Part 7

Not every ordinary smooth-planed piece of wood is adapted to painting. The wood must be prepared for the purpose it is intended for, or it would cause the color to flow or spread. Lime, maple, chestnut, ash and holly are the woods generally manufactured into articles intended for painting upon. Olive wood is also excellent for this purpose. In the south of France and Italy, painted olive wood, forms quite an article of commerce, being closely allied with the inlaid work.

=Polishing.= Procure a bottle of the wood varnish (prepared for this purpose); in a warm room, with a soft flat brush, go over the article as rapidly as possible, with a thin coat. Leave this first coating until the next day to dry, in a place entirely free from dust. The varnish is applied twice more in the same manner; then have at hand a small bottle of white shellac polish and one of linseed oil. Make a small ball of flannel; put upon this a few drops of the oil; then cover it with a piece of linen, which is moistened with the polish, and the article is rubbed in a circular manner, without resting upon the article when the rubbing is discontinued. If the linen should adhere during the polishing, put a drop of the oil upon it. It sometimes requires from one to two hours of constant rubbing until the surface is completely smooth and polished.

=Designs= recommended are those by Minna Laudin, Hermann Schaper, E. Wendt, Emil Zschimmer and Elizabeth Hubler. They are lithographic color plates, and come in the form of sets.

Minna Laudin’s designs are among the newest. The two sets contain over twenty patterns, each fitting exactly in size and shape the wooden articles already mentioned.

Schaper’s designs are intended for larger pieces, such as table tops, music holders, lamp trays, etc. His first series (entirely new) is divided into five sheets, with as many sheets upon which the outlines of the designs are clearly printed, to facilitate the transferring of the same upon wood.

E. Wendt’s designs are both unique and rich in their way, and contain considerable ornamental work in gold and silver. His designs for table tops are extremely handsome.

Emil Zschimmer’s and Elizabeth Hubler’s are acknowledged as standard works, and favorites of the artists engaged in painting upon wood.

TRANSPARENCIES.

These transparencies, or window pictures, are of late very much used and admired, and are purchased by those who have no knowledge of how they are made, at exorbitant prices. They are made upon glass, perfectly transparent, and require a good light to see them. The way these pictures are produced is simple, and the process easy to learn. In it lies the secret, or fundamental principles, of all glass pictures.

=Instructions.= Procure a fine, clear, French plate glass, size required, to receive the picture, and make it perfectly clean with alcohol. Select the picture you may desire from the list of fine steel engravings contained in magazines, etc. Go over the face with a damp sponge, in order to remove the dust or spots that may have accumulated upon it, and smoothing it out. Apply to the face of the print, with a brush, a paste made from amylum, a teaspoonful, and nitrate strontium, ⅛ ounce—sometimes albumen is used. Now go over the glass in the same way, evenly and smoothly. When this is done, lay the picture, face down, upon the glass, and press with dry cloth until every part of the picture has adhered to the glass, and all the air bubbles pressed out. Lay away the glass for a few hours, until perfectly dry, when you wet the paper and commence rubbing it off; if it works well without any further wetting, continue the process until every vestige of paper has been removed, and nothing left upon the glass but the outlines of your engraving. Oil it now with castor oil three parts, oil of lavender one: if too thick, add turpentine. It is now complete, and by holding it to the light it will present a beautiful, steel-like engraving transparency.

You can add a border if you like, by pasting around the margin a tinted paper; or to give them still a better finish, back them up with a pane of ornamental ground glass, and place in a transparency metal frame, with rings to hang them by, which can be found at any art store.

THE Crystal, or Oriental Painting.

INSTRUCTION.

Lay the glass over the pattern or copy you wish to paint from, such as flowers, birds, wreaths, etc., then with a fine pencil brush, or a common writing pen, trace all the outlines of your pattern as well as possible on the glass, using for that purpose black paint made from lampblack and copal varnish; if too thick, add a little turpentine. When this is done, paint all the glass outside the picture, or that part not occupied by your drawing, with the black paint, same as used in making the outlines, only a trifle thicker. This will give your picture a neat background; other colors can be used, but this gives the best body, and is the most appropriate, contrasting well with the other colors to be used in the picture.

Let it lay until well dried, so the black will not unite with the colors you are about to use. Now, with the glass still remaining over the copy, you may commence applying the paints, if the tracing lines are dry. If you are painting a red rose, use carmine and flake white, Prussian blue, and chrome yellow for the leaf, etc., using a small camel-hair brush. Continue in this way until you have used all the colors which appear in your copy or picture underneath, which remains there to guide you, and the pen lines upon the glass to separate the colors. When the first color is perfectly dry, apply the second, and so on until you have completed all the work which the copy demands, using your own judgment in the matter, applying them as they appear in the picture you are working from.

