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dent has chosen anything of a bell-shaped nature, or, more still, anything elaborate, such as columbine or antirehinium, success will be most difficult of attainment.

Colors should be very subdued on terra-cotta: Pale Yellows, White, Dull Greens, and Browns all look well, with possibly of a little Turquoise Blue. It is best for the student not to paint on terra-cotta until he can conscientiously assure himself that his taste is well trained, and his manipulations good.

It is quite allowable to mix color with the enamel for the first firing, but there is no advantage in doing so, as the enamel makes too rough a surface for shading upon, and it therefore requires a second firing before it can be finished. If, however, for anything very simple, you would like to try it, let the proportions be about four of enamel to one of color.

Colored glazed plates and tiles may also be painted in the manner described for terra-cotta. Beautiful shades are to be had of Celadon, Chocolate, Orange, Blue, Green, and others.

PAINTING ON CHINA.

In commencing the study of China Painting it will be well if the student starts with the firm determination of completely mastering the use of his materials. Even though he may be proficient in oils or water colors, the technique is so different that it will be necessary to begin at the very beginning.

If the student knows nothing of pottery painting, by all means let him begin with over-glaze in preference to under glaze painting. In the former, all faults (for instance, brush marks, inefficient dabbling, the use of too much turpentine, too much or too little oil) are apparent on the surface. They are only too visible the instant they are perpetrated. There is seen to be something obviously wrong, and if the student does not know how to remedy it, he feels, if he is a conscientious worker, that the least he can do is to take it out, and hope for more skill in a second attempt. But in under-glaze painting, work often has the appearance of being very tolerably well done until it is glazed and fired, when brush marks, bad edges and harsh lines start forth in a manner that is most unexpected and disappointing.

We shall confine our attention entirely to over-glaze painting, and throughout it must be remembered that the colors mentioned are invariably over-glaze or manual colors. Enamel colors should be kept carefully apart from under-glaze colors, as the smallest grain of the latter mixed with the former would completely spoil the effect. The same remark applies to oil paints, and even to the turpentine in which brushes used for them have been rinsed.

In choosing your earthenware or china, notice that the glaze is smooth and even, without specks of any

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All the colors mentioned in the list will work freely together, with the exception of Brunswick Brown and Red, which will, however, mix together, and with black and purple, but not with the other colors. Working with the moist water colors will be found very pleasant. In sketching, use the crayon purchased for that purpose, which, being of an oily nature, will not be washed out by the water-color passing over it. It will, however, disappear completely in the firing. The manner of working is very much the same as if the colors were mixed with oil. The brush must be kept square, and the mark of color may be retouched again and again in order to make it smooth. If a large space is to be

covered, use the dabber. More water or meglip must be added as occasion requires; but too much of the former is apt to produce a very worky appearance, and if too much of the latter is used the color will take a long time to dry. For a broad sweep of color, a combination of the two is best. When the ground is laid, and your drawing is of such a nature that you have been obliged to take the color over it, you may clean out your design with great ease, by merely washing away the surplus color with a brush just moistened with water, but care must be taken that the brush is not too wet, lest the work shall be made messey. The pattern may also be cleaned out either with a pen-knife or with the pointed end of a brush handle. These colors are perfectly well ground and free from grit. One of the few technical difficulties connected with their use will be overcome if the student will never try to shade his work without drying the first washes at the fire. When these colors are dry they are easy to work upon, but we cannot sufficiently impress upon the student that they will not dry of their own accord. If the underworks are disturbed, it will show that these remarks have not been attended to.

With reference to the French colors it must be borne in mind that the Iron Reds (all Reds of a brick-dust shade) will mix with each other, or with Black or Violet de Fer, and, to a moderate extent, with Jaune à Mêler, or Jaune d'Ivoire, but not with other colors. If mixed with Carmine, Blue, &c., and fired, the Red would all disappear. However, if a little thought is bestowed on the subject, this is no very great disadvantage, as by using Jaune à Mêler as a sort of go-between, you may blend or graduate Red into almost any other color you wish. Say, for example, that you desire to shade Red into Green; a good Green for the purpose can be made with Noir d'Ivoire and Jaune à Mêler, both of which colors will mix with Red. Or if a brighter green is required, put plenty of oil into your Jaune à Mêler, and, with different brushes, wash the Red on to one end of the space to be covered, and the Green on to the other, blending them with Jaune à Mêler in the middle. If well done, the effect should be smooth and the gradation uniform; but if you use too little oil, the colors will join with a harsh line. Ocre is useful for shading Yellow, or. used by itself, for the warm glow in a sunset sky; but it will not mix at all satisfactorily with greens. All the other colors will mix freely together; but after a little experience you will find that Browns are very apt to fire out, i. e., to disappear in the firing, leaving the other color with which they were mixed somewhat of the same tone as if it had been used pure; you will also find that Blues, Purples, and Carmines are very strong in their effect, being apt, when mixed with other colors, to show more after they are fired than before. White enamel is most useful for

little touches of white, or for painting on terra-cotta. It must be kept scrupulously clean, and a separate palette sould be reserved for it, a glass one being preferable to an ordinary tile. Then grind it with a steel knife, bnt use a glass muller or ivory palette-knife, otherwise it will probably be discolored in firing. If in painting with Enamel you find it is inclined to spread, breathe into the color on your palette, at the same time mixing it with a little more turpentine. As you require to put it on rather thickly, do not use too much oil.

