The morning times., 1896-08-02
FAN PAINTING.
Decorating and Mounting the Skins
OF Pet Birds.

II you have Il pet swan, and he unhap-
PLY dies. do you know what you should
do with the skin?
Paint IL ana mount II and make Il ran Oh
it. That is what the girls are doing VINO
own swanneries, ana want 10 have Il me
mortal OF the pet bird that comes to an un-
timely end. Swanskin Is quite as easy a 5
Vcllum to paint on and The method U! pro
cedure is the same. In fact, either OF these
materials, gauz.. crepe or silk, are treated
i'll the same way.
The material TO be used must be stretched
on a large dra wing board. using plenty of
tiny drawing pins; or what is better, gum
ming the edges to he width of quarter ot
an inch, and then placing IL on the board,
pressing down the edges with soft linen
cloth until they adhere. In either case
great care must be used TO strain the ma
terial evenly and tightly. This done, the
general outline of the leaf can be formed
by tracing the segment of circle OF the
requisite Dimensions. II the design Is an
original one, the amateur should work II
out on paper first, as no after alteration
must be attempted on the fan leaf.
When the fabric is silk or satin, the
design is best transferred; having traced
the design on tracing paper, lay between
it and the material a sheet OF transfer
paper-black lead paper for light ground
works and blue or red for dark ones
then with an ivory tracer 20 gently over
every outline, thus reproducing the de
sign on the material. One must be wary
of the superabundance Of Coloring mat
ter with which these transfer papers are
charged, and before using IL. remove a
considerable portion with fine linen
cloth. Gauze and crepe are not suitable
for tracing on, SO the design must be
sketchcd in with either light red or Chi
nese white One must use mediums care
fully; an occasional drop OF OK gall in
the water will make The colors flow easily.
Every color must he mixed with Chinese
white, and in many instances, 1t Is de-
sirablc to fill in the entire design with
an even layer Of this pigment, 50 as to get
a good surface TO work On.
One golden rule applies 10 all fan paint
iDg-bcgin with the deepest tones, then
paint in the middle tints, gradually lead
ing up to the high lights. and remembering
never to touch one color with another until
perfectly dry.
All that then remains is the touching
up in miniature fashion. with minute
stro kcs and delicate slipping: almost
ethereal lightness must be the aim OF the
worker and on no account must she be
tempted into overriding these fascinating
details. or Il heavy look Will result; q small.
pointed brush must be used. Too much
finish is not an advantage in fan paint
ing the design dnust he Kept simple anu
effective. Shadows must be IN del-
cate graz. put in quite fiat
When oil colors are used put them
out on blot,ing paper instead of the
usual palate TO absorb the oil, and then
mix with turpentine or some one OF the
preparations sold for the purpose; nat
bristIe or small, flat pointed sable brushes
arc the best.
The multiplicity of design is endless;
not only are there rich blending OF col
or. but shadowy grisailles-painted III
black and gray with white for the lights,
and soft monochromes in blues, pinkS
and reds. Spangles may be used in con
junction with painting butterflies wings.
humming birds crests. and Flower
stamens glittering with minute 'sparkies
or red. blue. green and Coppe.y gold.
Mounting 4 fan is delicate art, even
more so than painting one, and ! should
advise the amateur 10 send IL 10 an
eventailliste to be mounted.