AUTUMN
CHAPTER XVII.
ALL-HALLOW-EVE.
RADIANT and beautiful October, whose changing color heralds the approach of winter, gives us our first autumn holiday, if Halloween can now be called a holiday.
Before the Christian era, in the days of the ancient Celts and their priests, the Druids, the eve of the first of November was the time for one of the three principal festivals of the year. The first of May was celebrated for the sowing; the solstice on the twenty-first of June for the ripening, and the eve of the first of November for the harvesting. At each of these festivals great fires were built on the hill-tops in honor of the sun, which the people worshipped. When Christianity took the place of the heathen religion, the Church, instead of forbidding the celebration of these days, gave them different meanings, and in this way the ancient harvest-festival of the Celts became All-Hallow-Eve, or the eve of All-Saints-Day, the first day of November having been dedicated to all of the saints.
Kaling.
For a long while most of the old customs of these holidays were retained; then, although new ceremonies were gradually introduced, Hallow-Eve remained the night of the year for wild, mysterious, and superstitious rites. Fairies and all supernatural beings were believed to be abroad at this time, and to exercise more than their usual power over earthly mortals. Because the fairy folk were believed to be so near us on Halloween, it was considered the best evening of the season for the practice of magic, and the customs observed on this night became mostly those of divination, by the aid of which it was thought the future might be read.
Before proceeding further with this subject we desire our readers to appreciate and fully understand that we are far from wishing to inculcate any superstitious belief in the power of charms to forecast future events; that we regard all fortune-telling as nonsense, pure and simple, and only insert it here, as we would any other game, for the sake of the amusement it affords. Although, to make our descriptions more intelligible, we announce the results of charms as facts, we would not have it understood that they are to be taken as such.
Nowadays, so practical has the world become, no fairy, witch, or geni could we conjure up, were we to practice all the charms and spells ever known to soothsayer or seer. Our busy, common-sense age allows no fairies to interfere with its concerns, and these creatures, who existed only in the belief of the people, must needs vanish, to return no more, when that belief is gone.
A few fortune-telling games are all that now remain of the weird ceremonies that once constituted the rites of Halloween, and the spirit of this old heathen holiday is once more changed, for it is now considered only an occasion for fun and frolic.
It was the custom for quite a number of years of some friends of the writer to give a Halloween party on each recurring Halloween; and merrier, jollier parties than those were, it would not be easy to devise. The home which opened wide its hospitable doors to the favored few on this night is a country-house, large and spacious; there is a basement under the whole lower floor, which is divided into kitchen, laundry, and various store-rooms intersected with passages, and this basement, deserted by the servants, was given up to the use of the Halloween revellers. The rooms and passage-ways were decorated with and lighted by Chinese lanterns, which produced a subdued glow in their immediate vicinity, but left mysterious shadows in nooks and corners.
Putting aside conventionality and dignity as we laid aside our wraps, ready for any fun or mischief that might be on hand, we proceeded down-stairs and into the kitchen, where a large pot of candy was found bubbling over the fire. This candy, poured into plates half-full of nuts, was eaten at intervals during the evening, and served to keep up the spirits of those who were inclined to be cast down by the less pleasing of Fortune’s decrees. With plenty of room and no fear of breaking or destroying anything, which is apt to put a check upon frolics in the parlor, the company could give full vent to their high spirits. Now in this room, now in that, again flitting through the dim passages and around dark corners, each person seemed to be everywhere at once, and although the party was limited to about twenty-five, there appeared to be at least twice that number present. Bursts of merry laughter and little screams of pretended terror would announce, now and then, that some charm was being gone through with and someone’s fortune being told. All sorts of games were played, and the variety of our entertainment made the evening pass very quickly. All too soon the hands of the kitchen clock warned the guests that to reach home at a seasonable hour they must put an end to their Halloween festivities. A number of the following methods of telling fortunes were tried at these parties, one might say with success, for we certainly succeeded in accomplishing our main object, which was, to have a good time. By
Melted Lead
we used to ascertain what the occupation of one’s future husband would be. The fortune is told in this way: Each girl, in turn, holds a door-key in one hand, while with the other hand she pours the melted lead, from an iron spoon or ladle, through the handle of the key into a pan of cold water.
In the fanciful shapes the lead assumes can be traced resemblances to all sorts of things. Sometimes it is a sword or gun, which indicates that a soldier will win the fair prize; again, traces of a ship may be seen: then the favored one is to be a sailor; a plough suggests a farmer; a book, a professor, or perhaps a minister; and when the lead forms only drops, it seems to mean that the gentle inquirer will not marry, or if she does, her husband will be of no profession.
Nutshell Boats
foretell in a general way what their owner’s future life will be. They should be prepared beforehand in this manner: Split an English walnut directly in half, remove the kernel, and clear away any of the partitions which may remain in the shell; then place a short piece of heavy cotton string in the shell and pour around it melted beeswax. Mould the wax into a cone shape around the string, as shown in Fig. 129, allowing the end to come out at the top. Fig. 130 shows what it is like when finished.
The tapers first being lighted, several of these little craft are launched at the same time, by their respective owners, upon the sea of life, or, in other words, in a tub of water.
When a light burns steadily until the wax is all melted, and the frail bark safely rides the waves (which are occasioned by stirring the water with a stick, or shaking the tub from side to side), a happy life is predicted, and a long one.
When two boats come in contact, it means that their owners will meet and have mutual interests some time during their lives.
If one boat crosses another’s path, it denotes that their owners will do the same.
If two boats come together and continue to sail about side by side, their owners will in some way pass much of their lives together.
When a boat clings closely to the sides of the tub, refusing to sail out into the centre, it shows that its owner will be a stay-at-home.
Touching often at the side of the tub is indicative of short voyages; and extended travel is predicted when a boat seldom touches the tub.
It depends a good deal upon the fancy and imagination of those testing their fate how the antics of the little fleet are interpreted, and the meanings given to the movements of the boats create no end of fun.
“Three Luggies.”[C]
“In order, on the clean hearth-stane,
The luggies three are ranged,
And ev’ry time great care is ta’en
To see them duly changed.”
The three bowls, or dishes, one containing clear water, one milky, and the other nothing at all, are placed in a row on the hearth-stone or table, and the girl wishing to try her fortune is blindfolded and led up to where the dishes stand. She is then told to put her left hand into one of the bowls. If she dips her fingers in the clear water, she will marry a bachelor; if in the milky water, a widower; and if into the empty bowl, it is a sure sign that she will live in single blessedness all her days.
This ceremony must be gone through with three times, and the hand be dipped twice in the same bowl, in order to make the prediction of any value.
Roasting Nuts
is the charm by which the friendship of anyone may be tested. The applicant for knowledge on this point names two nuts, one for her friend and the other for herself, and then places them side by side upon the grate, or a shovel held over the fire. If they burn quietly, it is prophetic of a long and happy friendship kept up by both parties; but if in roasting they burst with a loud report and fly apart, they are decidedly uncongenial, and should not seek much intercourse. The movements of the nuts while heating are closely watched, for the tempers of the persons for whom they are named is said to be thus revealed.
Kaling
is a mode of telling one’s fortune not as well known, perhaps, as the foregoing methods. The ceremony is carried out in the following manner: Two girls are blindfolded and started off on the path to the kitchen-garden and cabbage-patch, where each pulls up the first stalk she finds. They then return at once to the house, where the bandages are removed and the mysterious stalks examined.
According to the state of the stalk, so will be the gatherer’s fate. If it is straight or crooked, large or small, so will the future husband be; if it has a pleasant taste, or the reverse, the character of the person will correspond, and the quantity of earth clinging to the roots denotes whether their riches will be little or great.
When there are no cabbages at hand, almost any other garden vegetable will answer; and if there be objections to going out-of-doors, vegetables of various kinds, such as turnips, beets, and parsnips, may be placed on a table, and the persons blindfolded can choose from them. No doubt the charm will work as well with the plants upon a table as when they are pulled from a kitchen-garden.
The Magic Mirror,
which is simply a hand-glass on ordinary occasions, and gains its mysterious power only on Halloween, divulges, under certain conditions, the delightful secret of how many bits of good-fortune will fall to one’s share during the ensuing year. The conditions are that the person wishing to know how bright her prospects are shall go to an open window or door from which the moon is visible, and, standing with her face in-doors, hold her mirror so that the moon will be reflected in it. The number of moons she sees there betokens the number of times something pleasant will happen to her before the advent of another Halloween.
