92 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
drawingf, which is pretty far removed from the original. 
Study each curve and angle of the lines, so that when you 
trace the pattern you may do so intelligently. In going 
over your tracing in transferring a design to china, use a 
very hard lead pencil as this will not spread the line of the 
drawing as a soft lead does. 
Some workers prefer a tracing point of steel, agate or 
bone. An ordinary embroidery stilleto has been known to 
work satisfactorily. A hard lead pencil is suggested as 
being the most commonly at hand. Transfer the design 
to the china, then outline with the pen, using the sugar 
and water with black, as directed in previous lessons. 
vSpace the broken bands on the rim, and outline these also. 
In placing these, gauge them as directed in a previous les- 
son. The outline may be done in the same way, holding 
the pen as you would the pencil, balancing the finger against 
the edge of the tile. 
Tint the entire surface with the exception of the rim 
with a very light tone of ivory, using yellow brown in a 
thin wash. Pad until very even. The tint should be very 
delicate in tone, just a flush of faint color over the white. 
With tooth pick and cotton, clean all tint from the design. 
In cleaning work that has been outlined with the sugar 
and water mixture, do not moisten the cotton with water 
or saliva. The outline will pull up and be messy if you do. 
Slightly dampen the cotton with alcohol, pressing out any 
surplus moisture on the paint rag before using. Alcohol 
is the ideal cleaner for china painting as it cuts quickly 
into hardened color or oils. When the design is perfectly 
clean, lay in the color in the larger flower forms. For 
this, use a mixture of equal parts Yellow Red and Carna- 
tion, mixing it with medium. No enamel is to be used in 
this. This gives a very oriental sort of red. The omis- 
sion of the enamel will be explained later. Use a small 
square shader, a number four, and lay in the color as in- 
dicated in the design. 
Shade this into white at the edges of the petals by 
pouncing the edges of the color with a tiny pad of silk. A 
handy tool for this is a small sized stipple, a brush which is 
made for the purpose of blending color. These brushes 
are round, but cut squarely across the end. Hold the 
brush perpendicularly and use in the same manner you 
would a pad. As a small silk pad will do the work as well, 
the stippler was not included in the outfit. After the flowers 
are laid in, paint in the little block forms in the border 
design with Black. Do not use the sugar and water mix- 
ture for this, but mix the black with the usual painting 
medium. Keep the edges of these little blocks clean cut. 
See that the background of the border is free of any smudges 
or finger marks, and then stand aside to dry. The student 
may save time by drying the piece in the oven for a few 
minutes. When perfectly hard dry, bone dry as it is called, 
layjn the gold which forms the background of the border. 
f.-'| Be very neat about doing this, for if you get into your 
tinted backgrounds with a bad slip of the brush, or get 
gold on one of your fingers and absentmindedly plant it 
somewhere, usually in the most prominent part of the 
design, off must come your tinting. 
Attention to the most minute detail is what makes 
the perfect craftsman. The Craftsman motto "All I can" 
is a good one to pin up over your work table. When the 
tile is completed up to this stage, dry again and then have 
it fired. For the first firing there is no enamel used. The 
outline, tinting and the gold, with the red placed in the 
larger flower forms, is all that is to be done this time. 
For the second treatment go over all the outlining 
again, in the same manner you did for the first firing. Hav- 
ing this done satisfactorily, proceed to retouch the larger 
flowers, using the same red you used for the first painting. 
A satisfactory outline means a clean, fine, even line, not 
thick in some places and thin and wavering in others. 
Sometimes the worker will have trouble with the sugar 
and water. This is often due to the fact that it is not wet 
enough. If it seems very gummy you have too much 
sugar; add a little more powdered black. Sometimes the 
pen becomes clogged with the mixture. Wash it out 
frequently and it will make a much better line. The re- 
touching completed, the piece is now ready for the enamels. 
Enamels for use on china come prepared in two different 
forms, in powder and in tubes. Workers vary as to which 
method is considered the best. For general use by the 
student, the tube Aufsetzweiss is recommended. One point 
in its favor is that it comes mixed with the necessary oils 
and needs only turpentine to thin it. Another point is 
that it is ground very smoothly and needs only a little 
manipulation to make it work well. 
To prepare it for use, squeeze upon the ground-glass 
slab seven even little piles of Aufsetzweiss. First see that 
the glass slab is perfectly clean. This is very important 
as enamel is very sensitive stuff and any dry color which 
has settled in the grain of the glass will discolor it. Add 
to the Aufsetzweiss one squeeze Dresden Flux, which you 
will also buy in the tube. With the palette knife and 
clean turpentine, mix these thoroughly together, grinding 
until the mass is perfectly smooth. 
This is called the "body enamel". With this and the 
ordinary mineral colors you may do almost anything. 
There are a few restrictions, however, and these are in the 
BELT PINS, APPLE BLOSSOM— HANNAH B. OVERBECK 
