238 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
THE CLASS ROOM 
Subject for April, "Firing." Contributions must be 
received by the eighth of the preceding month. Prizes as 
before. 
000 
LUSTRES— (Continued) 
Third Prize— Ella F. Adams, Yellow Springs, Ohio. 
[extracts only] 
ONE rule should always be borne in mind in using 
lustres : never use turpentine with them since it turns 
all lustres a purplish hue. 
For a piece where color effects alone are desired, try 
painting from greens into yellows, then into rose, blend- 
ing with a dabber if absolutely necessary, and working 
rapidly. Over this, after firing, some delicate yellow or 
blue grey or green can be painted to blend into a har- 
monious whole. 
Try a marine on some small flat china surface. I 
would advise a separate brush for every color here, as well 
as in the color effect just mentioned, for this is work 
that should be done directly from the vials, if possible, 
without the addition of lavender oil, unless an extremely 
delicate tint is desired. Clean the china with alcohol and 
start in with broad sweeps of grey blue for the sky, shad- 
ing into delicate yellow at the horizon, with light green 
lustre for the sea. Do not go over lustre after it is ap- 
plied and work rapidly. In these effects it is a case of 
"he who hesitates is lost." 
Often a silk dabber can be used to lighten the effect at 
the horizon line and blend the colors, but use it sparingly, 
learning to vary the depth of color with different brush 
strokes. For these effects use as large a shader as is prac- 
tical to expedite the work. 
A moonlight marine is very effective with a crescent 
moon. The light upon the water is secured by filling in 
with india ink the places needed for the reflected light, be- 
fore painting in lustre. India ink does not take lustre, 
so in a second firing the piece can be painted with a coat of 
light yellow or some delicate green, which gives the moon- 
light effect on the water, a delicate shimmer. 
This is only a dim suggestion for the many land and 
water effects that can be secured by a judicious use of lus- 
tres. 
Beautiful effects are obtained in conventional work by 
filling in the design with lustres and outlining with gold or 
black. Since lustre is liable to creep a little and smce its 
cream color makes it hard to detect this, cover well with 
india ink places where lustre is not wanted. This will 
secure an even edge in designs. 
Unique effects are produced by using white enamel 
upon the unfired lustre. The white enamel in firing turns 
a delicate pink, with the thinnest parts of the enamel the 
deepest pink. So model the design with this in view. 
Small flowers (hawthorne, fruit blossoms, lace flower, &c.) 
or a flight of birds as a motive for the enamels, make very 
decorative pieces in this effect. The enamel should be 
modeled with one stroke if possible, since it must never be 
worried. After firing the enamel can be colored should it 
prove too glaring a white in places. 
In applying enamel always bear in mind that the lus- 
tre, whether fired hard or unfired, tends to give it a pinkish 
tone. 
Dull metal effects are produced by using lustre over 
some mat color, gold added to the mat color adding to its 
brilliancy. 
Minton Green, Mat Ivory, Mat Purple, in fact any of 
the unglazed colors give a good ground for a dull eft'ect in 
lustres. Minton Green dusted, one part Minton Green 
and one part powder gold, produces a dull greenish gold. 
Upon this apply some design in green or red lustre, and 
outline in black or gold. This gives an artistic combination 
of dull green and red (red, where the lustre is applied) . 
Mat Ivory is good ground for a raised gold design filled 
in with rose lustre, which gives a rich metallic red when 
fired. In fact most of the lustres are red in effect whenfired 
over mat colors, hence a combination of lustre colors over 
a mat surface is almost always sure to harmonize, the 
various lustres giving different depths of this rich red 
effect. 
Since the lustres come in small vials that easily tip 
over, perforate the top of a shallow box with holes the size 
of the vials, and put in the lustres. This prevents the pos- 
sibility of upsetting. 
It is a good plan to wrap the china in tissue paper im- 
mediately after decorating, since this protects it from the 
dust. 
Lustre can be used over fired gold or vice versa, neither 
affecting the brilliancy of the other and often adding to it. 
The lighter colors, yellows, greens, &c. are the least 
liable to show dust spots. 
SOME COLOR EFFECTS ON WHITE CHINA 
Orange over ruby — ^bright red. 
Orange over rose — rich brown red. 
Orange over iridescent rose — bronze. 
Orange or green over iridescent rose — brilliant irides- 
cent effect. 
Yellow over black or purple — dark iridescent effect. 
Yellow over rose — opalescent effect. 
Yellow over blue grey — -a shimmery tone. 
Yellow over steel blue — dull silver. 
Yellow blended into rose — blue. 
Brown over orange — rich red brown. 
Iridescent rose over brown — dark iridescent tone. 
Purple over brown or green — dark iridescent tone. 
Green over rose — greenish opalescent effect. 
Special green over steel blue — greenish blue. 
Steel blue over steel blue — peacock color. 
Blue grey over blue grey — beautiful blue. 
Green over black — dark iridescent tone. 
Rose over liquid gold— bright metallic effect. 
Any lustre over Roman gold — a bronze tone. 
METAL EFFECTS ON MAT COLORS. 
Yellow over mat Black and gold — bronze. 
Green over mat Purple and gold — rich lustrous purple 
suitable as a frame or setting for grapes or other rich 
green or purple decoration. 
Green or red over Minton Green — metallic red. 
Special green over Cerulean Blue and gold — rich dark 
red. 
Lustres at one time were put up in powder colors, 
and in looking over an old stock of bargains I found a 
variety of powder lustres, which when well ground with 
lavender oil, gave some very satisfactory results. How- 
ever I much prefer the liquid lustres since the tedious pro- 
cess of grinding is done away with. 
000 
Fourth Prize — Anne Seymour Mundy, Coudersport, Pa. 
[extk,\cts o.nlv] 
Wash china in warm water, dry with cloth and then 
pass the palm of the hand quickly and carefully over the 