Three Tin Cups
partially filled with water are balanced on the small ends of three funnels, which are placed in a row on the floor, about two feet apart. Over these cups, one after another, each member of the party must leap in turn. Whoever succeeds in leaping over all three cups without knocking any of them off will make an early marriage. The person who knocks over one will marry when not so young. The marriage of the one who tips over two cups will be deferred until late in life, and she who leaps none of them safely will not be married at all.
To guard against wet feet very little water should be put in the cups—only enough to make the players careful about tipping them over.
The Ring Cake
is always an object of interest at Halloween parties. The cake itself is made like the ordinary kind, but before it is baked a plain gold ring is hidden in the dough, not to be taken out until the cake is cut and it falls to the share of the fortunate person in whose slice it happens to be found. The ring is sometimes put in a flour-cake, which is simply flour packed into a cake-mould so firmly that when it is turned out it retains the shape of the mould and can be sliced off with a knife. Each member of the party cuts her or his own section of flour, and whoever secures the ring, it is confidently stated, will be the first of the group to marry.
Some Halloween games apparently have no particular meaning attached to them, but seem to be devised for the purpose of creating as much fun as possible.
Bobbing for Apples
is, perhaps, familiar to most of our readers, but we give a description of it here for the benefit of the few who may not know the game so well.
In a large tub full of fresh, cold water several apples are placed, and it is the object of the participators to take them out of the water with their teeth.
As the rosy-cheeked, tempting fruit bobs about within easy reach, it looks simple enough to secure a prize; but the apples are so round and slippery, so aggravatingly illusive, that, unless you thrust your head and neck beneath the cold water, regardless of consequences, and drive an apple to the bottom, the feat cannot be accomplished. The girls can seldom be induced to try their luck in this game, but usually content themselves with looking on, immensely enjoying the frantic endeavors of the boys to succeed at any cost.
The Apple and Candle Game
is another favorite sport for Halloween, and is played as follows: From the ceiling is suspended a stout cord, the lower end of which is securely tied to the centre of a stick about a foot and a half long. On one end of the stick is fastened an apple, on the other a lighted candle. The string is set in motion, swinging back and forth like a pendulum, and the contestants for the prize stand ready, each in turn, to make a grab for the apple, which must be caught in the teeth before it can be won. Frequently the candle is caught instead of the apple, which mishap sends the spectators off into shouts of merriment; but although funny, it is at the same time a little dangerous to catch a lighted candle in one’s teeth, and we would suggest that a bag made of cheese-cloth, or like thin material, be filled with flour and tied to the stick in place of the candle. When the person essaying to snatch the fruit is struck in the face with the bag, and is covered with flour instead of the glory anticipated, as much mirth will result as can possibly arise when the old and dangerous practice of using a candle is clung to.
The Ghostly Fire
should not be lit unless all of the party have strong nerves, for the light it produces is rather unearthly, and may affect some members unpleasantly. We, at our Halloween parties, never omitted this rite, however, its very weirdness proving its strongest attraction. Salt and alcohol were put in a dish, with a few raisins, and set on fire. As soon as the flame leaped up we clasped hands and gayly danced around the table, upon which burned our mystic fire. The laughing eyes and lips looked in strange contrast to the pale faces of their owners, from which the greenish light had taken every vestige of color. The dance was not prolonged, for it was our duty, before the fire was spent, to snatch from the flames the raisins we had put in the dish. This can be done, if one is careful, without as much as scorching the fingers, and I never knew of anyone burning themselves while making the attempt.
Trying for a Raisin
is a very laughable performance. The raisin, which must be a good-sized one, is strung on and pushed exactly to the middle of a soft cotton string about one yard long. Two aspirants for the prize then take each an end of the string, which they put in their mouths and commence to chew, taking it up as fast as they can—the raisin falling to the share of the person who succeeds in reaching it first.
A Lighted Candle
is again used in a game which is exceedingly amusing. The candle is placed upon a table in full view of everyone; then one of the players is blindfolded, turned around several times, and set free to seek for the candle and blow out the light, if possible.
To see girls, with their hands clasped behind them, going crazily about the room, blowing at anything and everything, is very ludicrous. They seldom find the candle, and even when the table is reached it is difficult to blow in such a direction as to extinguish the flame.
The Fairy’s Gifts
are suggested as a new and original ending of a Halloween frolic.
The Fairy Godmother, in Mother Hubbard costume, carries a large basket under her cloak or shawl. She enters the room and announces that she has a certain number of gifts which she proposes to distribute among the company. After cautioning all that the contents must be kept secret, she passes to each person a folded paper. On one is written “Wealth,” on another “Honor,” on the third “Fame,” etc., and some of the papers are left blank.
Those whose papers contain the names of gifts are then blindfolded, preparatory to receiving their behests.
The first is led up and made to kneel before the Fairy Godmother, to whom she repeats these words:
Most gracious Fairy, the gift you give
I shall treasure and keep as long as I live.
Then the paper containing the name of the gift is handed the Fairy, who reads it aloud very solemnly: “Wealth”—and, turning to her basket, she takes from it a new dust-pan, to which is attached a ribbon-loop, at the same time reciting these lines:
Your choice is bad when you intrust
Your happiness where moth and rust,
In time, turn all your wealth to dust.
From a paper-bag the Fairy pours a small amount of dust over the kneeling girl, and hangs the dust-pan around her neck.
The next person who has drawn a prize is then brought forward and the performance is repeated, only altering the Fairy’s speech. For “Honor,” she will say:
Your honor crowds shall loud declare,
But in your heart, no crowd is there,
You’ll find, like Falstaff, “honor’s air.”
The present here is a pair of bellows, from which the Fairy blows a blast on the bowed head before her as she utters the word air. The bellows, like the dust-pan, are hung by a ribbon around the recipient’s neck.
For “Fame,” the Fairy gives a wreath of roses, and says, as she adjusts the crown:
When Fame doth weave a laurel-wreath,
He weaves this subtle charm beneath;
“For every evil thought that’s born
The laurel grows a prickly thorn;
But where pure thought and love reposes,
The laurel-wreath’s a wreath of roses.”
Buckeye Portière.
CHAPTER XVIII.
NATURE’S FALL DECORATIONS, AND HOW TO USE THEM.
THESE beautiful decorations are free to all who care to possess them. Every autumn comes to us laden with ornaments which no skilled workman can rival. The graceful golden-rod, so rich in color, sways and bends over the low stone walls, and in the fields wild flowers of all kinds grow in great profusion. White, spreading wild carrot, yellow and white daisies, light and dark purple asters, and sumach, with its varied hues, give color to the landscape on our bright fall days. There are also the queer-shaped pods and feathery, silky seeds peculiar to some wild plants; among others the poor “vagabond thistle,” which has donned its robe of glistening white, although some of its tribe still wear their faded purple gowns. The latter may be gathered for thistle-puffs, and all the objects mentioned can be used in home decorations.
We cannot pass by unnoticed the brown milk-weed pods, for within the shells, full well we know, are hidden the silvery, downy seeds which make such pretty milk-weed balls. Here, too, we notice the rich coloring of bark as well as foliage, the bright scarlet berries contrasting with the brown, yellow, and green leaves. The vine, once a fresh green, is now changed to deep crimson; even the tiny leaves of the wild strawberry and some grasses have touches of red on their edges.
How the rich coloring of autumn differs from the delicate tints of spring, when the promise was made in bud and leaf, which is now realized in the bountiful harvests!
Having such a wealth to glean from, we scarcely know what to take first; but for decorations to last only a few hours it would be difficult to imagine anything more brilliantly appropriate than
Fresh Autumn Wild Flowers
and small branches of brilliant fall leaves. At the time of this writing wild flowers are very popular; one of our daily papers records a wedding which recently took place, where the display of wild flowers was beautiful in the extreme. Curtains of wood-ferns were caught back with golden-rod, and a bower of holly and oak was fringed with clusters of scarlet bitter-sweet berries. Daisies were also used in abundance, while the beauty of the little church was enhanced by the masses of white blossoms and oak-branches.
This idea can be used advantageously in decorating the house for evening parties and receptions, or afternoon teas and coffees. Have the flowers and foliage in masses, the effect is much better; and if you gather very large, hardy ferns with their roots attached they will make exceedingly graceful decorations, and placed in water or wet sand they will remain fresh for days.
When golden-rod is gathered in its prime it will keep nearly all winter without fading. Do not put it in water; all that is necessary is to keep it dry. The rich brown cat-tails should be treated in the same manner; these must be gathered at their best, before they are too ripe. Bitter-sweet berries will last for months and retain a bright red. The old-fashioned honesty, with its white, satiny pods, keeps perfectly for any length of time. The wild rose-bush in the fall is decked with seed-coverings, which closely resemble scarlet berries; these will last for many weeks. The wild clematis, with its festoons of hazy fluff, will keep for a long time, and always looks well when thrown over and on the top corner of a portière and allowed to hang naturally down a little on one side, or arranged in a similar manner over the tops of windows, doors, pictures, or wherever it will look graceful. It should hang out of harm’s way, as it is brittle and easily broken when dry.
