64 
ftERAMIC STUDIO 
PORTRAIT OF THE DAUPHIN— MME. VIGEE LE BRUN 
MINIATURE PAINTING ON IVORY 
Mrs. Adelaide Alsop-Robineau 
ALWAYS be careful in selecting your ivory. Pick out a 
piece that is neither too thick nor too thin. If it is too 
thick it is liable to warp, if too thin it may break. Select a 
piece transparent enough to show the general outlines of a 
photograph placed behind it, but not so thin as to show de- 
tails, or look dark in streaks. The grain should run in a V, 
leaving a clear unveined space about where the head and bust 
would come. The color should be a pale cream or cream 
white unless you wish to paint a dark subject, when a darker 
tone is desirable. The next thing is to prepare the ivory for 
painting, which is done by rubbing the ivory " 'round and 
'round" on a flat surface covered with powdered pumice. 
When the ivory has lost its shine and feels velvety to the 
touch it is ready to use. For painting you will need Winsor 
& Newton's flat sable water color brushes, o, 1,2, 3, Yellow 
Ochre, Rose Madder and Cobalt Blue — sometimes Ultra- 
marine. These colors will be all that are necessary until the 
flesh is almost finished — for blondes, nothing else — for darker 
touches in the finishing, Purple Madder and Indigo will be 
found useful, and such colors as you may wish to use in 
draperies, backgrounds, etc., can be made from these with a 
few additional colors such as Gamboge, Indian Yellow, Ver- 
million, Carmine, French Blue, Hooker's Green I and II. 
Browns should be made by combining red, blue and yellow. 
For children, Ultramarine is more satisfactory than 
Cobalt as it gives more delicacy to the complexion. No 
medium except water; other preparations such as gum 
arabic, etc., are injurious, causing the paint to crack. If the 
color rolls up on the ivory, the pumice has not been used 
sufficiently. 
First sketch the head lightly with Cobalt Blue, mix a 
soft grey from Cobalt with a touch of Ochre and Rose Mad- 
der, with the No. 5 brush. Wash in the background using 
quite a little water and working in more of the Rose Madder 
and Ochre on the darker side. For the face make a mixture 
of Ochre and Rose Madder, a little more yellow than red for a 
flesh tone, and put a thin wash over all the parts in the high 
light, making it a little darker for the shadow parts. For the 
hair use some of the same mixture as used in the background, 
making it bluer in the high lights and warmer in the shadows. 
Put a little clear Rose Madder on the cheeks. Then 
with the Ultramarine put in the delicate shadows on the light 
side of the face using a smaller brush, and modelling as you 
go. Keep the whole effect rather bluish in the shadows until 
the last when the darker shadows can be warmed with Rose 
Madder and Ochre, a little Cobalt may be used on the shadow 
side of the face. Go over the whole face with each brush, 
first with the large brush and finally with the smallest, being 
careful not to use too much color. Keep everything very 
light until the last. 
Do not work over any spot, touch it and leave it, work 
on some other place and return to it when it is dry, otherwise 
you will pick up what you have already done. Always touch 
lightly. Work up the hair with the same three colors, and 
toward the last darken with a mixture of Purple Madder, 
Ochre and Indigo. Purple Madder and Indigo make a good 
substitute for black in the pupils of the eyes. For modelling 
the lace use Blue, with a touch of Ochre, working in a little 
Rose Madder in the deeper shadows. You may use any com- 
bination of color you wish on the clothes. Wash in all colors 
as far as practicable, then go over with smaller brushes, 
either in strokes or by pointing until the entire surface 
seems smooth and even. Lift out any dark spots with the 
tip of a clean, moist brush and fill in with the proper shade. 
A needle fixed on a stick will be useful to remove dust and 
superfluous color. 
Do not work over the miniature too much or you will 
take out the life. Rather let a few of your brush strokes 
show. Never use opaque white unless as a last resort; the 
beauty of ivory is its transparency of color, and opaque 
white is liable to make everything muddy except with the 
most experienced artists. As you become more at home in 
the work you can take greater liberties with your colors and 
technique, but it is safer at the start to be strictly conserva- 
tive. 
^ i? 
APPLE BLOSSOMS (Page 63) 
Treatment by Jessie Bard 
PAINT strong shadow leaves with Violet No. 2 and Blood 
Red and a little Shading Green. The light leaves, 
Apple Green and a little Lemon Yellow. Flowers, Blood 
Red very thin so that they are a delicate pink. Centers of 
flowers, Lemon Yellow and touches of Yellow Brown. 
Stems, Blood Red and Violet No. 2. 
Second Fire — Tint background with Yellow, Sea Green, 
Violet and Copenhagen Blue. Strengthen the green leaves 
with Shading Green very thin. The flowers are washed over 
with Rose very little and heavier toward the edge of blossoms. 
Around the yellow stamen wash Violet very delicately. 
Thin wash of Yellow Green over light leaves and shade the 
the darkest sides with Shading Green. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 
A. B. — "All gold as background" refers to all the dark part of design 
with the exception of the flower and leaves, and the gold outline below handle 
are the lines that are around the bottom of the cream and sugar. The treat- 
ment for Columbine study is given in another article in this column. 
D. Y. — You will find instructions for applying and enlarging design in the 
May number of Keramic Studio in "Answers to Correspondents" column. 
Place a line as straight as possible from top to bottom of hat pin, hold it 
directly in front of you to see if it is true. Take a narrow strip of paper and 
get the exact measurement around the bulge of the pin, now fold this paper 
very carefully in six equal parts, hold it against the hat pin and place a mark 
on it at each sixth of the paper, then draw a line from center of top to each 
mark in the bulge. For jewel box use same directions as given in the article 
referred to. 
N. H. — The gold edge would be very pretty on the panel. Tint the bot- 
tom of bon-bon some plain color that will harmonize with the color you use 
for background for the figure. For dark on cup and saucer use two parts 
