Part 8

The most brilliant flowers, fruits, shells, birds, &c., are well adapted to this style of painting. The outline of the subject may be sketched in pencil on the velvet, which is of such a very delicate nature, that the greatest nicety is necessary to keep it in a state of neatness. Care should also be taken that the sketch is correctly made, as an error cannot be effaced by rubbing out, as on paper. It is a safer method, however, to make the sketch on drawing-paper, and to prick the outline very closely with a fine needle; then, the velvet being previously nailed on a flat piece of wood of a proper size, the pricked pattern may be laid over it, the roll of list dipped into the black lead powder, and rubbed regularly over the pattern from side to side; be careful to touch every part, and on removing the pattern, a perfect outline in black dots will appear on the velvet.

Where a set of articles of the same pattern is undertaken, this is a very good plan, as it ensures accuracy, and saves the trouble of making separate sketches.

Even those who have no knowledge of drawing on paper may produce a design on velvet, with ease and correctness, by tracing off against a window, or by means of tracing paper, any drawing or print which they wish to copy, and pricking the tracing on the velvet in the manner just described. In order to keep the margin of the velvet from being soiled in the progress of painting, a piece of thick paper should be laid over the whole, and an aperture cut in the middle, sufficiently large to expose the part to be worked on. Each brush should be kept for that color alone to which it has once been appropriated.

A small quantity of the color about to be used should be poured into a little cup, and a drop of gum water added, and stirred with the stick of a pencil prior to its being taken on the brush. The mode of its application is so simple, that a short description of the execution of a single flower will suffice to give an idea of the process of painting almost any other subject on velvet. A very small portion of color is to be taken upon the brush, and the darkest part of the leaf touched with it; the brush is then to be dipped in water, and the color gradually softened to the edge; each leaf ought to be colored separately, and the darkest parts in the centre of the flowers may be finished with a small brush without softening. India ink is used to make the dark shadows of crimson flowers. The veins, and all the petals of flowers, and all the fine lines, should be done with a pen. Each leaf, as it is shadowed, should be brushed with the hard end of a brush, that way of the velvet in which the pile runs most easily, and then in the contrary direction, so as to set it up again to become dry. A deeper shade should never be added to a leaf or flower until the color previously laid on is perfectly set, or the two colors will spread and run into each other, this will be prevented by the gum, if sufficient time can be allowed for each shade to dry before a subsequent one is applied.

When the piece is finished, and quite dry, it should be brushed over with a small, round brush, about two inches in diameter, with hard bristles of an equal length, to raise up such parts of the pile as may have been flattened in the process of painting.

Toilet-sets, sofa-cushions, fancy tables, pin-cushions, and a variety of articles may be ornamented in this way.

CASTING IN PLASTER, SULPHUR, ETC.

TAKING the impression of coins, medals, &c., is, independently of its utility, a most interesting amusement. This art is of considerable importance to collectors of antique coins, &c. It is often difficult, and always expensive, to purchase superior specimens, of which, however, exact models may be obtained by casting, without the slightest injury to the originals. The mould is made in the following manner:—Take a strip of paper, a quarter or third of an inch wide; roll it twice tight around the rim of the coin, or gem, of which a cast is intended to be taken, and fasten the end with very stiff gum-water, which will hold it instantly. Rub a very little oil, with a camels-hair pencil, over the coin, in order to prevent the plaster from sticking; then mix some fine plaster of Paris, with as much water as will make it almost as thick as treacle; apply it quickly to the coin, on which it will be held by the paper rim. It sets almost instantly, and may be taken off in a few hours; but the longer it remains undisturbed the better. The mould which is thus obtained is the reverse of the coin; that is, the impression is concave, like a seal. When the moulds are so dry that they will not wrinkle a piece of paper laid flat upon the surface, let them be well saturated with the best boiled linseed oil, placing the moulds with their surface upward, that the whole of the oil may be absorbed. They must be covered from dust, and nothing should touch their surface, lest they suffer injury. Moulds, well prepared in this manner, and dried about two days after being oiled, will stand a long time, for the casting of either plaster or sulphur. When used, either Florence oil or a little hog’s lard (the latter to be preferred) should be applied very tenderly over the mould with a little of the finest cotton wool, and the cotton wool, without lard, afterwards passed lightly over the surface, to leave as little as possible of the unctuous matter upon the mould, that the casts may be the finer. Put paper around them, as was before done to the coin; pour on plaster in the same manner, and a fac-simile of the original will be produced.

Good casts may be made of sulphur, melted in an iron ladle, either pure, or colored with a little red lead or vermilion powdered and stirred up with it. The moulds and casts are made in the same manner as with plaster of Paris, only that the sulphur must be poured on the mould when hot, and water, instead of oil, must be used, to prevent adhesion. Sulphur makes the best moulds for plaster casts, and _vice versa_—as similar substances can seldom be prevented, by either water or oil, from adhering, in some degree, to each other. Plaster cannot be used twice; that is, old or spoiled casts cannot be powdered and again employed; for the moment the material is moistened, being a species of lime, it is no longer plaster, without being reburnt.

