The French porcelain is best for painting. The camel's hair brushes
should be of medium size with delicate points. The colors manufac-
tured by M. Lacroix, put up in small tubes, are best for china painting.
. Supposing you are about to paint a plate : Rub the surface over with
spirits of turpentine, and commence your design after it has dried a few
moments. Use oil of lavender as a medium. Have a small dish on
the table, containing turpentine to clean the brushes from time to time;
and be very careful while painting not to let a drop of the turpentine fall
on the plate, for it will immediately spoil the whole painting. Particles
of dust frequently get on the painting, which can be removed by touch-
ing lightly with the point of a darning-needle. The design (if flowers),
painted on one side of the plate and straying over the border, is much
more effective than if placed in the center.
Grasses are easily painted and are a good accompaniment to the
flowers. Copies from Prang's advertising cards are excellent for begin-
ners. For flowers, the strokes of the brush should proceed from the
center ; for leaves, from the veins to the edges.
For white flowers, the china plate will answer, and the shadows are
made of blue and black mixed ; blue flowers from any of the blues,
shaded with gris noir (black gray) ; the morning glory may be shaded
with a little carmine; pink flowers are painted with carmine, shaded
with gray ; carmine mixed with vert pomme (apple green) ; yellow cen-
ters with mixing yellow (jaune a meler) ; pansies with poupre riche
(deep purple) ; or mix dark blue and carmine together to make a pur-
ple. For grasses, use grass green and shade with apple green.
Never lay on one color over another, as in oil painting, but wait until
296 PAINTING.
each color dries, for a fresh color applied over one not dry is very apt to
wash it out entirely ; for this reason it is well to have more than one
piece of china commenced. Violet de fer (iron violet) is a very desira-
ble color, and must be used sparingly, as it fires brightly; if any color
is placed over that in fixing, the other color will be faint or gone entirely,
while the violet of iron will be clear and bright.
For the tinted borders mix balsam of copaiba with the color desired ;
mix enough to be used at once ; use a broad, flat brush, and rapidly
paint on the china ; let it rest a moment until the color begins to set,
then, with the blending brush, just touch it lightly until it presents an
even surface ; instead of a blending brush a ball of cotton-batting tied
iin a piece of soft silk may be used. The color which may have gone
over the edge may be wiped off as soon as the blending is finished ; on
\he upper and lower edges of the rim of the plate, where it is desirable
to have gilt bands, the tint may be evenly removed as follows : With a
clean piece of cloth on the top of the thumb, between the nail and the
flesh, go round the edge ; the hard pressure of the nail will remove the
paint evenly* Let the plate, during the banding process, rest on the
tips of the fingers of the left hand.
Page 262
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The French porcelain is best for painting. The camel's hair brushes should be of medium size with delicate points. The colors manufactured by M. Lacroix, put up in small tubes, are best for china painting. . Supposing you are about to paint a plate : Rub the surface over with spirits of turpentine, and commence your design after it has dried a few moments. Use oil of lavender as a medium. Have a small dish on the table, containing turpentine to clean the brushes from time to time; and be very careful while painting not to let a drop of the turpentine fall on the plate, for it will immediately spoil the whole painting. Particles of dust frequently get on the painting, which can be removed by touching lightly with the point of a darning-needle. The design (if flowers), painted on one side of the plate and straying over the border, is much more effective than if placed in the center.
Grasses are easily painted and are a good accompaniment to the flowers. Copies from Prang's advertising cards are excellent for beginners. For flowers, the strokes of the brush should proceed from the center ; for leaves, from the veins to the edges.
For white flowers, the china plate will answer, and the shadows are made of blue and black mixed ; blue flowers from any of the blues, shaded with gris noir (black gray) ; the morning glory may be shaded with a little carmine; pink flowers are painted with carmine, shaded with gray ; carmine mixed with vert pomme (apple green) ; yellow centers with mixing yellow (jaune a meler) ; pansies with poupre riche (deep purple) ; or mix dark blue and carmine together to make a purple. For grasses, use grass green and shade with apple green.
Never lay on one color over another, as in oil painting, but wait until
each color dries, for a fresh color applied over one not dry is very apt to wash it out entirely ; for this reason it is well to have more than one piece of china commenced. Violet de fer (iron violet) is a very desirable color, and must be used sparingly, as it fires brightly; if any color is placed over that in fixing, the other color will be faint or gone entirely, while the violet of iron will be clear and bright.
For the tinted borders mix balsam of copaiba with the color desired ; mix enough to be used at once ; use a broad, flat brush, and rapidly paint on the china ; let it rest a moment until the color begins to set, then, with the blending brush, just touch it lightly until it presents an even surface ; instead of a blending brush a ball of cotton-batting tied iin a piece of soft silk may be used. The color which may have gone over the edge may be wiped off as soon as the blending is finished ; on \he upper and lower edges of the rim of the plate, where it is desirable to have gilt bands, the tint may be evenly removed as follows : With a clean piece of cloth on the top of the thumb, between the nail and the flesh, go round the edge ; the hard pressure of the nail will remove the paint evenly. Let the plate, during the banding process, rest on the tips of the fingers of the left hand.