Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1889-01-21
BEGINNERS ON CHINA.


Advice In the Art of Painting Worthy the
Attention of Amateurs.
g In order to be successful in the art of
painting on china,n said skillful amateur
in that class of decorative work to New
York Nal and Express reporter, "the begin
ncr should not soar too high, but should
commence with simple, scmiconventional
designs in a single color until complete IA
miliarity with the handling of the brush
| and thorough knowledge of colors is OBJ
tanned. To paint in mineral Coors one
should possess knowledge of drawing, but
much may still be done when that knowl-
edge is lacking by tracing the outline of the
designs a delicate tracing may be made
upon the china by going over the outline
with a hard point, provided the china has
been dipped in solution of turpentine or
lavender, That the tracing may not be
rubbed off during the painting it should be
gone over with IL fine brush and Water-color
carmnc, or u lead pencil may be used in
stead where the colors are not very delicate.
The carminc will disappear in firing
After the design has been outlined the
color should be laid on with broad strokes,
with good sized brush well filled when the
of the proper consistency is to be gained
only by personal experience, the paint
should be thlnncd with spirits of turpentine
as required, and only enough fat oil should
b. used to make the paint work smoothly.
Special care should be taken in the matter
of cleanliness in the delicate art, and ex-
ccsslvc pains should be employed to prevent
the various Colors from muddying If the
work is to be fired it should be dried as soon
as possible, and when dry should be at once
put in the kiln.
"Dcspitc what has been said Of its cost
china painting is really the most economical
of the kindred arts, for it is much more use
full, while its expense is not more than that
incurred in any other class Of painting A
set of colOrs may seem expensive at first,
but they will last for a long time, and china
of Il cheap quality, which is just as desir-
able, IN many respects, as the most costly,
can be purchased at u reasonable price.
Any little blCmishes that appear in the
glaze can be readily covered up, and when
the piece is completed it will look as well az
if it cost one hundred times as much. The
expense of taking the work to professional
1ircrs can be avoided by procuring port
able kiln, for there arc many excellent ones
to be obtained, with full instructions for
their use. When one does the firing at
home it is best also to do the gliding, but if
the china is to be taken to professional, !
should recommend that the banding be
done by him. Bands, however, are not
necessary, for there arc many ways of
finishing the china without them
"A new preparation of gold comes in the
form of the finest powder, which can be
busted on after the china is covered with a
coat of the tinting oil. This comes in yellow
gold, deep gold, red gold, green gold and
lemon gold and costs three dollars penny
weight. After covering the surface with
the tinting oil, which should be applied with
pad made Of cAamois skin and cotton, the
gold should be busted on with absorbent
cotton, care beng taken to place the china
on piece of paper so that the gold dust
which falls outside can be saved. Although
this dust is more expensive than the liquid
gold 1t is said to be moro economical on the
Wholc,'
"What are the newest importations in
decorated china:n
"Thcy run almost entirely to metal dec
orations, with several shades of gold in the
majority Of tho designs. While these
specimens appear very rich, they arc in re-
ality quite simple, and can be copied by any
amateur who is proficient and as all the
shades of gold and metals can be procured
at reasonable rates, predict substantial
advance in the popularity Of china decora-
tion.n