The hand-rest, if placed over your work, for your hand to rest on whilst painting, will greatly help you to avoid rubbing or scratching your work, to which beginners are very prone. It will also assist you to acquire a light touch. A tall easel is a convenience, as it will save much stooping, and you can also see the general effect of your work better when it is not flat on the table.

If you have any facility in drawing we recommend you to sketch your work with Indian Ink, water-color carmine, or smoke; and if with the first, let it be of the first quality, or there may be impurities it it which will remain after firing. If the last is used, it is merely necessary to hold a saucer or tile over the flame of a candle, and then use the carbon while it collects with a little turpentine. If your design is very elaborate and you wish to trace it, you may do so by making use of either of the following methods. First, and least objectionable, is the process known as 'pouncing.' Arrange a piece of tracing paper over your design, and with a fine hard pencil make a careful outline of your drawing. When this is complete, place it on a cushion or anything soft, and with a fine needle, prick along every line. Finally, arrange your tracing on your plate, secure it at the corners with a wafer, and dust over it with a little black-lead or fine charcoal powder. The drawing will by this means be transferred to your plate in a series of dotted lines. It is then ready to be sketched with India Ink. Afterward remove all the dust with a soft brush or cloth, or it may interfere with your painting. The second process is to place a sheet of black tracing paper on the china, and over it your tracing; then go over all the lines again with a hard fine-pointed pencil, or the sharp end of a porcupine quill. The patterns so transferred to the china should be strengthened and corrected with a fine brush and India The process is quicker, but it is also dirtier, and you are more likely to lose the delicacy of your drawing, although in simple conventional borders there is no objection to this method being used. As the great advantage which amateurs possess over professional china painters is the power of spending unlimited time over the smallest piece of work, they should never run the risk of spoiling their painting by using inferior methods.

Ink.

THE TOILET.

HYGIENE OF BEAUTY-RULES FOR PRESERVING GOOD LOOKS
TREATMENT OF THE COMPLEXION, HAIR, FEET, HANDS AND

TEETH. FORMULAS FOR COSMETICS.

NATURE OF THE SKIN.

Much attention has been bestowed in recent years upon the various means of improving the personal appearance.

bath is the most important of all things as an aid to securing both.

To daub up the face with cosmetics without most thoroughly washing it is to invite the very ills which the person so doing is attempting to shun. In fact, as a rule, most of the skin are dangerous, and many a complexion preparations upon the market for treating the has been ruined by the use of them. greatest discretion should be practiced in deal

The

There are any number of formulas, the ingredients of which are pure and harmless, and these often prove efficient in various ways. They can be put up by any good druggist, and will be found not only beneficial, but far more economical than the patent nostrum.

Skilled physicians, chemists and surgeons have devoted their attention to a subject for merly left to quacks and charlatans, and the work of preserving or restoring beauty has been brought within the province of legitimate practice. A brief consideration of the nature and func- ruin forever a complexion which by the proper A brief consideration of the nature and func-ing with the skin, for nothing is so easy as to tions of the skin will demonstrate the relationmeans might have been made either tolerable ship which exists between a healthy and pleasor beautiful. ing appearance and the health generally. The primary purposes of the skin are the protection of the external surface of the body and the support of the internal organs. The sensations are also realized by us through the nerves by means of the skin, which also supplements the lungs as an organ of respiration. It has pow. ers of absorption and secretion, and in its filterlike capacity acts as a purifier.to the entire system. By means of perspiration it regulates the heat of the body and keeps it at an almost equable temperature. It will thus be seen how imperative it is in the first instance to keep the skin in a healthy and active condition. The heart in pumping the blood through the system forces it outward to the skin, at which point it becomes charged with oxygen and distributes this vitalizing agent through the body, repairing by this means the continual waste of the fabric.

The microscope reveals millions of small thread-like tubes, known as capillaries, which penetrate from the surface inward to all parts of the body, forming the most delicate mechanism imaginable.

It is therefore easily seen that cleanliness is as essential to health as to beauty, and that the

THE BATH.

The fundamental point in the ethics of beauty being the bath, it may be well to make a few remarks at the outset in regard to bathing.

It has been found that while the cold plunge bath is suited to some constitutions and skins, the warm bath is more advantageous to others. In this respect therefore one must follow the needs of their own particular case; for no consideration, however, failing to use one or the other with regularity. If the bath be omitted the pores of the skin become clogged up, and its natural purpose of expelling the waste of the system is interfered with. The circulation of the blood is impeded, and neither health nor good looks can be expected to come from any system of treatment.

For persons of a hardy constitution the cold bath is most desirable. It should, preferably, (741)

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