20 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
SOME DON'TS CONCERNING LUSTRES 
Fanny Rowell 
TF we tell you the many things not to do with lustres we hope 
-■- we may help you secure dainty coloring simply and directly 
with this fascinating medium They should be used firmly. 
Do not touch and retouch. Decide what you want to do, 
quickly and firmly place the color, then leave it alone. Stu- 
dents make too hard work of it. Because it is done so quickly, 
if done well, they think it cannot be finished. I have seen 
them patch over and over, with each new stroke a fresh disaster. 
"But I can take it all off," one answered when I commented in 
this way on her manner of working. 
Bear in mind that the smallest daub of lustre leaves its 
color. In washing a tint off to try again, be sure that you get 
it all off. It is an untidy procedure for lustre, to put on and 
take off. It is usually in combination with colors or outline 
that we use lustres, and we may deface some other part of 
the work. If spaces are to be laid in solid tints, use a flat 
brush well filled with lustre, but with the lustre pressed out of 
the brush against the bottle, so there may be abundance to 
work with but no drops of lustre. You can manage then to 
paint an even tint without padding. If a lighter tint is de- 
sired, pad as soon as the tint is laid on the china and pad until 
it ceases to be tacky. It is just wet enough to catch all the 
dust that is in the atmosphere. Dry it in a ventilated oven 
at once. Dust is the natural enemy of lustres. If you should 
lay the china away, half dry, to await for a firing, you can 
easily see how it would absorb particles of dust as so much 
mucilage would. It is fun to lay it on, but not half so much 
fun when it comes from the firing with blemishes, so beware 
that you use the lustres neatly and quickly. 
Ornament over lustre if it is in the plan of your work. 
Too much of the ornament over lustres tells a sad tale of being 
put to cover blemishes. It is not worth while to do a lot of 
unnecessary decorating to cover shabby work. Have a hospi- 
tal for the pieces of china thus spoiled or a bottomless pit in 
the cellar or a bottle of hydrofluoric. If your time is of value, 
better not waste it with spotted lustres. It is so easy to use 
lustres right and not have blemishes. 
A kiln near at hand is a necessity, and the less handling 
the better. The ideal firing is to have it in the same room where 
the lustres are painted, and they may be dried in the kiln 
with the door open. The steam from the lustres must escape. 
You can readily understand- that if the rising vapor has to 
return and rest on the china, something will happen to the 
lustre, usually spots, varying from pin point size to the size 
of a gold piece. Then what are you going to do? No use to 
put a tint over because where the vacancies occur the new tint 
will show lighter. When brushes are clean and dry, they are 
are all right for lustre. Never mind if paint or gold has been 
in them before, so that they are clean, we use any brushes 
that in size may suit our work. Broad flat sable brushes such 
as are used in oil painting are useful in laying large spaces in 
lustre. Do not leave the lustres to dry in them or they will 
be hard as rocks, and of no use. To use a brush with some 
paint in it surely dulls the lustre. If you want this effect, 
now you know how to get it. But usually you do not want it. 
You can see after firing where color gets used out of a brush 
and pure lustre begins. If such a mistake should occur in 
putting a tint around the edge of a plate, the place where the 
tint joins shows distinctly different colors. All this is very 
aggravating, but thus do you learn. If one is not thoughtful 
it might be best to leave lustres alone. 
Then on the painting table, with the open bottles of lus- 
tre around, do you dip here and there and forget which colors 
you have used and make a general mix up of tints from which 
only second sight could rescue you? And put the corks back 
where they belong? A cork wet with dark green would not 
improve the tint of a rose lustre and a few drops of ruby would 
certainly spoil a bottle of opal. 
"What is the matter with these lustres?" a stranger asked 
who brought to my studio as uninviting a mess of lustres as 
it has ever been my fate to see. 
5 "What is the matter with you?" I felt inclined to say for 
never had lustres been more ill-treated. They were deep in 
color without brilliancy, fingered and spotted before firing, 
ill-suited to the shapes on which they were placed, inartistic 
in arrangement and with no effective contrasts. She thought 
it might be the fault of the firing. The real fault was in untidy 
handling, with intent to remedy with more lustre if it should 
not come out right. This daintiest of keramic materials needs 
bright thought and deft hands or the tones lose their freshness. 
One fault was that she had the habit of using the colors too 
heavily. A thin wash is always best, even if the darkest of 
rich tones is desired, get it by repeated washes, with a firing 
for each. For a single firing or any work that is not complicated, 
opal lustre gives the most charming effects. It is quite lovely 
in its irregularity, for truly opal tints develop the shell colors 
that we like in Mother of Pearl. 
MOUNTAIN ASH PLATE (Supplement) 
Kaihryn E. Cherry 
SKETCH design in then paint red berries with Blood Red 
and Ruby, the lighter ones are Blood Red, then the 
brighter ones are Yellow Red; the yellow ones are Yellow for 
Painting and Yellow Brown. The accents on berries are 
Auburn Brown. Leaves are painted in with Shading Green 
and Yellow Green. The stems are Brown Green and Blood Red. 
Background is Yellow, Blood Red, Yellow Brown and Mauve. 
Second Fire — Paint the dark leaves around design with 
Auburn Brown and Brown Green and a little Yellow Brown. 
Touch berries by washing over the shadow side with Blood Red 
and Yellow; on light side accent the leaves with Shading Green 
and Brown Green, then put shadows on background with Blood 
Red and Mauve. j** t<* 
TALCUM SHAKER 
May Whitbeck 
OUTLINE with Black. 
Paint large center 
flower and the two at the 
bottom of shaker with 
Yellow Brown and a little 
Dark Grey, all other flow- 
ers have a thin wash of 
Albert Yellow. Centers 
of flowers are Yellow 
Brown and a little Yellow 
Red. Leaves are Apple 
Green and a little Yellow 
Green. The space be- 
tween the two lower band 
lines is of the green, leav- 
ing one single black line. 
Paint the space at the bot- 
tom of the shaker and be- 
tween two lines around the 
neck with Dark Grey and 
a little Yellow Brown and 
the space above the main 
design with Albert Yellow 
and a little Dark Grey. 