When the painting is done and dry, cover the back of the transparency with _copper or tin-foil_ crinkled, which gives it a sparkling, crystal-like appearance. It is now ready for framing. In placing it in the frame, be careful and not press the backboard too close on to the foil, or it will destroy the brilliant effect in the picture.

The colors used in this kind of painting must be _transparent_ oil colors, with the exception of the background.

For white, use ground silver or flake white; for blue, Prussian blue; for pink, mix scarlet lake and silver white; orange, mix chrome yellow and scarlet lake; for red, use scarlet lake, crimson lake, or carmine; for green, mix Prussian blue and yellow lake; for purple, mix red and blue. Use the best tube paints and camel-hair brushes.

No style of painting has yet been produced which shows transparent colors to such advantage, and never fails to attract attention and admirers wherever introduced.

It is called Oriental from the fact of its producing effects of coloring equal to the colors of Oriental flowers, and the plumage of Oriental birds.

ANTIQUE Italian Landscape Painting

ON GLASS.

All honor to the worthy sire who produced the first pictures upon glass, paper or canvass, with oil; and, although those pictures have passed from sight of the present generation, we live to enjoy the knowledge given to us through history, that many a fine artist did live long enough to give to the world the highest productions of his artistic hand; and, although passed to “that bourne from whence no traveler returns,” his teachings are still practiced among men. And no man, however original he may be, can to-day sit down and paint the form or ornament of a house, but that it will be the development or degradation of forms practiced by the artists of early days. The style of painting which is given below is somewhat ancient, but very ornamental and useful; and, although to an extent it passed from existence years ago, the lovers of decorative art have again revived it in the East, and it is now being sought after and practiced by thousands on account of its being cheap and easy to attain. This plan of transferring the engraving from paper to glass, and discarding the paper wholly, is simply wonderful. We give it below:

Procure a fine quality of French glass, make perfectly clean with alcohol, then apply with a stiff brush a coat of damar varnish; after drying about an hour, apply another coat, evenly and smoothly; this allow to dry about ten minutes, or just long enough to make it sticky. Procure an uncolored steel engraving that you may desire to see painted, and trim off all the paper not connected with the picture. Dampen it with a sponge or wet cloth, and while yet damp place the engraving on the glass with the face to the varnish, rubbing with your dry hand or cloth until every part adheres to the surface, and all air has been removed, rubbing from the center.

Lay this away a few hours, until it is perfectly dry, then dampen the picture again, and commence rubbing therefrom the paper; continue this until you have removed every vestige of the same, nothing remaining upon the glass but the face of the engraving. Now apply a coat of boiled oil, let it dry fifteen or twenty minutes, and apply another, or a coat of varnish, evenly and smoothly; after laying an hour or two it is ready to receive the paint. As the paper has been all removed the colors will strike through readily. Arrange the glass to the light in such a manner that you may see through it, and apply the colors to the engraving on the back, as in the Grecian oil. The outlines and shades are already produced by the engraving, and all that is necessary now is to place the colors where they belong, which, with a little practice, can soon be acquired.

The paints used are, yellow lake, yellow ochre, chrome yellow, chrome green, Prussian blue, burnt sienna, Vandyke brown, ivory black, verdigris green, silver white, mixed with damar varnish. Use brushes as in Grecian oil.

THE GRECIAN OIL PAINTING.

Grecian oil paintings are made from engravings and lithographs. There is but little of it done in this country; and, although there was quite an interest manifested in it here a few years ago, it did not live long, and this is the first time I have seen the instructions in print since or before.

We select the engraving most desired to hang upon our walls, (regardless of size), and place it upon a frame or stretcher with small tacks or glue; this prepares it for the work. When ready, commence by sponging it with clean water; when dry, saturate it well with turpentine, applied with a large size paint brush; when this is done, apply Grecian varnish in the same way, spreading it smoothly and evenly over the surface, until all the dry spots in the paper have entirely disappeared. The application may be made on either side of the picture. When done, let it lay level (with the face down), twenty-four hours, and it will then do to paint, if free from spots and perfectly transparent. When you commence upon the back to paint, follow the lines with those colors necessary to make it look natural; the shading being made by the engraving, nothing is necessary but to apply the colors required. Suit your taste in choosing those colors. Mix the paints with varnish made from balsam fir three parts, alcohol two parts, and spirits of turpentine one part; or use _tube paints_, which are already prepared.

In painting the figure of a person, if the eyes are blue, mix Prussian blue and white; for dark eyes or hair, Vandyke brown works with good effect; for flesh color, mix red, white and a little yellow, adding a little more red for lips or cheeks. You may suit your own taste in regard to the color for background, but I will suggest equal parts of blue, red, green, and Vandyke brown, covering all that part which is not connected with the object you have painted. Don’t apply a second color until the first is perfectly dry. When done, give the face a coat of varnish.