For entertainments, the more elaborate and bountiful the decorations of fresh wild flowers the more beautiful will the house appear; but for every-day life during the cold weather, when we have only the dried fall plants, we may almost make up for the lack of fresh flowers by using judgment and taste in arranging the dried ones. Though wild flowers are beautiful, you must use taste in their arrangement and not mingle them together promiscuously, but make a judicious selection, for where a light bunch of golden-rod would be the very thing needed to give color to a particular spot, should the dark cat-tails be placed there the effect might be lost. There are places where some high, stiff decoration would look best, and others where the soft, swaying clematis seems to belong. As with everything else, so with our decorations, we must seek to have harmony.
Who has not admired the dark-brown, glossy buckeyes and horse-chestnuts, and wondered what use could be made of them? Children love to gather them and come home with their pockets and baskets full, only to play with them for awhile, and then the pretty dark balls, each marked with a spot of light cream-color, are thrown away or lost.
Now, the next time the buckeyes are collected save every one and make a
Buckeye Portière.
The writer assures you that you will find it much easier to do this than she did to make a picture of the curtain, for it is difficult with a pen-and-ink drawing to give an idea of the richness of color in the handsome hangings these horse-chestnuts make when properly fashioned into a portière for hall or doorway. Two full bushels of buckeyes will be needed to make a curtain two yards and a half long and one yard and a quarter wide.
Take a very large, long needle and a strong, waxed thread a little longer than you desire to have your curtain, make a large knot in the end of the thread, and commence to string your buckeyes in the same way as stringing beads or buttons. Continue until the thread in the needle is exhausted, then tie the thread in a large knot close to the last buckeye, leaving a length of three inches of thread. Make your other strands in the same way. When all are finished, fasten as many small screw-eyes in a straight line on a curtain-pole, or a rustic pole if desired, as there are strands of buckeyes, and tie securely to each screw-eye one string of buckeyes. When all are fastened on, your portière is finished and ready to be hung. This is easily accomplished if the pole used is a regular curtain-pole, as they always come with brackets; but should your pole be rustic, it must be supported by bands of strong birch-bark, or leather, as in Fig. 131. Our illustration shows over the portière a
Birch-Bark Support for Pole.
Panel of Fall Decorations.
These also look handsome over windows and doors, and you are at liberty to use ornaments of all styles, for the panels are placed where there is no danger of anything coming in contact with them to break off the decorations or mar their beauty. Any kind of board will do for the panel, rough or smooth, as you like. Paint the board a pure white, then decide on your ornaments, which may be a chestnut-branch with bursting burs attached, sprays of common wayside velvet-leaf with clusters of pods clinging to them, a piece of black-berry vine with its twigs, thorns, and dried berries, or branches of buckeyes with some of the nuts falling from their horned shells.
Select according to your fancy, and gild the decorations chosen, then tack them on the panel. It is best to place the ornaments on the board while the paint is soft and wet, for then it will help to fasten the decoration more securely; if the paint be put on thick where the ornaments are to be placed, they will lie partially embedded in the paint, and when it dries they will appear as if carved from the wood.[D]
A white and gold panel made in this way is very pretty and inexpensive.
The fall decorations also enable us to make a very effective
Louis Quinze Screen.
Hinge for Louis Quinze Screen.
Hoops Fastened Together for Louis Quinze Screen.
For this it is necessary to have two small wooden hoops, such as children roll along the streets; fasten these together with a strong piece of white tape, two or three inches wide, cut the end of the tape bias, tack this on the side of one of the hoops, bring it around between and over the other hoop, and tack it again, repeat the operation and the hinge will be finished (Fig. 132). If you look at the hinge on a wooden clothes-horse you will understand how to make one. Fig. 133 shows the hoops fastened together. Now cut two pieces of coarse, strong cotton cloth, a little larger around than the hoops, and place one of the pieces smoothly over one of the hoops; tack it down, driving the tacks in far apart, and so that they can be easily extracted; if the cloth wrinkles, keep changing it until the surface is perfectly even; when this is accomplished carefully tack the covering securely down, keeping it smooth and without wrinkles. In like manner tack the remaining piece of cloth on the other hoop. Next get four broomsticks and cut a notch on each one, at exactly the same distance from the top, for the hoops to fit in. Then measure where you wish the hoops to be placed and cut another notch on each stick a certain distance from the bottom; all the sticks must be of the same length and have the notches cut in the same places, so each one may be a duplicate of the others. Mark the hoops where the sticks are to fit, and then fasten them firmly on with small screws. Make the screen strong, so that there will not be any danger of its coming apart. Give each cloth a sizing of common flour-paste on both sides, then scrape off all the paste with a knife; in this way the cloth will be starched and prepared to receive the paint. When the screen is thoroughly dry, sew a branch across one of the disks and some waxed fall leaves in the places where they would naturally lie on the branch; when these are securely attached, decorate the other disk with something different; acorns can be used if cut in halves; but never place any ornaments on the screen which will not lie flat, for if they stand out they will be broken off or injured by persons passing and brushing against them. Now give the screen a coat of white paint all over, including the branch and leaves, but do not paint the hinge. Set the screen away until it is perfectly dry, then gild the branches and leaves, connecting the latter with the twigs by painting a line of gold between the two. Gild a ring around each pole near the top and another near the bottom, and cover the edges of the hoops where the cloth has been fastened on by tacking white gimp around each one, using fancy brass-headed tacks and placing them at equal distances apart; this completes the ornamental screen.
Louis Quinze Screen.
Should you desire it, the screen can be painted black or any other color, and the decorations bronzed instead of gilded. The bronzes come in different shades, and the color of real bronze can be easily copied.
A Panel of Field-Corn
As an ornament for the dining-room is very decorative and easy to make. When the corn ripens, select some nice, firm, golden ears, with husks and without; then break off pieces of cornstalk and group them together, as in the illustration; cover a board of requisite size with a piece of old black velvet; if you have no velvet, paint the board black, and after tying the corn firmly together, tack it securely on the board, and the dark background will bring out the many yellow tints of the decoration beautifully; fasten two screw-eyes in the back of the board, by which to attach the wire, and the panel will be ready to hang on the wall.
The corn can also be fastened to a rough board of the desired size and the panel and decoration bronzed, using green bronze for the background and portions of the group, while all the edges and prominent points should be of copper-colored bronze.
Early in November the many varieties of gourds ripen, and their odd and fantastic forms seem like nature’s suggestions of the unique in ornamentation. So suggestive are they that it needs but little originality to make them into many useful and beautiful articles. As a decoration for looping over the poles of portières, and for holding back draperies, these
Ornamental Gourds
are convenient. They must first be allowed to become perfectly dry; then they can be made into tasselled festoons. Take six mock-oranges, which imitate so closely our real oranges in color, size, and form, and cut a hole about the size of a silver dime in the top and bottom of each one; then shake out the seeds. To make the openings in the gourds, first bore a small hole with the point of a large needle, then twist the needle around and around until it will easily pass through. Next, carefully enlarge the opening with a sharp penknife until it is of the stated size. Make a rope two yards and a half long of Persian colored wools or worsted; on the end fasten a slender tassel, six or seven inches long, made of the same worsted; now string one of the bright orange-gourds on the rope down against the tassel, which should be large enough to prevent the gourd from slipping off; make another similar tassel, and attach it to the rope about twelve inches from the first one, and thread another gourd on the rope, bringing it down against the second tassel; proceed in like manner with the remaining gourds, making a tassel for each one, and you will have a decoration unlike any to be found elsewhere.
We are all more or less familiar with the
Gourd-Dippers
so common in the South, where, in olden times, scarcely a spring bubbled in a rustic nook that was not supplied with its drinking-gourd. These dippers are made by sawing an opening in the large part of the gourd, scraping out the contents, and making the inside as smooth as possible with sand-paper. They need no ornamentation.
The kind of gourds resembling flattened globes can be made into graceful and unique
Bowls.
The gourds must be sawed into two parts, with the inside of each sand-papered, and flowers painted, with oil-colors, on the outside. After they have thoroughly dried, give a coat of white varnish to both the inside and outside. A pretty
Bonbon-Box
can be fashioned of one of these gourds. Saw off the top, which will serve as a lid, and fasten it to the bowl with narrow ribbons tied through holes at the back of each; line both lid and box with satin by gluing it along the edges with stiff glue put on sparingly, and cover the raw edge of the satin with chenille; this is also put on with a little glue. Do not allow the chenille to interfere with the closing of the box, but place it along the inside edge of the box and lid.
