two-thirds blue-green; one-third emerald-stone green. Browns. (Third group.) The artistic browns for china which steady painters prefer, are vigorous browns, fresh when mixed, and resisting well the action of the fire, but which have not the brilliancy of the less coloring browns. The warm browns in oils exist for china. The deep red brown and mixtures of violet of iron and of laky red correspond to the red browns. Golden Brown—Golden brown. Vandyke Brown—It is impossible to obtain it exactly. The nearest approach would be by mixing brown 108 with violet of iron. Raw Sienna—Sepia. Orange Mars—Uranium yellow and a touch of purple. Blacks. (Third group.) The blacks in oils are represented in the palette for pottery by raven, ivory and iridium black, which answers all purposes. If these blacks fail, others can be composed by mixtures of simple colors, as dark reds and dark blues. It would be better to operate in two firings to avoid crazing. The use of iron reds is not admitted on soft paste; the blacks are to be made with iridium black, which is ready made, or with purple and dark green. It is rare that black is needed for subjects painted on soft paste. It is sometimes used in decoration for surrounding ornaments with a line, but seldom for backgrounds, excepting on decorative vases of a certain style. Greys. (Third group.) A grey of some kind is always obtained by mixing complementary colors; reds with greens, or yellows with violets, violet being a combination of carmine and blue. The greys obtained by mixing greens, ready made or composed, with carmine or purple, as required, are very frequently used by flower painters. Experience on this subject can only be acquired by continual trials. Dove Color—Dove color. Ash Grey—Light grey used lightly, and a touch of sky blue. Pearl Grey—Pearl grey No. 6. Russet Grey—Warm grey. Brown Grey—Grey and sepia. |
|