Another way of making casts of almost any color, is with a strong solution of isinglass; it must be used when quite hot; and it is so thin that a box, exactly fitting the rim of the coin, is required, otherwise it will escape. It may be colored with saffron, wood, &c.

Very beautiful impressions may be taken by pouring melted wax upon the metal, which comes off easily when the wax and metal are perfectly cold; but any one attempting this had better try it first upon a penny, or other coin of little value.

Impressions may also be taken in wax, which, for this purpose, should be rendered pliable by kneading it with the hand before the fire, a little oil having been previously mixed with it. When softened to about the consistency of putty, lay it and press it close down on the coin, the form of which will then be perfectly obtained.

The following is another mode of taking impressions:—Procure tin or lead foil, as thin as possible, place it on the coin, and with a pin’s head, or any small, smooth instrument, work it into every part; then take it off, revert it into a shallow box, and pour plaster into its concave side; a durable plaster cast is thus obtained, covered with tin foil, which will resemble silver.

LEATHER WORK.

“THE Complete Guide to Ornamental Leather Work” gives very elaborate directions, the more practical of which are given in this chapter in connection with suggestions derived from other sources. Being quite absorbed at one time in imitating various kinds of flowers and leaves in leather, and in ornamenting and staining wood to represent beautiful carved work,—the writer of this examined the books on the subject, and tried many elaborate methods, and finally went to a cabinet-maker and learned the simplest mode of staining and varnishing. Her leather work proved to be quite as durable, and was pronounced as handsome, as if it had been covered with various coats of stiffening.

The kind of leather used for general purposes is basil; it should be selected of an even texture and of a light color, as the light colored will stain better than the dark. It should be soft and free from blemishes.

The skiver leather is used for making grapes, or very small leaves and flowers, and can be obtained at the same place as the basil leather; this kind is also useful for thin stems and any minute portion of the work.

The whole skins are very expensive, and any one who wishes to experiment can obtain for quite a small sum pieces of leather from trunk-makers and saddlers, (who call it sheepskin instead of basil;) you can engage them to save you all their pieces; in this way you can obtain all you will wish to use. You can also purchase strips of thicker leather at the same places, to ornament the edge of your brackets, &c.; you can cut the edge of the leather in scollops, points, &c., with chisels and gouges, and nail it round the shelf or glue it on, the scollops, &c., hanging down; it will look exactly like wood when properly stained. Then nail your flowers to that. Pieces of skiver can also be obtained from the book-binders. To form your leaves and flowers, you must sketch your pattern from nature, on pasteboard. Then dip your leather in cold water for half a minute (not longer, unless the leather is unusually thick;) it should then be taken from the water and pressed in a linen cloth until the surface is nearly dry. Being thus prepared, lay it quite flat on a board, and place upon it your pasteboard pattern, and trace it. While the leather is wet, cut out your leaf with sharp scissors or a shoe-maker’s knife. The pattern may be drawn before the leather is wet, and if sharp tools are used the leaf can be cut before wetting it; and by drawing one pattern and nailing several pieces of leather firmly on a board, with chisels, gouges and hammer, you can cut a number of leaves at once, and then neatly trim them with the scissors. All common leaves, such as grape, ivy, or convolvulus, are more easily cut in this way; rose leaves and grape leaves are cut better with the scissors. You should have a variety of sizes of leaves. To vein the leaves you should copy nature, and mark them with a brad awl or knitting needle, or the point of the scissors; press heavily for thick veins and lightly for the finer veins; by using the two points of your scissors slightly spread apart, you can form the raised veins; a hard steel pen can be used for the smaller veins. Being veined, the leaves should be bent and moulded into the required shape. Then they should be dried quickly, as it hardens them better. Some persons stiffen them when dry by brushing over a stiffening made of two ounces of Australian red gum, six ounces of orange shellac, half a pint of spirits of wine, mixed cold, and when dissolved, strained for use. It is not necessary to use any such preparation when your leather work is sufficiently hardened by drying; take some asphaltum varnish and stain it carefully all over with a brush. This varnish you can buy ready mixed, or you can get the asphaltum, powder it, and dissolve it in spirits of turpentine; when well dried it will probably need a second coat, possibly a third, depending on the color you wish, whether dark or light; when well dried, varnish the work with copal varnish, and dry it thoroughly. Then stain your wood (or you can have it stained at the cabinet-makers, as you prefer.) You can stain even common pine wood by the following process: first, stain with asphaltum the color you desire; then varnish with three coats of copal varnish, having each well dried; when it is dry and hard, rub it down with powdered pumice stone, and wash off with clear cold water. Then arrange and nail, or glue, on your leather flowers or fruit. When all is complete, finish up with a coat of copal varnish carefully brushed on.