Another form is the
Bottle-Gourd.
Ornament this with ivy-leaves painted as if twined around bowl and neck, and when the paint is dry varnish the gourd all over; if you wish it for use as well as decoration, saw off the top about two or three inches deep, shake out the seeds, then fit a cork in the piece cut off, and so glue it in that the cork may extend an inch downward to fit in the bottle.
The large egg-shaped gourds look well as
Vases.
Wire Twisted for Feet of Gourd-Vase. |
Foot Bent Down. |
Finished Wire Feet for Gourd-Vase. |
Select a deep-colored gourd, saw off the top and scrape out the inside; then varnish the vase and mount it on feet of twisted wire, made according to Fig. 134; bend down the feet, as in Fig. 135, when the wire will be formed into Fig. 136. To fasten this on the vase, first bore holes in the bottom of the gourd, then sew the feet firmly on, passing the needle through the holes previously made and bending the wire a little to fit to the gourd. Gild the wire feet, and your vase is finished. Another way is to save the top sawed off, fasten an ornament of twisted wire on the top of it, and then, after making the vase as the one just described, add bands of gilded cardboard made to fit the gourd, fastening them to the vase with glue. Handles can also be fashioned of cardboard and sewed to the upper band before it is glued to the vase, as in the illustration.
Ornamental and Useful Gourds.
There are many other ways of utilizing gourds, but we will leave it to your ingenuity to think up new and pretty conceits.
Pine-cones, large and small, acorns, and balls from the sweet-gum tree, can be used as
Small Decorations.
Never try to fasten them by the natural stems, for these will soon break off, but place in each one a small screw-eye, and when tied in groups they form ornaments for waste-baskets and fancy baskets of all kinds. We have seen chandeliers with gilded cones hanging from the different points, and being the identical color of the chandelier, they seemed of the same metal, and added novelty and grace to its appearance.
There are some varieties of the tree-fungi which make dark, rich-colored
Brackets.
Use heavy cardboard or thin board as a covering for the back; have this fit the fungus perfectly, and fasten it securely in position with very stiff glue or nails. Paint the back the same color as the fungus, and on either side of the upper edge place screw-eyes by which to fasten up the bracket.
Many of the curiously formed galls and oak-apples to be found on different trees can also be employed as ornaments.
Nothing can be finer than our brilliant autumn season, which is said to be more beautiful in this than in other countries, with its crisp mornings and bright sunny afternoons.
When the weather is too lovely to remain in-doors, and all nature invites us out, then is the time to gather our fall decorations.
The Little Brown Squirrel.
CHAPTER XIX.
NUTTING-PARTIES.
OFF they go with bright, laughing eyes and glowing cheeks, each one carrying a light little basket or fancy bag slung carelessly on her arm. The girls are full of life and spirits as they walk briskly along toward the woods in the delightful fall weather, talking and laughing in a happy, thoughtless fashion, now telling where the best nuts are to be found, the shortest route to take, or where the prettiest walks lead, and again lingering or stopping to admire the many wonderful beauties of autumn. Leaving the road they enter the woods, where the dry leaves rustle pleasantly beneath their feet, and in some places the gold and brown leaves through which they walk lie ankle-deep.
All this is fully enjoyed by the party as they proceed on their way discussing the best place for lunch, which consideration is quite important, as it is necessary, if possible, to be near a clear, cool spring; otherwise the water must be transported.
Arriving at the selected spot about noon, all bring forward their baskets and bags to contribute the contents to their “nutting-dinner.” Soon the white cloth is laid and the tempting feast spread, when the hungry but merry maidens gather around to relish their repast in the forest, where, all about, are seen sure signs of coming winter.
The airy dining-hall is carpeted with the softest moss, and the gorgeous coloring of the surrounding foliage is far more beautiful than the most costly tapestry, while the sky forming the roof is of the serenest blue.
Now and then the sound of falling nuts is heard as they drop from the trees. This is music in the ears of the girls, and they hurry through their lunch, collect the empty baskets, and are soon busy gathering the glossy brown chestnuts, which are thrashed down from the branches by some of the party, who use long poles for the purpose. Down comes the shower of nuts and burs, and away the party scamper to patiently wait until it is over, as the prickly burs are things to be avoided. Some wise girls have brought tweezers to use in pulling open these thorny coverings. Others have their hands well protected by heavy gloves which cannot easily be penetrated with the bristling spikes.
It does not take long to fill their bags, and the one who first succeeds in the feat receives the title of “Little Brown Squirrel.” Then all the others, for the rest of the day, obey her wishes. Nor is this difficult, for their Little Brown Squirrel is blithe and gay, generous and kind, and does all in her power to render her subjects happy.
As they turn their faces homeward the girls plan for another nutting-party to come off soon, for they wish to make the most of the glorious Indian summer, which belongs, we claim, exclusively to our country, and which may last a week or only a few days.
The chestnuts are brought home, where in the evening some are eaten raw, others have the shells slit and are then roasted or boiled, making a sort of chestnut festival, as in the North of Italy, only of course on a very much smaller scale, for there the peasants gather chestnuts all day long and have a merry-making when the sun goes down. This harvest lasts over three weeks and is a very important one to the dark-eyed Italians, who dry the nuts and grind them to flour, which is used for bread and cakes during the barren season. The harvest in the Apennines is quite an event, as the trees are plentiful, the fruit is good, and the people gladly celebrate the season.
Our thin, white-shelled shag-bark hickory-nut is peculiarly American, and many a nutting-party have found its delicate and agreeable flavor very welcome when, gathered around a large rock, they crack a few to sample their fruit before returning home. These nuts are only cooked by covering the kernels with hot candy, and thus prepared, they make a delicious sweetmeat.
Blossom and Fruit of the Chestnut-Tree.
When cracking hickory-nuts, hold each nut firmly by the flat sides, bringing uppermost one of the narrow sides; strike this and the nut will open so that the halves fall out, or may be easily extracted, and occasionally the kernels will come out whole. We have seen quaint little figures, with the heads made of hickory-nuts, the pointed end forming the nose, and the eyes and mouth marked with ink, giving a comical expression to the peaked face.
The neat little three-cornered beech-nut is easy and pleasant to gather, making a desirable change for the “nutters” after going for other kinds, and the trees with their beautiful foliage render the scene very attractive. But not more so than do the lofty and stately walnut-trees with their rich, brown fruit encased in such rough shells, whose outside covering is so juicy that, unless we are very cautious, it will stain our hands its own dark color. The black-walnut tree (J. nigra) is indigenous to the United States, and we are informed that a celebrated specimen is still standing at Roslyn, L. I., where the seed was planted in 1713. The tree measures twenty-five feet in circumference at three feet from the ground.
Butter-nuts, so significant during our civil war, also belong to America; the meat, though quite oily, is sweet and agreeable.
Butter-nuts will repay anyone for gathering them, though, like the walnut, the outer husk is apt to stain the fingers; but this may be avoided by wearing gloves while handling the fruit. The cross-sections of the shells, when properly polished, make pretty ornaments.
Although we are all fond of the round little hazel-nut, they do not seem to be as plentiful as could be wished, and it is seldom we have the pleasure of going hazel-nutting, yet when the opportunity occurs, it is rare sport and an event to be talked of afterward.
Nuts are to be found in all portions of the country, and the varieties depend upon the section in which you live.
Rules for Nutting-Parties.
1. In selecting the members of a nutting-party be careful to choose only those on whom you can safely depend for cheerfulness, kindly feeling, and a willingness on their part to do all in their power to assist, should occasion arise, in letting down the bars of a fence, going for water, or anything which might happen to require their services.
Pea-Nut Vine and Fruit.
2. Decide by majority any case of controversy in regard to destination, the best place and way of crossing a brook, which route to take, or in fact any question concerning the comfort and pleasure of the party, until the “Little Brown Squirrel” wins her title. Then she rules absolutely and settles all questions according to her best judgment, giving council and friendly advice to those who ask it. All differences being referred to her, the decision is considered final, and the party must obey when their Little Brown Squirrel directs.
3. The one who gathers the greatest quantity of nuts in a given time wins, and receives the above much-desired title. The standard of measure being previously decided upon by the party, the time may be either long or short, as desired.
4. The badge given to the successful competitor may consist of fall leaves or nuts tied with a brown ribbon. This she keeps in remembrance of the delightful day spent nutting in the woods when she was a Little Brown Squirrel.
Select, if possible, a day in Indian summer for your nutting-party, and it is well to wear a gown that will not easily tear, catch the dust, or spot—not that these accidents are always to be met with on such excursions, but they might happen, and we must be on the safe side, so that no thought or anxiety need be given to the clothing.
