102 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
POTTERY CLASS 
Frederick A. Rhead 
I AGAIN lay stress on the necessity for extreme care 
in the use of liquid underglaze colors. Every st?in 
will be plainly seen when the ware is fired, and no mistake 
can be obliterated. Even if done on unbaked clay, a mis- 
take cannot be scraped or scratched out, for the color sinks 
into the clay. On thin pieces it will often be noticed that 
the color has gone right through the ware and a soft re- 
production of the design is seen on the inside of the piece. 
This happens inost frequently when the ware is extremely 
porous, and too much color has been used. It should be 
remembered that only the thinnest possible wash is needed 
to make a solid color. Repeated washes do not make 
the color any darker or more level. As a general rule, it 
will be found that in designing for these colors, small pieces 
will be more effective if decorated with simple narrow bands 
and borders, leaving the greater part of the piece white, or 
whatever color the ware may be. The larger pieces will 
look cold and hard if too much white is seen. Pale green, 
fawn, lilac or pale turquoise are pleasing colors, and the 
greater portion of the shape may be effectively covered 
with any of these tints, especially as the white outline will 
be more in evidence. Do not let it be forgotten that the 
white outline is the chief characteristic of this mode of 
decoration ; that the design should be planned for this 
effect, and that designs having a dark outline do not always 
look well when the outline is changed from dark to light. 
Many Persian, Indian and Gothic motifs will repay study 
and will suggest ways of conventionalizing natural objects 
without a loss of individuality or modernity. The illus- 
trations are primarily intended to show that considerable 
variety is possible in the character of designs for repro- 
duction in liquid colors. The first sheet is a series of de- 
signs for steins and pitchers. No. i is a conventionaliza- 
tion of the seed pods of the iris. As explained in the last 
lesson, the lines intended to be white are drawn in lamp 
black mixed with turpentine fat oil. It is essential that 
the lamp black be done in an oleaginous medium or the 
"stopping out" will not be clean. The liquid colors being 
in an aqueous solution, are prevented from absorbing into 
the body by the oily "resist". The seed-pods may be 
painted grey-green, and the background the same color. 
The background of the neck and the leaves on the body 
may be pale green, while the handle and spout are dark 
green. The seeds are brown. The second piece is an 
exercise in rectangular lines, all the lines being straight, 
and all the angles right angles. This design is also out- 
lined in lamp black, and the color painted in between the 
lines. The small square patches are done in solid lamp 
black. The border of squares at the top, the large oblong 
patches and the handle are done in mauve or lilac, while 
the forked stems are painted in brown. The third exam- 
ple, with the border of swallows, may be treated in an 
equally simple manner. After tracing in lamp black, fill 
in the leaves with grey, then tint the swallows and the 
bands on the handle with dark blue. The remainder of 
the surface may be painted in fawn or lilac. The design 
for the fourth pitcher is based on the tulip. The flower is 
painted in solid lamp black, leaving the dividing lines 
between the petals. The leaves, handle and spout may be 
done in grey green, and the background brown. In the 
next design, the white parts are of course painted in lamp 
black. The dark background is dark blue, the trees, fo- 
liage and bands are in light blue. For the sixth pitcher, 
tint the flesh (after outlining in lamp black) in fawn, the 
clouds and hair in buff and the remainder in light green. 
The border designs may be used effectively, and any of 
the liquid colors may be used. As all the colors are ex- 
tremely harmonious, and low in tone, it is next to impos- 
sible to get an unsatisfactory color scheme, or any other 
than a harmonious combination even if directly opposing 
colors are used. It is always advisable to use the lamp 
black outline when a white line is desired, and I again 
emphasize the point that the black should be mixed with 
a third oil, either fat oil of turpentine or linseed oil, and 
in drawing the outline a brush should be used, as a stronger 
BOWL— MARTHA FELLER KING 
(Treatment page 104) 
