# Cyclopedia of Painting/China Painting

CHINA PAINTING.
Mediums. These are requisites, and upon the kind used and upon their quality depends, to an extent greater than is generally supposed, the appearance of the finished work. The mediums are, as their other general name of vehicles indicates, the carriers of the paint, the means by which it may be spread. The mediums in general use and which give every satisfaction are of two kinds, a spirit and an oil, the latter being the vehicle proper, the former, the thinning agent to render practicable the spreading of the mixed oil and paint in a coat of any desired depth or thickness. The spirit and the oil are both either of turpentine or of tar, spirit and oil of turpentine being used together, and spirit and oil of tar.
Turpentine. The ordinary turpentine of the house-painter will answer the purpose, but it will be found best to procure rectified spirits of turpentine as sold by the druggist, which is as clear as the proverbial crystal, and as limpid as the purest water. The common turpentine may be used for washing brushes. The oil of turpentine is also known as fat oil. It is viscid, much of the consistency of golden syrup, and has something of the color of clouded amber. This may be purchased for a few cents a small bottle, but it may be prepared from spirits of turpentine by any one, thus: Into a flat saucer pour a little spirits of turpentine, say a tablespoonful, according to the size of the saucer, and over the saucer place a layer of muslin, sufficiently close in texture to prevent dust getting to the turpentine, and yet not so close as to prevent evaporation. The saucer with the muslin drawn tight over it should now be put in a place here evaporation will be free, but not over the fire or stove so as to hasten evaporation, or the heat might dissipate the whole. When the spirituous part of the liquid has ​passed off there will be found left the oil at the bottom of the saucer. Fresh spirit may be added, and the process repeated until there is enough oil to pour off.
Tar. The spirit of tar is in two shades, one a rich amber, the other a dark brown, but both are alike in nature. The oil of tar corresponds to it in the same way as the oil of turpentine does to the spirit of turpentine. The spirits of oil of tar are of similar use to the other spirit and oil, and are employed principally by those who object to the vapor of the turpentine as causing headache or affecting the throat. The spirits of turpentine and of tar are extremely volatile, the former being somewhat more so than the latter; and
Fig. 12. Painter's Flat Duster.
during the working, sufficient may pass off to render the paint somewhat troublesome to deal with. This difficulty is, however, only a slight one, and is easily overcome by the use of a little
Oil of Lavender. Oil of spike, as it is sometimes called, is a perfectly volatile and fluid oil, but very much less volatile than either of the above mentioned spirits, and a small quantity is added to the other mediums used when it is desired to keep the work open, to counteract its drying or fattening through loss of spirit.
The mediums should be kept in bottles with closely fitting stoppers, especially the spirits, as otherwise these would quickly become "fat" by evaporation.
​Paint. The colors used in painting upon china or earthenware are, for the most part, oxides of certain metals. A few colors, however, such as the deep transparent blues, and yellows from one source, are really, to a certain extent, stained glass, the glass having more or less completely dissolved the coloring matter. China or enamel colors then, from their containing, as an essential constituent, a glass or flux of vitrifiable composition, are called vitrifiable pigments.
The following list of colors in dry powder will serve all purposes:
​Moist Oil-Colors. These, as well as moist water-colors prepared expressly for this kind of painting, can be purchased at any large paint dealer's store.
Having all the general requisites at hand we are ready to begin work. Before, however, we bring out the brushes and mix the colors, we must decide where the color is to go when it is mixed. The first concern is the design, and this whether we intend to have a background or not. Therefore, the first operations will be directed toward producing the outline.
According to the method which may be adopted for sketching the outline, there will be required a black lead pencil, HB or B, lithographic crayon, a tracing point, tracing paper, transfer paper, a pounce, Indian ink, rose pink, or lamp black, and gummed paper or modelling wax.
Lithographic crayon may be made by mixing 32 parts bees-wax, 4 parts purified tallow, 24 parts soap, 1 part nitrate of potassium, dissolved in 8 parts water, 6 parts lamp black.
The surface of the china having been thoroughly cleaned by washing and dried, the design may be marked on by either of the following plans: By marking with lithographic crayon, black lead pencil, pricked stencil pattern and pounce-bag, copying or transfer paper. The design being drawn on the ware proceed to mix the color with the mediums. Different pigments require different proportions of medium, and the same pigment requires varying proportions, according to the end sought. It may be said generally that the ordinary blues, rose, and purple take most fat and the yellows the least. More fat, again, is required when it is desired to lay color flat, as in backgrounds, either with the brush, or when the use of the dabber is contemplated, or to have the color flow to a very slight extent as in delicate shading, or to lay a very thin tint.
Powder Color. In mixing powder color, the orthodox direction is to lay a little powder on the slab, and add to ​it just so much oil as will make it into a thick paste, to be subsequently reduced to the requisite thinness by spirit. The grinding is done on the slab with the muller, and when ground to a thick cream consistency it is called prepared color.
Moist Oil-Color. Those who adopt moist oil-color in tubes will find that the color when fresh contains exactly the right quantity of oil. The color only requires thinning to be fit for use.
Moist Water-Colors. Require no grinding, simply dilution, but it must be remembered water-colors cannot be used where the outlines are made with lithographic crayons,
Fig. 13. Stucco Wall Paint Brush.
for these being greasy would grease the brush, and the water-color instead of laying flat, would ridge and spot.
Firing. The ware being painted the next step is to make the work imperishable by fire; this part of the process need not be done by the painter, for the maintenance to a nicety of different definite degrees of heat in furnaces of special adaptation are not to be found united except in factories devoted to the business. If the painting has gone to the kiln with too much oil in it, it is certain that the color will blister. If it comes back with a dry powdery look, with ​the color scarcely adhering, it shows that the color was over-diluted with turpentine.
The remedy for dryness is simply repainting, using more oil. The remedy for blistering is simply chipping off the blisters, and then rubbing down the irregularities.