HXRAMIC STUDIO 
161 
had no previous experience with lustres it will be well to 
fire the outline before applying the lustres. 
The background of the design in the panel is done with 
Yellow Brown used rather thinly. Use a drop of lavender 
oil to thin. Use the small square shader, number four, for 
putting this on, painting it in as smoothly as you can. It it 
seems uneven and streaky apd it until even with a very small 
pad. With a little care, however, this may be put on with- 
out padding. 
Let this background color dry perfectly and then with 
toothpick and cotton slightly moistened with alcohol, clean 
off every vestige of it which may have gotten on any other 
part of the design. 
While in putting on the lustre it is best to have a full 
brush, it must not be so full that it will run when placed on 
the china. Gently press out the surplus lustre against the 
inside of the neck of the bottle, leaving just enough to cover 
the china easily without spreading or running as it surely 
will if the brush is over-loaded. 
In cleaning up our black outline before placing the 
lustre, be sure that no smudges of black are left on the 
china. If so, they will discolor and stain the lustre. 
Eternal vigilance is the price of success in this branch 
of painting. After the Yellow Brown has dried, carefully 
lay in the rest of the design with Steel Blue, using a small, 
square shader as before, being very careful about its running. 
Have ready some very small pounces and if it shows the 
least tendency to spread, pad at once. Try and lay this 
color in without having to pad it, as much of the richness 
depends upon getting a good body color this time. 
In working keep your hands off the surface, slipping 
the hand inside the jar to hold and balance it. When the 
panels are dry, lay in the rest of the jar as indicated in the 
study with copper lustre. Use the larger square shader, a 
number six, and do not pad. 
Work as directed previously, first from one side of the 
starting point, and then from the opposite. 
This should be rather heavier looking than the other 
lustres. 
Bear in mind that you must work quickly. When the 
piece is entirely laid in dry it at once and it is ready for the 
first firing. Lustre dries very quickly yet does not dry hard 
enough not to hold bits of dust which may settle on it. 
Place the piece if you can, on an asbestos mat, or if you have 
not one, on a clean china plate or tin. If you use a gas oven, 
first wipe it out and then heat well before placing the china 
in it. Leave plenty of vent for any steam which may arise 
in the drying. An ordinary oil stove is very convenient for 
drying things. If you use the oven of a kitchen range leave 
the oven door ajar. In moving lustre pieces that have 
been dried from the oven or stove, do not touch the lustre. 
Handle by means of the asbestos pad or plate. When the 
piece cools it will be perfectly hard, but not before then. 
If dried over too hot a fire, the lustre will sometimes come 
off like a powder, Use good common sense in all these things. 
Train your judgment and try to thoroughly understand 
each step of the work as you proceed with the lesson. In 
sending out lustre to be fired wrap each piece in soft clean 
tissue paper. Avoid as far as possible much handling before 
firing. When the jar has been fired you will in all probabil- 
HORSE-CHESTNUTS— JEANNE M. STEWART 
(Treatment Page 164' 