If your party contemplates a series of nutting-picnics, propose that they shall go for different varieties each time. This will add novelty and zest to the excursions; and should the distance in some cases be too great for a walk, secure a vehicle with a good reliable driver, and the ride will be particularly enjoyed. This mode of travelling procures another change in the programme, which should be as varied as you can make it. Let the plates for your dinner be of wood or paper, to avoid the necessity of carrying them home. A table-cloth made of large sheets of white paper is a good substitute for damask, and after doing service the paper may be thrown away, leaving your baskets entirely empty to be filled with nuts.
There grows a nut, highly prized, that is never gathered by nutting-parties. Nor could they see it if they examined every tree throughout the country. Yet it flourishes in this climate, and may be seen any day at the fruit-stores and corner-stands. The shells of these furnish odd fancies for little trifles made by girlish fingers. Cut in the shape of slippers and glued to a card, they seem suitable for a wood-nymph, and the card is used as a birthday or menu card. Strung together with needle and thread, and dressed in costume with black thread for hair, they make quite a good-looking Japanese.
Glued on a twig and marked with ink in representation of the birds, they look not unlike owls perched on a limb. When divided in halves the shells are transformed into tiny boats with tissue-paper sails. This nut boasts of four names: gouber, pindar, ground-nut, and the familiar name of pea-nut.
CHAPTER XX.
HOW TO MAKE A TELEPHONE.
HELLO! Hello! What is it you say? You can really make a telephone? What fun! How far will it work? You think it can be heard a long distance? Very good. Could we manage to construct such a one? How, pray tell us?
The answer which came back over the line we give in a more concise form, as follows:
The best way to make a simple telephone is to procure two round, medium-sized tin baking-powder boxes, and remove the bottoms with a pair of pinchers; then soak two pieces of Whatman’s drawing-paper, or any other strong paper, in a basin of water for a few moments, and when thoroughly wet take them out and place one smoothly over the end of each box. Fasten these down by winding a waxed cotton twine securely over the paper and box, and tying it tightly (Fig. 137). This done, allow the drums to become wholly dry, when they should be firm, even, and without wrinkles. Next cut away that portion of the paper which stands out, frill-like, beyond the string, and paste a narrow strip of paper around over the twine (Fig. 138). Wax a piece of string of the desired length, and with a large needle or pin carefully punch a hole in the centre of each drum; thread one end of the waxed string through one of the holes and make a large knot in the end, then cautiously pull the string until the knot rests on the inside surface of the paper. Connect the other box to the string in like manner, so that the twine will have a box fastened on each end.
The telephone is now ready for use; and if the distance is short, the line may be stretched taut from point to point. But should the space be great, supports will be needed and loops must be made of the twine and fastened at intervals on trees, corners of the houses, or any available points, with the connecting cord passed through these loops (Fig. 139), which act as supports. Keep the course of the waxed string as straight as possible, and, as far as practicable, avoid sharp angles. This style of telephone we know, from personal experience, works perfectly at the distance of fifty yards, and doubtless it will do as well when the line is stretched much farther. Be particular, in selecting the tin baking-powder boxes, to have them round and even; if they are old and battered the experiment may not prove satisfactory. We find the telephone very useful and convenient, besides affording any amount of amusement and fun; with its aid we converse with acquaintances, even though they be at a distance. The friendly little instrument carries the voice all along the slender line to the very ears of our best friend, and we can chat away as freely and almost as easily as if side by side. What a comfort to be able, when seated in your own room, to listen to the voice of some companion, living perhaps blocks away, and it is such a pleasure, too, to have questions answered immediately, which is impossible in communications made by letter. Nor is this a pleasure to be enjoyed at rare intervals, for as long as the telephone lasts it can be used at any time for a short or long talk, as one may feel inclined. The consultations, the plans, the sport, and merriment to be had with the telephone can scarcely be appreciated by one who is not the happy possessor of such an instrument.
Listening.
When the weather will not permit of a walk or a visit, the telephone brings us, if not face to face, at least within speaking distance of those to whom we desire to talk.
There are many other easy methods of making telephones. They can be manufactured as described without waxing the string, or the boxes may be used unaltered, in which case the tin bottoms serve as drums, and the holes for the string are made in the centre of each by driving a small tack through. With these instruments the voice cannot be sent a great distance, but when only a short line is needed they succeed very well.
More complicated telephones are made with the drums of bladder and the line of soft, flexible wire. Though good and serviceable, they are more difficult to make and require more time and labor.
Speaking.
The two beef-bladders used for such a telephone must first be blown up, tied, and left about thirty hours, or until they are stretched, but not dried. When in proper condition, cut off the necks and portion of the ends, then soak them in warm water, and they will become very pliable and light in color. Having previously prepared two square pieces of board by very carefully cutting out a perfect circle in the centre of each, about as large as a medium-sized pie-pan or a tea-plate, place the bladders smoothly but not tightly over the openings, allowing the outside of the bladder to come on the bottom, and fasten it all around the circle, a little distance from the edge, with tacks so driven in that they may be easily removed.
Try the drums with your finger; if they stretch evenly they are correct, if they wrinkle, change them until they stretch perfectly smooth. Then tack a piece of firm tape securely around the edge of the circle, and cut off the bladder reaching beyond the tape. Next fasten four feet of soft, flexible wire to a large-sized gutta-percha button by threading it through the two opposite holes in the centre of the button; pass the other end of the wire through the middle of the bladder, bringing the button flat against its surface.
After attaching a weight of about seven pounds to the end of the wire, place the drum in the sun until perfectly dry. Proceed with the other in the same manner, and when both are well dried, fasten one on each end of the line and attach the drum-wires to the principal wire by loops; then stretch it firm and tight. This telephone will also need loops for supports, which should be of wire. When the instrument is carefully and properly made it will carry the voice three or four miles or more, giving every word and tone distinctly and clearly.
CHAPTER XXI.
HOW TO DRAW.[E]
WOULD you like to learn to draw, to sketch from nature? Don’t you think that it would be delightful to be able to take out your pencils and paper and copy some scene you want to remember, or produce a likeness of any bird or animal which strikes your fancy?
Many will say, “I’d like it very well, but I can’t draw.”
You can write, can hold a pencil, and trace lines upon the paper; and if you can do this, you can draw a little. A girl who can learn anything can learn to draw if she will give the same attention to it that she gives to other things.
Now we are not going to talk about copying pictures which someone else has already drawn, for there is not much satisfaction in making imitations of other people’s work; it is much more gratifying to make the original drawings ourselves; but to do this we need some direction.
The reason it is easier to copy a picture than to draw the real object is because the lines to be copied are all laid out on the flat surface of the picture; but to draw the object we must find out where to trace the lines for ourselves.
For instance, suppose we are to draw a flower-pot and plant. If we have the picture before us, we can readily see where all the lines are placed upon the paper, but in viewing a real plant and pot we are apt to become confused in trying to discover the directions and proportions of the lines.
Therefore we must learn to see things as they appear, not as they really are. This may seem strange to you, because one is apt to think that a thing must appear as it is; but let us look into the matter.
We will take a square box (Fig. 140). Now, we know that all the sides are the same size, that the top is as large as the side, and that one side is as large as another; but if you try to draw it so, you will find it impossible, because, although you know that the top and sides are the same size as the front, they do not look so, and you draw things as they look, not as they really are.
What would our cube look like if we tried to make the sides K and H just like the side I? Why, like Fig. 141. Don’t you see that would be no box at all?
Take another example. We all know that a man’s leg is longer than his arm, but it doesn’t always appear so. Measure the arms and legs of Fig. 142, and you will see by actual measurement the arms are longer than the legs, and yet it looks right, because the legs are projected toward you; in other words, the legs are fore-shortened.
The great secret of drawing from nature is to train the eye to see a real object just like a picture.
Now let us return to our flower-pot again. We will suppose we are drawing from a real flower-pot and plant. We determine how large we will make our sketch, and begin operations by drawing a vertical line (a straight upright line). Along this line we will mark out the proportions of the plant and pot, as in Fig. 143.
We may easily discover that the plant is longer than the pot. This can be done by holding the pencil upright before the eye at arm’s length, as in Fig. 144, so that it will cover the pot, and measuring by the thumb the height of the pot, then raising the arm so as to cover the plant, and comparing the measurement of the pot with the plant. The lines drawn from the eye (Fig. 144) show how the pencil makes the measurement on the object.
After settling the question of the height of the flower-pot and plant, we will mark the measurements on the line. And now we will draw in the pot, leaving the straight line through its centre.
