2^± 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
it on the ground that the processes and materials are so 
different — one plastic, flexible, the other soHd and tough; 
one being built up, the other cut down. I think perhaps 
a happy medium is a " sketch ' ' in the clay, giving the re- 
lation of surfaces and general effect. Used in this way 
there is no danger of elaborating the model in the facile 
clay beyond the point it should go in the wood; and it will 
be of great help to those who have not sufficient experience 
to enable them to know what the effect will be of a finished 
piece. 
Illustration No. 3. 
It is helpful, and usually a saving of time in the end, 
to try a portion of the design on a piece of pine or waste 
wood till the exact treatment desired is obtained. 
Tool marks should help explain the form by their 
character and direction, just as the strokes of a brush do 
in painting; they then have beauty and significance. The 
degree of finish with the tools is of course dependent on the 
size of the piece, the texture of the wood, the position it 
is to occupy and the delicacy of the detail. I hardly need 
say that the use of sandpaper on carving is counted by 
good craftsmen as little less than a crime. 
I would like to again refer the student to the list of 
helpful books which was published in the May number, 
all of which contain suggestions of real value. Illus. i 
and 2 show the steps in modcHng. Illus. 3 is from the 
course in wood carving of the Tokio University, as pub- 
lished by Chas. Hohne. The careful grouping, the simpli- 
fication of the forms, and the concave background giving 
greatest relief where most needed, are all suggestive. Illus. 
4 is from an old English Gothic carving and shows well how 
the main fines should dominate, and the structural unity, 
yet it is very simple both in design and execution. 
Illustration No. 4. 
FINISHING. 
Some extremists do not believe in putting any sort 
of finish on carved wood, save the poHsh left by the clean 
cut of the tools, and well sharpened tools do leave a beau- 
tiful satiny gloss. But this is not practicable in our cH- 
mate, and our generally overheated houses. Wood is a 
porous material, pecuharly susceptible to changes in the 
atmosphere, and it wifi shrink in dry weather and expand 
in moist, and unless the shrinkage and expansion are very 
slow and even there is danger of splitting, cracking and 
warping no matter how well seasoned it was to begin 
with. Consequently, the problem is to find such a finish 
as will close the pores to these outside influences, enrich 
the color and still preserve the beauty of fine tool work. 
To begin with color, there are very few woods that 
are not greatly improved by a deepening and enriching of 
the natural tone. Even holly and white mahogany are, 
I think, improved by a mellower tint. 
Water stains are, of course, out of the question, as they 
raise the grain and roughen the surface. Oil stains are 
not very satisfactory because the color is more freely ab- 
sorbed in the end grain, which gives a patchy eft'ect, imless 
the whole is made very dark. 
Oak may best be darkened by fuming and oiling. 
The finished piece is shut in an air tight box or closet — 
strips of paper may be pasted over cracks — with two or 
three shallow dishes of concentrated ammonia, as strong 
as can be gotten. It can be left one, two, or three days 
according to the depth desired. It will not appear much 
darkened until it is oiled. The oil — three parts boiled 
linseed and one of turpentine — should be well rubbed in 
and carefully wiped off, so that it will not settle on the sur- 
face. When perfectly dry, it can be waxed with thin 
wax, also well rubbed in and gently polished, when dry, 
with a fine brush. 
The wax is made by melting beeswax in an earthen- 
ware vessel on the back of the stove. When licjuid 
it should be taken away from the fire, and an equal quan- 
tity, or a little more of turpentine stirred in. When cold 
it should be of the consistency of soft butter. It is ap- 
plied to the carving, which should be the temperature 
of a warm room, with a short fine brush, a little bit at a 
time, and well rubbed in. 
Mahogany, unless very light to begin with, grows 
gradually darker and darker with just the oil and 
wax finish. Walnut is best finished with oil and wax 
and so is cherry. With this finish they all grow darker 
and mellower. The natural color can be retained by us- 
ing a thin coat of white shellac rubbed down very care- 
fully with a fine short brush dipped in oil and very fine 
powdered pumice. A coat of wax can then be applied 
and polished. 
Pine takes oil stains pretty well. Burnt Umber, 
ground in oil, and mixed in the oil and turpentine will 
make a good brown of any degree. It can be made more 
reddish by adding burnt sienna. 
A mixture of burnt umber and medium chrome green 
makes a good bronze tone,, and the green merely modified 
with the brown is very agreeable on some pieces. 
The Japanese frankly paint nlucli of their carving in 
many colors, a practice I would not like to recommend 
to anv but an artist of infallible taste. 