To make stems and tendrils: cut strips as long as the leather will allow; soak them well in water for a few minutes until they feel very soft; take them out, wipe the water from the surface, roll them and dry them; if required to be very stiff, add inside a piece of wire; when very thick ones are required the leather may be cut wider. Tendrils are made in the same manner as stems, using skiver instead of the ordinary leather; dry them quickly, then take a strip, damp it and wind it round a brad awl or knitting needle, taking care to fasten both ends, so that it cannot fly off; dry it by the fire, then remove it from the awl or needle, and a delicately formed tendril will be the result.

Every kind of flower can be imitated. Oak leaves and acorns are easily made, and many prefer them to flowers. Take several sizes of natural oak leaves, and draw the pattern on pasteboard, and pencil them as the natural leaf is veined. These you can keep always ready to copy your leather from. The natural acorn can be used, by leaving a little of the stem on the cup, on which to glue a longer stem of leather; then glue the acorn into the cup, and varnish and stain. If you can obtain sprays of acorns, and glue each acorn to its cup and glue on a bit of leather to the end of the stem, to nail to your frame, they are the most desirable. The acorns gathered from the shrub oak are the prettiest.

Convolvulus is a vine most commonly imitated. The leaves and tendrils are very simple, and the flower is easily shaped over the top of a bottle. First, cut a round piece the size of a half dollar, and punch a hole in the centre after it is wet, then shape from the natural flower; the cup can be formed in the neck of the bottle, and the rest by rolling the edges over the rim of the top of the bottle.

Ivy is easily made. The berries can be formed from slack baked bread; take it and roll into little berries, then stick in each a piece of wire (that pulled from wire taste is the best, as it is wound with thread,) and in forming the branch wind the wires together with a strip of leather. When the berries have hardened, stain them.

Grapes are made of skiver, and either small clay marbles or dry peas. First, wet your skiver, then form your bunch of grapes, by pushing one after another firm into the pliant leather, and fasten around each a linen thread, and draw them with it close together, shaping your bunch according to the size you wish. They so perfectly imitate carved wood that persons familiar with carving may be deceived by them. By the exercise of ingenuity and your imitative qualities you can accomplish very satisfactory results. Parts of the work may be gilded, if you prefer. For instance, you may gild your acorns, grapes or ivyberries. Bronzing is pretty for some kinds of work. It is done by sprinkling or rubbing bronzing powder on the work before the last coat of varnish is dry.

Autumn leaves can be imitated by using finely powdered colors, and mixing them to the consistence of cream, with the following medium:—Mix the white of an egg with 2 oz. of pure distilled vinegar; put them into a bottle and shake them well together whenever you wish to mix your colors; or mix them with parchment size warmed, or a weak solution of gum-Arabic; in either case, varnish with a quick drying pale varnish. Oil colors will not answer.

Pieces of furniture easily ornamented by leather are book cases, etageres, brackets, picture frames, work boxes, screens, music and watch stands and fancy tables, &c., &c.

The edges of frames of all kinds may be neatly ornamented by taking two strips about seven-eighths of an inch wide, cut them as long as possible, and stain them; when ready for use, nail them together to the edge of the frame, then twist them round so as to form a point, and nail again, and so on all around, crossing them each time. Brackets need to be formed not only artistically, but strong. I will give here a design for the framework, before the leather ornaments are nailed on. The strips of wood must be entirely covered with the leather foliage; it adds to the appearance of the whole.

To gild the upper edge, I will also give a pretty design for an oak and ivy bracket. This is intended to imitate old oak, and should be stained very dark. The oak stem should be made of very thick wire, cut in the desired lengths, and covered with leather, and bent to resemble gnarled oak, as naturally as possible; fasten oak leaves and acorns at the back of the wires and on the wood-work, as shown in the skeleton bracket, then attach the ivy tendrils, leaves and berries around the oak stems, and the bracket is complete. Other and very beautiful designs will readily occur to persons who engage in this delightful recreation.

CIGAR-BOXES MADE USEFUL.

BEAUTIFUL fancy boxes can be made from cigar-boxes, if the cover is preserved whole. Small sizes are the most desirable. Toilet, glove, handkerchief, gentlemen’s collar, note paper and work-boxes, besides many other varieties, are easily manufactured. The materials required, most of which can be purchased at the paper box manufactories, are:—All kinds of fancy enamel paper, in sheets; gold or silver paper, and the gold or fancy beadings, which can be bought in strips; small enamel German pictures; plain or water-colored paper, or colored silk and satins, for the lining; gilded corner-pieces, and claw-feet are an addition; perfume powder, narrow taste, &c.