On observing the plant we will see that it is not exactly straight, and here again the straight line will be of assistance.
By holding up our pencil, which represents the straight line, we will discover that the main stem of the plant leans considerably to the left. Guided by the line, we can get the curve of the stem about right. Now we sketch the stem. Along the straight line we again measure the distance from the top of each leaf and flower to the pot, as in Fig. 145. We can see several leaves, each reaching a certain height. Observing the same plan of measurement, we find that the top of the lowest leaf is about the same height from the pot as the height of the pot itself, and again from the top of the lowest leaf to the top of the plant measures the same distance.
By drawing another vertical line just touching the right side of the pot, we find that it touches the extreme edge of the leaf. Thus we find the exact situation of the leaf. By the same method we find the right places for the other leaves and flowers, and after we know just where they belong, we draw them in, and find that we have produced a very creditable outline from nature.
We need not confine ourselves to one or two guiding lines in sketching an object; in fact, we may use as many straight lines as will help us to get the correct proportions; not only vertical and horizontal lines, but slanting lines will also assist us in most cases.
The sketch of a dog (Fig. 146) will give an idea of the way to employ all lines necessary in sketching from nature. A few words will be all that is necessary to explain this illustration.
There lies the dog on the floor, and we seat ourselves at a little distance from it with pencil and paper. We will start off with a horizontal line (A); then we can form some idea as to whether the little dog lies along a straight line, or in case the bottom line slants, how much it slants. Then draw the vertical line (B E). Now suppose we hold our pencil upright, in such a position as to touch the back of the knee-joint of the foreleg, we will find that it passes through the middle of the dog’s back, as represented by the line (B E); so we have found the places for these parts.
Another horizontal line (C D) drawn above the first will touch just over the right eye, pass through the middle of the left ear, through the middle of the neck, cut off the foreleg, and run along the top of the two hind legs, passing through the knee of the left one. This will show us that the top of the right eye, the ear, and the top of both hindlegs are on a line. It will also help us to get the proportions above and below the line; then by drawing a line from D to the point F on the horizontal line A, we find that the lower edges of the left hind and fore legs are on the same line, which, if extended a little farther down, will touch the edge of the dog’s mouth. With these lines to guide us we cannot go far astray in our proportions.
One of the chief difficulties in following this method of drawing from nature is to hold our measuring-stick exactly vertical or horizontal. This difficulty can be overcome by providing yourself with a T-square (Fig. 147) and attaching to it, at the point P, a string with a weight tied on the other end so that it will hang plumb. By using this we can be sure whether we hold it straight or not, for in case we tip it too much on one side or the other the string will swerve from the middle of the upright stick. Of course, whenever we hold the T-square perfectly straight, the string will fall straight down the middle of the upright, and the top of the T will then give us a true horizontal line. A little thought and practice will lead you to thoroughly understand this method, and when you really understand it you will have an unerring guide to assist you. Of course, as the eye and hand become more trained, with practice and observation, the work will become easier, and you will not need the T-square.
In beginning the practice of drawing from nature, we had better confine our first efforts to things that will stand still, for without a practised hand it will be almost impossible to sketch a restless subject; but if we attempt to do so, we should follow the methods before taught as nearly as possible.
Now, suppose we step out of doors in search of something to sketch. The first moving object our eyes rest upon is a goose, and we decide to use him as a model.
But he is so restless, will not keep still an instant. First we have a front view, then a side view, and again he turns his back upon us. If we really must have his picture, the only way is to catch him and tie him up.
Yet even now he is a difficult subject, twisting and turning, and bobbing his head about. Determined on sketching him, however, we observe the position in which he remains the longest time, or assumes oftenest, and begin our work.
We first note the general proportions. Is his body as thick as it is long? Is his neck as long as his body? Are his legs nearest the head or tail? Is the head as long as the neck? What part reaches the highest, or what part the lowest? We hastily but carefully consider these questions and determine in our own mind the answers, for we must get an idea of the proportions before we begin our sketch.
Now we draw a horizontal line along our paper, and then hold up our pencil horizontally, so that it will answer for a straight line drawn across the body of the real goose (Fig. 148). This will represent the horizontal line on the paper. Noticing then the directions the outlines of the goose take from the horizontal line (represented by the pencil), we sketch them in on the paper, remembering that one of the most important things is to get the right directions of the lines.
Observe that in Fig. 149 the line G is directed to too high a point, and makes the body too thick and out of proportion.
In sketching it is best to make all lines straight instead of curves, for in this way we are more likely to get the right directions. Our first rough sketch of the goose ought to have something of the appearance of Fig. 150, and as we work it up more carefully it will become as nicely rounded as we could desire.
One of the most common faults a beginner is apt to commit is to try to do too much, either by choosing too great a subject, such as a large landscape, or by putting too many little things into the composition. Take care of the large things, and the little things will take care of themselves.
If our subject be a clump of trees at some distance, we should not attempt to draw in separate leaves, but endeavor to get the true shape of the tree, simply indicating the leaves by a few lines. Neither must we attempt, in our first sketches, to put in all the shadows we see; the strong principal ones are all that are necessary. A background of hills and trees should be merely suggested by a few lines, because the light striking upon them gives a very light appearance.
Draw as simply as possible. Ten pictures are spoiled by putting in too much work, where one is spoiled by too little.
Don’t be discouraged. Every effort will show improvement, if you really put your mind and heart in your work. As for
Materials,
a sheet of drawing-paper, a No. 2 lead-pencil, and a piece of soft rubber are all you really need to commence with. Later it will be well to have a drawing-pad and several more pencils.
CHAPTER XXII.
HOW TO PAINT IN WATER-COLORS.
THERE is a certain charm in water-color painting—a charm distinctly its own—which lies, as Penley says, “in the beauty and truthfulness of its aerial tones.” Without this quality a water-color, as a water-color, is a failure.
This transparency of effect does not depend alone upon the manner of painting or the colors employed, but much rests with the paper we use. In the days when our mothers and grandmothers were taught painting at school, the finest, smoothest cardboard was thought necessary; but we have since learned that the flat, smooth paper tends decidedly toward producing a flat, smooth effect in the picture painted upon it, while the rough, uneven surface of the paper now in use helps to produce depth and atmosphere. Therefore it is always best to have rough paper to paint upon. We give below the
Materials for Water-Color Painting.
1. A block of rough drawing or water-color paper.
It is better to buy it in blocks than by the sheet, as it is much more easily handled, and is always ready for use.
2. Brushes. The best brushes are made of sable, and although costing more to begin with, it is really more economical to purchase them than to choose the less expensive camel’s-hair; for the sable are by far the most satisfactory, and will last much longer. Three or four brushes are sufficient. As Devoe & Co. number them, they should range between No. 3, which is small enough for ordinary painting, and No. 19, for clouds, backgrounds, etc.
3. Colors. A tin sketching-box of moist colors, which also contains a palette, is very useful, but the colors can be bought separately in tubes or pans.
Water-color painting seems by its qualities to be especially adapted to flowers and landscapes, and as this is to be a chapter, not a book, on water-colors, we will confine ourselves to the principal points to be observed in these two departments, and will commence with the
Flowers.
Few oil-paintings, however well executed, give the delicate, exquisite texture of a flower as nearly as water-colors. The semitransparency of a rose-petal, the juicy, translucent green of the young leaf, it is difficult to truthfully represent in other than these colors, whose essential quality is transparency. To preserve this transparency of color, everything about the painting must be kept exceedingly neat. The brushes must be thoroughly washed before using them for a different tint from that already upon them, and plenty of water, changed frequently, is necessary.
Having arranged your materials conveniently upon a table, place your paper so that it will lie at an angle slanting toward you, not perfectly flat upon the table; this can be done by putting books under the edge farthest from you, thus raising it up. Stand the flowers you wish to copy in such a position that the light will fall upon them only from one direction and produce decided shadows; the effect will then be much better than when the light is more diffused.
Always arrange your model exactly as you want to paint it, and leave nothing to your idea of how it ought to look. If you do not intend to have any background other than the white paper, place something white behind your flowers. If you want a colored background, arrange the color you have chosen behind the flowers, and paint it as you see it. Commence your work by sketching lightly, as correctly and rapidly as you can, the outline of your flower. Try something simple at first; say a bunch of heart’s-ease or pansies, and when drawing them try to get the character of both flower and leaf. Observe how the stem curves where it is attached to the flower, and at what angles the stems of the flowers and the leaves join the main stalk. Given character, an outline drawing painted in flat tints will closely resemble nature; without it, the most beautifully finished painting will not look like the flower it is intended to represent.
