The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1899-03-09
FAN PAINTING.
A New Fad That Will he Popular
with the Ladies' THIS
Winter.

A new kind OF fancy work Is como
into fashion, and 1t is one that is not
likely to be very common. as it requires
considerable talent. knowledge Of
painting, and is, besides, very expensive
work. 1t is the painting of fans. This
is not exactly new, for fans have been
painted on parchment. paper, silk and
transparent material for some time, but
It is now the fashion to paint on vellum,
parchment or pigskin. Even better
than any of these is chicken skin, but
this is difficult to obtain as yet in this
country, and those fans that have been
finished have been painted on skins
that were bought abroad.
The fan should be OF medium size.
not large, but yet larger than the en-
pire fan that has been fashionable for
so long. The fad is to use two or three
shades Of one color-for instance, blue
or brown-and the design can be min
iature with scrollwork about ii, some
odd design in ara besque or Grecian pat
tern. or the design on some old fan may
be copied. Museums are ransacked and
old books pored over to find designs
that are popular to copy. Some women
who are ambitious and really have tai
ent for this sort Of thing have copied
the Vatican pictures; Others have con-
tented themselves with much simpler
things; and the trouble Is with a very
simple design that it leaves so much Of
the skin uncovered. and this requires
most careful toning down in coloring-
a most difficult piece of work-And as
yet the. fad is only in its infancy, and
there are not many places where this
accomplishment is taught.
After the fan is painted comes an
other difficulty; that is the mounting of
it properly. Antique shops furnish rare
specimens OF carved ivory, tortoise shell!
and mother-of-pearl sticks, and, OF
course, these add greatly to the beauty
of the work; but they will not always
fit the design. The most successful
workers buy their sticks first then have
the skin cut, or, at all events, marked
out into the proper size, and then pay
some attention to the pattern on the
stick in the design that is painted.
These fans make most charming we'd
ding or Christmas presents, but il must
re we'll understood, it takes some time
to finish satisfactorily, and are, as has
been said, expensive. They are not good
for hard wear, but deserve a place in a
osbinet or on table of fancy trifles.
Undoubtedly there will be a great num-
Der OF these turned out when they are
better known, and when women take
lessons in painting. Every line of good
work will show TO advantage, but, alas!
every Incorrect line will also stand out
most oonspicuously. Painting on vel
lum will certainly be one Of the new
fashions before long, not only for such
work as has been described, but for
portfolios, book covers and the thou
sand and one trifles that go on the writ
ing desk. Vellum takes colors most sat.
isfactorily, and for aEyone who is ar.
tistio enough to blend colors well this
work turns out so that it well repays
the trouble taken in doing it. OF course
slovenly drawing and inharmonious col
oring will give an amRteurish effect
which will rob the work Of grace.-Uar-
pcr's Bazar.