78 
ftERAMIC STUDIO 
the pad becomes charged with color take a fresh one, pad 
until the space desired tinted is covered with a clean 
velvety looking tint. The design then can be easily- 
wiped out while the tint is still wet. 
Mat colors are used in tinting just the same as the 
bright colors, they may be semi-glazed by adding i part 
flux to 4 parts color. The dark mat colors require less 
oil ; after firing, smooth the mat surface with fine emery 
paper. For tinting have a few stipplers and a blender 
for use under handles, etc. 
When the tube colors are used use | flux — except in 
Apple Green, Mixing Yellow and Pearl Gray. The best 
tinting is done with Dresden thick oil, Fry's medium 
and lavender oil and not with a prepared tinting oil. To 
blend a tinted color into a powder color take some of the 
powdered color used in dusting and rub into the tinted 
edge with a brush before the tint is dry. If you wish to 
tint part of a piece one color and blend into another, 
have both tints mixed ready to use, paint on one then 
bring the other up to it and blend together with the dab- 
ber. After a tint is dry look over it and remove any 
speck of dust with a fine point or dust scraper. 
DUSTING. 
Color is dusted on different parts of nearly dry painted 
china to get atmosphere, soft effects, depth and glaze, 
using blues to blend into skies, brown and reds to blend 
into dark backgrounds, also to give tone and balance 
to the whole. 
The glazes such as Lavender, Ivory, etc., are dusted 
on to give a higher and more uniform glaze to the whole 
or part of the painting. Ivory glaze gives a cream tint 
but eats up reds and turns them brown. Dusting is 
done by rubbing gently the half dry painted surface with 
powdered colors. When the paint is too dry the powder 
will not stick, either take the paint off and do over or 
wait until next fire. Drop on color with palette knife 
and push it gently over surface with a piece of lamb's 
wool. In naturalistic work the color used is the same 
as that used in the painting, after dusting the high lights 
are not taken out and no patching can be done. Be 
careful to wipe off all loose powder as it will fly in the 
firing and settle on other pieces. Dark Green, dusted 
over Brown Green makes a rich color for backgrounds. 
Quite a good underglaze effect is obtained by painting 
the piece as usual and firing, then for the last fire ground 
on Ivory, Green, Lavender or any glaze, just as you would 
for a grounded ground. When you wish to dust with two 
or more colors mix on the palette with alcohol in given 
proportions and when dry use the mixture for dusting. 
After a piece has been painted in and fired for second fire, oil 
piece with special tinting oil, pad until tacky, allow it 
to stand 2 or 3 hours or sometimes over night then dust 
it with any mixture or pure color that is desired and you 
get very rich effects. This treatment is good for land- 
scape panels, steins and pitchers. In conventional work, 
done in greens, reds, greys, browns, dust a part or the 
whole in this manner with Neutral Yellow, Pearl Gray, 
Gray for Flesh or Flowers, or Meissen Brown. In this way 
you get many beautiful and soft effects. The special 
tinting oil is very good mixed with these or other colors 
and the piece flushed and padded just as in a tint and 
when almost dry it can be dusted in the usual way. If 
you wish to put Ivory glaze on a piece already fired tint 
it on lightly as color, then when dry rub the powder in the 
surface until it has an even mat appearance. To success- 
fully dust powder color into a painted surface the sur- 
face must be just right, neither too wet nor too dry, if too 
wet it will lump up and rub off, if too dry it will not adhere. 
BACKGROUND. 
The subject of backgrounds for flowers, fruit, etc., 
in naturalistic work is a most important one. Generally 
the same colors are repeated in it that are used in paint- 
ing the design itself. The darkest color in the background 
should come from behind the lightest spot to keep the 
centre of interest. There should be no great contrast of 
color, and a gradual passing from one color to another 
working the fruit, flowers, along with the background 
while the paint is open thus blending together the whole 
and avoiding hard lines. The blending may be done 
with a silk pad or the brush, many use the ball of the mid- 
dle finger for small spaces or the soft part of the hand in 
fact anything that will work to the best advantage and 
get the best results. The background should not have 
a worked over look but be fresh and luminous. Much 
attention should be paid to harmony in color, and the 
relation of subject and background. 
In a subject where yellow predominates, the compli- 
mentary color is violet, so we find violet shadows and tones, 
for red the complimentary color is green, so there we would 
find green and yellow and blue that go to make green. 
So for blue we find red and yellow. If one has a good 
naturalistic colored study to follow one is not apt to go 
astray on the background but when one has no study and 
just one in black and white the background is often a 
difficult matter and becomes more a matter of nice feeling 
for harmony in color. It is here that a good "sense of 
color" will help one out of the difficulty for without that 
there is apt to be discord. 
When the piece is dusted, with a large soft brush 
clean off any superfluous paint, to prevent spots after 
firing. 
Sometimes a background alone is dusted, while the 
remainder of the design is painted in the usual way. But 
a softer, more harmonious effect is produced if the dusting 
is made to go over the shadowy parts of the design, and 
over at least the edges of the prominent portions. Over 
the shadowy portion dust the background color on which 
it rests. This gives an underglazed effect. 
Usually not more than two or three, and frequently but 
one color is used in dusting, and if the latter, it is put over 
the entire piece, lights and all. If this is done it should 
be a color found in both background and design, and in 
both lights and shades. A very heavy grounded color 
is liable not to bear repeated fires; but a surface lightly 
dusted may receive a succession of dustings and firings, 
with an even superior depth of color. A piece cannot 
be worked into after dusting, and not even a high light 
removed. 
Colored glazes, Ivory, Green, Lavender, etc., are to be 
dusted on a dry, unfired decoration to increase the glaze 
and are not mixed with the color. They are applied the 
same way as dusted color, but must not be put over reds 
or flesh tones. 
Powdered paint may also be put over a perfectly dry 
surface, in which case a very small amount will adhere. 
This will slightly tone the whole, and is called "dry dust- 
ing." If a design has been allowed to become dry before 
the background is painted in, when the latter is dusted 
the color should be allowed to go up on the shadowy por- 
tions. 
To obtain an even tone of the purple found in the 
pansy, dusted Royal Purple may be used. New Peach 