The colors suitable for this painting are chrome yellow, yellow lake, emerald green, carmine, Prussian blue, burnt sienna, raw sienna, Vandyke brown, ivory black and silver lake.

The brushes required are one large varnish brush, with two or three small to medium size camel or sable hair paint brushes.

ORNAMENTAL GLASS SIGN WORK.

FOR LETTERING DOOR PLATES,

ORNAMENTING GLASS WORK BOXES, ETC.

How this art may be applied to making signs of every description, numbers of dwellings, door plates, ornamental borders for pictures, ornamenting work boxes, etc., which are made at a trifling expense, and unsurpassed for brilliancy.

First. Clean well the glass to be used, with alcohol. Second. Wet with your tongue the side cleaned, and immediately lay over the whole of that side a coat of gold or silver leaf. Third. Let this dry on—it will take from two to four minutes. Fourth. When the leaf has dried on the glass, polish it with a ball of cotton. Some of the leaf may possibly be rubbed off by the polishing, but this is of no consequence. Fifth. After polishing, wet again with your tongue the whole side you have polished, and lay another coating of leaf over it. Let this dry. Sixth. After the second coat of leaf is dry, polish it as before, with the ball of cotton, and then your sign or door plate will be ready for lettering.

As a border will add much to the appearance of the plate, I will now instruct you how to make one. Rule with the point of a needle two lines around the edge of the plate, the outside line one-quarter of an inch from the edge. After the lines have been ruled, wet your pencil brush, and with it moisten the leaf laying outside of the space between the lines you have ruled, and remove with the brush the leaf thus moistened, working gently from the lines. Your border is now made.

Your next step is to put the lettering on the glass. To do this, first measure the height of your letters, then rule with the needle two lines as far apart as the letters are high. When this is done, lay the letters on the leaf, one at a time, beginning at the right hand, and placing the back of the letters up, or backwards. Hold the letters on firmly with your left hand, and with your right mark around them with a needle. When you have marked around all the letters in this way, wet with your tongue the pencil brush, and apply it to all the leaf on the glass, except what is needed for the letters and border; then remove the leaf thus wet by rubbing it gently with the brush.

The next process is to apply the Japan. Do this with a small paint brush, and cover the whole of the side which has been covered with the silver leaf. It will require two coats, and after these are dry you have an elegant plate.

All that now remains to be done is to place the plate in a frame, to do this apply a little putty to the edges of the glass, and set it in the frame; then lay upon the back a piece of paper of the same size, and over that a piece of tin, and fill up the remaining space with plaster of Paris. Your door plate is now complete.

To ornament glass work boxes, flowering, etc., proceed as above.

=Articles Used.= A small camel-hair pencil brush, cost three cents; blue or black enamel, or Japan, per gill, 25 cents; selected silver leaf, per book, (24 sheets), 24 cents; patterns for letters, per set, 37½ cents; patterns for numbers, per set, 25 cents.

[NOTE.—A gill of Japan will answer for fifty signs. A book of silver leaf will answer for six or eight door plates.]

VITREMANIE.

FOR THE EASY AND INEXPENSIVE DECORATION OF WINDOWS, CHURCHES, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, AND PRIVATE HOUSES.

Vitremanie is the process by which glass of all kinds may be easily, durably, inexpensively, and elegantly decorated by any person. Diaphanie, which this art supersedes, was a great success, (no less than 250,000 sheets of designs having been sold in England alone). It had, however, its defects; the sheets being applied with transfer varnish, bubbles of air sometimes remained between the design and the glass, which in the subsequent process of rubbing off the paper, resulted in holes; this rubbing off, moreover, required much time, patience, and care, and was rarely perfectly performed. These defects are obviated by Vitremanie. By this method the designs, after being covered with Glucine, may be applied to the glass with water only, and the paper removed entire, a few minutes sufficing for the operation, and nothing being left upon the glass but the design in colors of unclouded brilliancy and transparency.

=The Materials Required= are as follows: The printed designs, three brushes, (two of camel’s hair and one of hog’s hair), a bottle of each, Glucine and enamel varnish, a roller, a sponge, a little blotting paper, and a pair of scissors.

The instructions are very simple. With the camel-hair brush pass a coating of Glucine over the colored face of the designs that are proposed to be used, care being taken that the Glucine does not touch the plain side of the paper; the sheets of the designs should be laid flat to dry, they should be left two or three days before being used, and they will remain good for three months, or even longer.

To apply the design to the glass it should be wetted with water on both sides, the glass should also be wetted; lay the design on the glass, and roll well down—all air bubbles will be easily removed by this means—keep the plain side of the paper wet for a few minutes, then, with the point of a knife, carefully raise a corner of the paper and pull it gently off; the work is now to be washed with a camel-hair brush and water, and afterwards dried by placing a piece of blotting paper over the work, and rolling it; leave it now for a few hours, then coat it with enamel varnish, and the work is finished. In removing the paper it is sometimes better, particularly when the design is large, to carefully scratch a hole in the paper, and tear it off in pieces from the center. The work is more easily performed on free glass, cut to the proper sizes, and afterwards fixed over the glass already in the window, by means of a bead; it may, however, be done upon the window as it stands.