When your outline is drawn in, dip your largest brush in clear water, and go over the whole surface of your paper, then place a piece of blotting-paper over the paper to soak up the water, leaving it simply damp, not wet.
If you are using tube colors, have ready on a porcelain palette, or ordinary dinner-plate, these colors: crimson lake, cobalt blue, indigo, Prussian blue, and gamboge. Put in your lightest tints first, leaving the white paper for the highest light; then paint in your darker tints and shadows, and get the effect.
If your flower is what we call the johnny-jump-up, the lowest petal will be yellow. Paint this in with a light wash of gamboge, leaving, as we have said, the white paper for touches of high light. The two upper petals will probably be a deep claret-color; this is made by mixing crimson lake and cobalt blue, the crimson lake predominating. The two central petals may be a bluish lavender, and this color is made by mixing a little crimson lake with cobalt blue. Use plenty of water; but do not let it run, and keep the colors of the petals distinct.
Paint the stems and leaves, where they are a rich green, with a mixture of gamboge and Prussian blue, and where they appear gray as the light touches them, a pale wash of indigo will give the desired effect.
Keep your shadows broad and distinct, and your tints as flat as you can. Leave out details altogether in your first paintings, and add them afterward only when you can do so without spoiling the effect.
When a tinted background is desired, put it in quickly in a flat tint, before commencing the flowers. It is best not to bring the tint quite up to the outline, as a narrow edge of white left around the flower gives a pleasant, sketchy look to the painting.
Landscapes.
In your first studies from nature keep to simple subjects, and treat them simply, without any attempt at elaboration. Choose, for instance, a picturesque corner of an old fence, with perhaps a bit of field and sky for the background. Sketch in the principal features in the foreground in outline, and indicate the horizon, if it comes in the picture.
Penley says, in his “System of Water-Color Painting,” “White paper is too opaque to paint upon without some wash of color being first passed over it,” and he recommends a thin wash of yellow ochre and brown madder, which should be put all over the surface of the paper except on the high lights in the foreground, which are best left crisp and white.
Notwithstanding what Penley says in this matter, it must be borne in mind that some artists do not believe in successive washes, but claim that the color desired should be put upon the white paper at once.
If the yellow tint is used, let it become quite dry and then wash it over with a large brush and clean water; then, as in the flower painting, soak up the water with blotting-paper; the blotting-paper must also be quite clean. While the paper is damp, not wet, begin with a blue tint—a light wash of cobalt will give it—and put in the sky in a flat tint; bring the same color down all over your sketch except in the high lights. The blue tint gives atmosphere and distance. Let your paper again become quite dry, and then wash it over as before, in clear water.
The process of laying on color and lightly washing over it afterward should be repeated several times, “and the result will be a transparent aerial tone.”
Keep your extreme distance bluish, your middle distance warmer in tone, but not too strong, and the principal objects in your foreground strong.
Leave out small objects, and with light and shade seek to obtain the effect.
Keep your colors pure or your sketch will be dull.
Contrast has much to do in producing strength and character. Phillips says that, “in aiming at opposition of color, we must select that which gives force to the foreground, and consequently communicates the appearance of air in the distance. Thus, if the general tone of the light be warm and yellow, we should have blues and purples in the foreground; if the lights be cool, reds and yellows in the foreground give atmosphere to distance, as neither of these colors in a positive state is found in the middle or remote distance.”
The three principal contrasts are blue opposed to orange, red to green, and yellow to purple; and “a good first lesson in sketching in color will be to put in your shadows with color opposite to the object in light; and by carrying out this principle of opposition throughout the scale you will obtain an endless variety of contrasts.” It is the general rule in most painting to have cool shadows to warm lights, and warm shadows to cool lights. We all know that a green picture is very disagreeable, and although a green field is green, it must not be made intensely so. An untrained eye will not see how nature tones down the vivid color with shadows, and softens it with the atmosphere; but when the eye has learned to look at nature in the right way this difficulty will be overcome. Howard says, “green must be sparingly used, even in landscapes, whose greatest charm consists of vegetation.”
Foliage in some form will present itself in almost every landscape, and it is therefore necessary to have a few general principles to guide you in this important feature. In sketching trees be sure to get the character of their trunks, limbs, branches, and general form; also the texture of the bark, rough or smooth. You will see that the foliage appears in layers, one above another. Sketch in the outlines of the principal layers, where they are tipped with light; then go over the whole tree with a local color, and afterward separate the light from shadow. Each mass is edged with light, while its base is in shadow, as a rule. Omit details, and keep to your masses of light and shade. If your tree is in the foreground, leave the white paper for crisp touches of high light. The tone of your fence will probably be gray, but do not take it for granted that it is all gray; look for other colors, and you will find brown, blue, green, and sometimes red. Put these in as you see them, letting the edges melt into each other, as they will do when the paper is damp; but have each color pure, and do not try to mix them.
Painting from Notes
is not as difficult as one might imagine. With a little practice it is easily learned. The following directions will tell how to paint a sunset on the meadows, from notes made at sunset on the meadows on Long Island.
How to Paint a Sunset in Water-Colors.
Take a piece of Whatman’s rough drawing-paper, or a kind that is termed egg-shell cartoon, the size decided upon for your picture. Have ready a large dish of clean water, brushes, and paints. Draw a pencil-line along the centre of your paper for your horizon, Fig. 151; then directly on the line paint a streak of vermilion. Put the color on quite damp, and make it about half an inch broad, extending one-fourth of an inch on either side of the horizon-line, Fig. 152. Next, quickly paint a yellow streak above and below the red one, making each streak of the same size and parallel, and leaving a little white paper between the different colors, Fig. 153. With a clean brush dipped in clean water carefully moisten the paper between the streaks, and allow the edges of the colors to mingle, Fig. 154. Before this has time to dry, paint a blue streak above and below, about half an inch from the yellow, Fig. 155; then with the clean brush dampen the white paper between, being careful not to get it too wet; there should be just enough moisture to enable the colors to flow and mingle at the edges, Fig. 156. This may be aided by holding the paper first one side up and then the other, until the edges are evenly blended. Now, before the horizon is quite dry, while it is still damp enough to cause the paint to spread, fill a brush with Payne’s gray, which should be rather dark and not too wet, touch the point of your brush here and there along the horizon, now a little above and now a little below, and you will find that the paint will spread and make excellent trees for the distance, Fig. 157.
When your work is dry enough to paint over without spreading the color, mix some green and black, and green and brown; paint in the meadow, using the color made of green and black for the extreme and middle distance, the color made of green and brown for the foreground, leaving spaces for streams and ponds, and your sunset upon the meadow is finished. A pretty little sketch it is, too, Fig. 158.
Leaf from an Artist’s Note-Book.
A different composition can be made by proceeding as directed as far as Fig. 156 and then, instead of putting in trees on the horizon, hills running to points in the water can be painted in a flat tint with the Payne’s gray, and a vessel with masts painted in the foreground, as in Fig. 159. This also makes a pretty and effective little sketch.
Fig. 160 shows sunset notes taken while aboard a ferryboat in the winter of 1886-87. From these you can see just how the notes are made; but you must make your own notes, because what is perfectly intelligible to the writer of the sunset memoranda is an enigma to another person. For example, in Fig. 160, “Rose-tinted sky” may mean almost any shade of red, or blue and red mixed, but “Rose-tinted sky” no doubt brings before the mind’s eye of the writer of the notes the exact color of the sky at the time the notes were made.
A Study in Oil.
CHAPTER XXIII.
HOW TO PAINT IN OIL-COLORS.
THE difference between oil- and water-color painting lies in the fact that, although especially well adapted to the portrayal of some subjects, water-color has its limitations, while with oil-colors any subject, from the simplest study in still-life to the grandest conception of a great artist, can be represented, and no limit has yet been reached in its possibilities.
But there are first steps to be taken in all things, and the greatest artist who ever lived had to make a beginning and learn the preliminaries of painting before he could produce a picture. To these steps, then, we will turn our attention, and the first will be the necessary
Materials.
The following list of colors, with their combinations, will be found sufficient for most purposes.
| YELLOWS. | REDS. | BLUES. | GREENS. |
| Yellow Ochre, | Vermilion, | Permanent Blue, | Terre Verte, |
| Naples Yellow, | Light Red, | Cobalt, | Emerald Green, |
| Light Cadmium, | Indian Red, | Antwerp Blue. | Light Zinnober Green. |
| Orange Cadmium. | Venetian Red, | ||
| Burnt Sienna, | Rose Madder. | ||
| Silver White, | Raw Umber, | Vandyke Brown, | Ivory Black. |
Winsor & Newton’s colors are acknowledged by most artists to be the best, but the writer personally prefers German white, as in her opinion it is not so stiff, and mixes better with other colors than the Winsor & Newton.
