ilERAMIC STUDIO 
thicknesses are left; sharpen this and place it in the gauge. 
This will mark very easily. 
Still another method is to make the drawing on tracing 
paper; turn it over and with a very fine needle (No. 10) 
prick the design, making small holes very close together. 
Make a pounce such as you made for the tinting, but make 
this of velvet or chamois. Have ready some powdered 
charcoal made by rubbing an ordinary stick of charcoal on 
sand paper. 
Place the perforated paper with the rough side up, and 
hold it firmly in place. Dip the pounce in the charcoal and 
then rub it lightly over the perforation. Raise the paper, 
and you will find a finely dotted outline of your drawing. 
This must be "fixed" by outlining it with india ink. First 
blow off the surplus charcoal; the ink will then go on more 
easily. The same perforated pattern may be used many 
times. 
If motif 2 is chosen, lay in color flat and smooth with 
your smallest square shader. Grind your colors and add 
Dresden Thick Oil for the laying on of flat tones such as 
these. Fill the brush by rubbing and working it well into 
the color. When you feel that the color is free on the brush, 
that is, not lumpy or stringy, lay the color on the design,- 
spreading the brush well as you work. Do not work in a 
hap-hazard sort of way, but think. Have a well defined 
idea of what you want to do, and then, in the most direct 
way you can, do it. Do not fuss over your work. You will 
discover as you go along that there are some things you can 
not do. One of them is to disturb color which has partly 
dried, or, when a tone is painted smoothly in, to go back 
over it. If it is smooth, let it alone. Study what you want 
to do, and then do it with the fewest possible strokes of the 
brush. 
If motif i is used it may be carried out both in solid 
tone and in outline. Confine your treatment to two colors 
and a black outline. After the color is all laid in, clean the 
edges so that there are no ragged or uneven places. See 
that the other parts of the plate are clean. A very conven- 
ient tool is a wooden tooth-pick on the end of which is wound 
a tiny piece of cotton. The square-headed tooth-pick is the 
best. Place the square end in the center of a tiny piece of 
K* 
X 
cotton. Twist the cotton tightly and firmly around it. It 
works better sometimes if slightly moistened between the 
lips. If it is moistened in this manner, be careful in using 
it next to outlining which has been done with color mixed 
with the sugar and water. 
After the design is all finished and the edges all cleaned, 
finish the plate with a narrow band of color on the edge. 
It is then ready for the first firing. After it is fired, if an 
outline of color has been used, go over all outlines again. 
Touch up all weak places in the painting and go over the 
edge of the plate again. If the tinting needs strengthen- 
ing, go over that also with a wash of color. The plate is 
then ready for the second firing. Sometimes it is necessary 
to have three firings; but the simple designs in the first 
lesson will need only two. 
There is a growing preference among china decorators 
for simple work which may be done in one firing. With 
care this can be done, and many charming effects can be 
obtained. Attention will be given to this in another lesson. 
It is our purpose now to take up the different problems 
which make up the "technique" of china painting. A thor- 
ough knowledge of the different methods is the first require- 
ment. Then, as you gain experience, you will naturally 
select that method which appears to you best suited for the 
particular work you are doing. 