The designs may be arranged to fit any window, strips of lead foil applied with gum being used for the purpose of covering the edges of the borders, groundings, etc., where they join. For circles and other shapes the strips of lead may be stretched with the thumb and fingers to any pattern desired, the creases being smoothed by the handle of a knife or paper-cutter, slightly wetted.

DIAPHANIE.

The Diaphanie prints for transferring to glass are very similar to the Decalcomanies; they are colored lithographs arranged on paper for transferring to glass, to represent stained glass, and is equally as pretty, and not so expensive. By this plan you may ornament your church windows, lamp shades, glass work boxes, or wherever stained glass is employed.

The materials required are a bottle of fixatif for fastening it to the glass, one or two medium size brushes, a bottle of transparent varnish, a plate of glass, and your design.

=The Application= is as follows: Lay on a coat of the fixatif to the face of the design, and place it upon the glass, pressing it closely and evenly, that it may adhere perfectly to the entire surface of the glass. In order to do this, it may be well to lay over the design a piece of heavy damp paper, and then roll it to the glass with a small roller used for that purpose; when this is done, and it is dry, apply a coat of transparent varnish with a flat camel-hair brush.

Some of the designs used are as follows: There are the Japanese and China figures, autumn leaves, Grecian and Egyptian heads, birds of paradise, soldiers, national figures in bronze, butterflies, angels with wings, roses, fruits and flowers, buildings, landscapes, etc., besides ten thousand other choice selections which can be furnished to you by mail, at catalogue prices.

PAINTING ON SILK, SATIN AND VELVET,

WITH THE ENGLISH OIL COLORS.

From all the different styles of modern painting, we select this as the most admired, and seemingly the most sought after by ladies of taste, fashion, or wealth; for nothing will aid more in beautifying the dress than a beautiful flower or butterfly painted upon the little satin or silk scarf which surrounds the neck, the collar or cuffs; your monogram on one corner the pocket handkerchief, or any other portion of the dress desired by the lady artist and lady of taste.

=Transferring.= First get the outlines of the picture you wish to paint, by use of transfer paper, or in the following manner: Lay the picture upon the silk to receive the painting, and with a needle-point prick through the picture, following closely the outlines, until you have passed over the whole, holding it to its place with one hand—with the other rub over the perforated part a black powder or fine crayon. For this purpose use a piece of velvet, rubbing it sufficiently to pass the powder through the holes. On raising the picture you have the outlines of it left on the silk, which is now ready to receive the paints. This method is merely given to aid the beginner in getting started; those more familiar with painting can commence at once upon the silk, without the aid of transferring.

=The Painting.= Stretch your silk upon a board, and lay the board flat. After you have the outlines, proceed with fine pointed brush, the same as other fine painting. Do not place a brush full of paint upon the work at once, but use paint lightly at first, otherwise it may crack and harm the picture.

In painting on velvet, with oil, place such colors as are intended to be used, on blotting paper for a couple of days, until the paper absorbs the oil. This will leave the colors in better condition for this kind of work. Use colors lightly—a great deal of stippling is needed. For raised work, or what is sometimes called Kensington painting, use sugar of lead, with the colors as a medium.

* * * * *

N. B. Use for this painting the _English Oil Colors_, and mix with gold size or opaque mixture.

After the work is completed, if it looks dull, you can bring it out again by using the sicatif gently upon the surface.

STAINING WOOD AND IVORY.

YELLOW. Diluted nitric acid will produce a fine yellow on wood; sometimes it makes a brown, and if used strong, it will be nearly black.

MAHOGANY COLOR Is produced by a mixture of madder, Brazil wood, and logwood, dissolved in water and put on hot. The proportions must be varied, according to the tint required.

BLACK. Brush the wood several times over with a hot decoction of logwood, and then with an iron lacquer; or, if this cannot be had, a strong solution of nut-galls.

RED can be made by a solution of dragon’s blood in spirits of wine. This stain is to be laid on the wood boiling hot, and before it dries it should be laid over with alum water.

BLUE. Ivory may be stained blue thus: Soak the ivory in a solution of verdigris and nitric acid, which will make it green, then dip it into a solution of pearlash boiling hot, and it will turn blue.

To stain ivory, black, the same process as for wood may be employed.

Purple may be produced by soaking the ivory in a solution of sal-ammoniac and four times its weight of nitrous acid.

TO PRODUCE A CRYSTALLINE SURFACE _ON PAPER, WOOD AND GLASS_.