220 
KERAM1C STUDIO 
plates and no matter how beautiful the roses may be 
done it isn't appetizing to view them through a sea of 
gravy. Even in dessert plates it is better taste to have 
the center plain. Force of comparison is a good method 
in training the taste, as a plate in natural roses shown 
by one done from one of the beautiful rose borders given 
in recent numbers. If this is not sufficient I would then 
trust some to time and expend the extra energy on more 
fertile ground. 
Teaching should be a matter of love of the work 
and not simply one of dollars and cents. The conscien- 
tious teacher must give of herself and the best to be suc- 
cessful, always planning how best to present some truth 
in a way the pupil can most readily grasp it. Endeavor 
to have )< T our pupils see and paint in masses instead of 
giving a vast amount of attention to the unimportant. Most 
pupils feel the necessity of lines and plenty of them. In 
sketching in a design avoid all lines but those necessary 
to block in the most salient features. Explain the nec- 
essity of broad clear washes for first firing, the avoidances 
of hard lines or attempt at detail or working up for the 
first fire. After a piece is ready for the kiln call attention 
to the cleaning from the back of china any finger prints, 
as it is none of the firer's business to clean such blemishes. 
Attention to such little matters often saves unsightly 
marks and the trouble of getting them off with acids. 
Endeavor to cultivate an observing eye. Happy the 
person to whom a rose is something more than a rose. 
Some attention given when looking at flowers will save 
numerous blunders. No two roses have foliage just 
alike but the manner in which some painters graft Amer- 
ican Beauty Roses to La France stems and foliage is worthy 
of Burbank. 
China painting must be taken up seriously, the same 
as drawing and painting from life, if any great success is 
to come of it. 
o o o 
Fourth Prize— Ella F. Adams, Yellow Springs, O. 
The first lessons — what magic they seem to hold and 
yet what untold mysteries and miseries are there. Let 
us fervently hope that no one even dreams of learning to 
paint on china without first having learned something of 
drawing. I feel like saying, "learn to swim before going 
near the water" for one has so many hard trials to encoun- 
ter in painting china without the additional one of learn- 
ing to draw. True, one is drawing all the time one is 
painting but there are so many other mediums easier to 
handle than vitrifiable colors in the art of drawing. 
In a large class I feel sure that too much is taken for 
granted by the teacher, and the new pupils usually dread 
to ask questions and thus display their lack of knowledge. 
There are so many minds of such a variety of executive 
ability that an explanation that seems sufficient to one 
is only a starting point for another. I regret to say 
that some will hold a brush wrong end up if not told other- 
wise while others dash madly on like runaway horses if 
only the color box is given them. Oh! for a happy med- 
ium where all pupils paint as directed and guess cor- 
rectly at the omissions of their teachers. 
I would not advise naturalistic work for the first 
lessons for several reasons. Naturalistic work does not 
seem appropriate for table ware and table ware is what 
a beginner should start upon. Avoid vases, panels and 
bonbonieres, all of which should be pieces of satisfaction 
produced by preliminary steps upon other china. Don't 
think by this that table ware can be slighted. It should 
be dainty and artistic. It should have hours of time and 
patience spent upon it. I only wish to emphasize the 
fact that naturalistic work should be used more in the 
nature of a picture, in other words, to twist a trite phrase, 
"ornamental but not useful." 
Naturalistic work means the using of a variety of 
colors and the fewer colors used by beginners the better. 
A large box of colors thrust upon a new pupil is like of- 
fering her Pandora's box. Alas! quite often, Pandora 
like, nothing but hope remains in the panic 
I would advise something semi-conventional to start 
with since the exact precision of conventional design is 
not there to puzzle and discourage the beginner. I have 
chosen an apple design for the first lesson and the follow- 
ing list of materials is necessary for the work. 
Materials required for painting plate design of apples. 
Palette knife, 
Ground glass slab, 
Covered palette, if possible, 
i large square shader, 
i medium square shader, 
i outlining brush, 
i ten cent bottle of copaiba and clove oil, mixed, 
i ten cent bottle turpentine, 
i five cent bottle lavender oil, 
i pencil for marking on china, 
i china silk rag, 
Small amount of cotton, 
Rags for cleaning china, wiping brushes, etc., 
Small receptacles for oil and turpentine, 
Pointed stick for wiping off extra paint, 
i vial Carnation, 
i vial New Green, 
i vial Black, 
i vial Chinese Yellow, 
i vial Pearl Grey. 
The list may seem a long one for a single piece of china 
but most of the list consists of tools necessary for all china 
work. 
SEMI-CONVENTIONAL WORK. 
For the first lesson secure a plate since a flat surface 
is easiest to handle. I believe every one who has never 
worked in colors objects to working in monochrome as 
a first lesson so I would suggest the plate design of Minna 
Meinke in the December Keramic Studio of 1905. This 
may be carried out in red and green as the treatment 
suggests and will not prove too difficult for a beginner. 
I advise the apple design because it is simple and effective. 
It has no inner band to puzzle the unskilled hand, for 
a practiced stroke seems necessary to secure a tone circle 
other than on the edge of a plate even if a banding wheel 
be available. 
Purchase an eight inch rimless plate for your design. 
After washing the plate and drying it thoroughly divide 
the plate in twelve sections. A plate divider can be used 
for this, and since a plate divider "speaks for itself" it 
can be used without directions. If a divider is not avail- 
able cut a paper the size of the plate. Fold this carefully 
once, then fold again. Divide this into thirds and thus 
you have the twelve sections for the plate. From this 
guide, mark off the plate with a "pencil for china". In 
each section draw (in free hand) the design of two apples, 
three leaves and stems, using the sectional marks as the 
points where the branch joins the main limb. In draw- 