First, you must fasten the lid firmly by pasting a strip of linen along the edges of the lid and box, inside, as well as outside; it holds the lid firm, and acts as a hinge; paste on each side bits of ribbon to support the lid, then glue in the lining. For very nice boxes, silk or satin, fluted, is a great addition. Plait it above and below on a narrow piece of paper, and paste the edges down; then take an oblong piece of silk and another of paper, place a piece of cotton wool on the paper sprinkled with perfume powder, then cover with the silk, and baste the paper over the edge, pasting the whole on the lid in the center. After you have covered it, paste neatly round it a gold beading (or bind the edges of the box first with gold paper); close the box when the inside is finished, and commence on the outside. Some persons take out the bottom of the box in lining it, as it is easier to paste it smoothly, and then nail it in its place. Cover the whole outside of the box with polished enamel paper (Japanese paper is very beautiful, but expensive,) and cover the bottom of the box; then bind the edges of the box with gold paper, and place beading on the edge where it meets the colored paper. The styles may be varied by pasting gold beading in stripes all over the box; ornament the sides, if you prefer, with pictures. On the lid, gold corner-pieces, besides the beading, are an improvement. In the center place some pretty picture, varnish it with map varnish, and then frame the picture with a gold beading. A loop of ribbon should be pasted on the lid to raise it by, and your box is finished. If your box is for gloves or handkerchiefs, you may cut out in old Roman or English letters, in gold paper, “Gantes” or “Mouchoir,” and paste them on the front side of the box. Pin-cushions could be fastened on the top of toilet boxes.

The pictures and gilding that come on linen or cambric goods may be used for this purpose. Common flour paste is the best; a little common glue mixed in while boiling improves the paste. Mucilage can be used to glue on the beading. The paper should be thoroughly wet with paste. Begin to paste smoothly from the center, in order to keep out all air.

POTICHIMANIE.

POTICHIMANIE is the art of imitating painting on glass or China. The most beautiful of the Chinese porcelain, Sevres, Japanese or Etruscan vases, can be so closely imitated, that none but connoisseurs can discover at first sight, the difference. The work is attractive, and very simple; the materials employed are few, and inexpensive.

First, select some plain glass vases, resembling in shape and size the particular style of China you wish to represent. You can have vases of any shape blown and fashioned for you at the glass houses.

Select your colored figures, representing the style of China you wish to imitate; let them be rich, and clear in their colors. You will need two or three small brushes, such as painters use, some strong gum water, and a bottle of varnish. Use paint for the groundwork of the color you wish to represent. The ground color of the Chinese porcelain is in general a greenish white; the Sevres a bluish white; while the Etruscan is a pale yellow. These three colors are generally all that are wanted. A delicate pink is sometimes used. For any one kind of vase, only one ground color is necessary. A pair of very fine pointed scissors will also be required.

Then proceed to cut out your figures with great care; if you can cut a trifle within your figures, all the better, for no white edges must be visible. When they are all cut, arrange them on a sheet of paper in the order in which they are to be placed in the vase, and gum them very evenly and carefully on the colored side; let them lay until the gum rather thickens and the paper on which they are colored softens; then take them up carefully and place them in their proper places on the inside of your vase; press them carefully with a bit of old linen tight to the glass, excluding all air between them and the glass, otherwise bubbles will be formed, and the work will be spoiled. When all the pictures are arranged, wipe the glass clean, except where it is covered by the pictures. After the work is dry and clean, varnish the back of the prints, and paint the inside of the vase with the ground color. Some persons pour it in the vase, and let it run around, and then carefully brush it on; some put it on near the pictures by gently tapping the glass with the brush. Great care must be taken not to let the paint run under the paintings. The antennae of butterflies and other minute objects may be imitated in gold, or by drawing them on the glass with gum water and sprinkling them with gold bronze powder. This must be done before the ground paint is laid. Gold stars scattered over some kinds of vases may improve them. You can buy sheets of appropriate designs already colored. If you prefer to color them yourself, you must be sure and have your colors clear and bright; the brighter they are the better they will appear. Where gold is introduced, it is better to use the shell or prepared gold. It is applied in the same manner as water colors, and may be used with good effect, in borders, single ornaments, flowers, insects, and to fill up when no other color is introduced. This work may be used in various ways to decorate your homes. The inside of your vase should be varnished, to give it the smoothness of China, and you can have the rim gilded. If several coats of sizing are applied, the vase may be filled with water without injury to the paint; but you can fit cups to the vases, in which to put water for flowers. Hall lamps, windows, &c., are decorated in the same manner, except that no ground color is used. Cabinet boxes, tables, and a great variety of other articles, both useful and ornamental, may, with a little ingenuity and taste, be rendered extremely elegant.

ORNAMENTS IN RICE SHELL-WORK.