The Easel
may be simply a pine one, which can be purchased from any dealer at the cost of about one dollar. More elaborate easels are, of course, more expensive; but as the merits of a picture do not depend upon the easel which holds it, a common pine one will do.
The Palette
should be light in weight and not too small; oiled and not varnished. A very light-colored wood is not desirable; one of walnut or cedar, about eighteen inches long, is the best to use, and will cost from thirty to sixty cents.
Brushes,
both of sable and bristles, are used, but we would advise a beginner to work with bristle brushes only, for the first attempt should be to obtain a broad style of painting, without the finished details which the sable brushes are used for.
About four different sizes of flat bristle brushes are needed to commence with; there should be two of each size, the largest one inch wide, and the smallest not more than a quarter of an inch in width.
The Palette-Knife
is used for taking up color on the palette, for cleaning the palette, and sometimes for scraping a picture after its first painting. It should be flexible, but not too limber. The cost will be from twenty-five cents upward.
Oil-Cups
are fastened on to the palette, and are used for oil and turpentine. The double ones range in price from eight cents to twenty. The single ones, without cover, can be bought for five cents.
A Paint-Box
for holding colors, palette, and brushes will cost from one dollar and twenty-five cents up. It is convenient to have one, and necessary when going out sketching, but for painting at home any kind of tin box will answer for the paints. The palette can be hung up, and the brushes put in a vase or jar, handles downward, which will keep them nicely.
Mediums.
Boiled linseed-oil or poppy-oil, siccatif Courtray, and turpentine.
Canvas.
In selecting canvas choose that of a warm-gray or creamy tone, for it is difficult to give warmth to a picture painted on a cold-gray canvas. The German sketching-canvas is quite cheap, and does very well to commence on. It is best to buy it on the stretcher, as a girl’s fingers are seldom strong enough to stretch the canvas as tight as it should be. A very good sketching-canvas, 18 × 24, can be bought in New York City for twenty-five cents.
Several clean pieces of old white cotton-cloth are necessary for wiping brushes, cleaning knife and palette, etc.
The Light
in the studio, or room in which you paint, should come from one direction only, and fall from above. This can be managed by covering the lower sash of the window with dark muslin, or anything that will shut out the light. A shawl will answer for a temporary curtain.
Most artists prefer that while painting the light should come from behind over the left shoulder.
Our advice to beginners in all the departments of art is the same: commence with simple subjects.
Your first study should be from still-life (which means any inanimate object used for artistic study), and let the object selected be of a shape that requires but little drawing; for your aim now is to learn to handle your colors, and it is not desirable to have your mind distracted by complicated drawing. A vase placed on a piece of drapery, which is also brought up to form the background, is a good subject; the drapery should be of one color, and of a tone that will contrast agreeably with the vase and give it prominence.
Arrange whatever object you have decided to paint so that it will show decided masses of light and shade; place your easel at a sufficient distance from it to obtain the general effect of shape and color without seeing too much detail; arrange your canvas on the easel so that you will neither have to look up nor down upon it, but straight before you; then sketch in the object you are about to copy in outline. Observe the edges of the heaviest shadows, and draw them also in outline. Charcoal is better than a pencil for sketching on canvas, as it can be easily rubbed off with a clean cloth if the drawing is incorrect. When the sketch is finished, dust off the charcoal lightly and go over the lines again with a camel’s-hair brush and India ink.
Setting the Palette
is a term used for arranging the colors in a convenient manner upon the palette. The colors should always occupy the same position, so that, the places once learned, you will never be at a loss to find the color you want. Fig. 161 shows a convenient arrangement of colors, as well as the position of the oil-cans.
Fig. 161.—Manner of Arranging Colors on Palette.
Fill one of your oil-cans one-third full of turpentine, to which add enough siccatif Courtray to turn it the color of strong coffee. Dip one of your good-sized brushes in this mixture and scrape it off on the edge of the can, that the brush may not be too wet; then take up some burnt sienna on the brush and put it on your palette about an inch or so below the terre verte, add some terre verte, and mix the two with your brush. Lay in all the shadows of the vase, or whatever object you are about to paint, in a flat, even tone with the color thus formed, keeping it thin with the turpentine and siccatif.
Mix a tint as near the required color as you can, and go over the whole background without regard to light or shade; cover all the background; do not leave any white or bare canvas showing.
The general effect being thus obtained, it is easier to see what colors are needed for further painting.
Select a medium tint between the high lights and half-tones, and paint in the lights of the vase in a flat, even tint; then go over the shadows again with a medium tone, still keeping them in one flat, even mass. Should you lose the outline at any time, dip a rag in turpentine and wash off the paint that covers it.
Having progressed this far, the painting should be left to dry.
The turpentine and siccatif Courtray have such drying properties that by the next day you may work again on the study.
Begin the second painting by putting in the half-tints. These unite the decided light and shade, and should be dragged over their edges, but not blended with them. Once more go over the shadows, strengthening them and putting in the reflected lights.
Add more color in the lights where it is needed, and put in the high lights with clear, crisp touches. Work on your background in this second painting. Indicate the shadows, but do not make them strong, except the one which will probably be cast by the object; that can be strengthened, as it helps to set the object out from the background and gives the idea of space. Do not make the background strong; keep it toned down, that it may not become too prominent. Drag the background a little over the edges of the vase, or whatever it may be you are painting, and then paint over it again with the colors of the vase. Do this while working around the edges of the vase, or object, to prevent its looking flat, as if it were pasted on.
These directions are to be applied to painting any subject; but after you have learned how to manage the colors and wish to really paint a picture, the medium must be changed from turpentine and siccatif Courtray to oil, either linseed or poppy, using the turpentine only for the first effect of shadow.
When oil is used it will require two or three days for the picture to dry. Many advise the use of but little oil, and there are artists who dissapprove of any medium at all.
Before commencing the second painting, a coating of poppy-oil should be put all over the canvas with a large, flat camel’s-hair brush. Every bit should be covered without touching the brush twice to the same spot. This softens the first coat of paint sufficiently to allow of its blending with the next. If a raw potato be cut in half and rubbed over the painting before the oil is put on, it will prevent the oil from crawling, or separating into drops on the canvas.
Do not use the same brushes for dark and light tints, but keep them separate. Mix your tints on your palette, the dark tint below the dark colors, and the light tint below the light colors.
In putting away your work after painting, be sure that the tops are screwed on to all your color-tubes, and arrange them neatly in their box. Clean your palette with the palette-knife, and then wipe it off with a rag. Dip your brushes, one by one, in turpentine and wipe them on a rag; this removes most of the paint and makes them easier to wash. Warm, not hot, water should be used for washing the brushes. The best way is to hold several brushes in the right hand, their sticks being in an upright position, dip them in the water, rub them on a piece of common soap, and then scrub them round and round on the palm of the left hand; rinse them in clear water, and wipe dry with a clean rag.
Our limited space will not allow of our going more fully into the details of painting; but we hope that these directions will give some idea of how to make a beginning as a painter in oil-colors, and after you have made a start you will find two good professors at your elbow to help you along and encourage you—Prof. Judgment and Prof. Experience.
CHAPTER XXIV.
HOW TO MODEL IN CLAY AND WAX.
AN eminent artist once remarked within the writer’s hearing that, should he bring into his studio the first dozen boys he happened to meet on the street, taking them as they came, he would probably be able to teach at least half of them to model within six months, whereas there might not be one of them who could be taught to paint at all. Possibly none of these boys would ever become great sculptors, but they could learn to model moderately well. If that is the case with boys, who are apt to be so awkward and clumsy, how quickly could a girl’s deft fingers learn to mould and form the plastic clay or wax into life-like forms. In some of the institutions for the blind, deaf and dumb, modelling is taught with great success. Quickly the sensitive fingers of the young inmates run over the object to be copied, and skilfully they reproduce in their clay the form conveyed to them by touch alone. It is pleasant to think that these silent little workers have this new pleasure added to their somewhat limited stock; but at the same time the fact puts to shame some of us who, having all our faculties, the use of all our senses, and not infrequently artistic ability in addition, do so little with the talents intrusted to our care.
Let us to work then, girls, and see if we cannot accomplish at least as much as our unfortunate sisters, who have neither sight nor hearing to guide them.
Modelling in Clay.
The great difficulty we encounter in learning to draw—which is representing things as they appear, not as they really are—will not trouble us in this other department of art, for in modelling it must be our aim to do precisely the reverse, and reproduce an object exactly as it is, not as it appears.
Modelling, besides its own worth, is of value as an aid to drawing, for it teaches form, and the shadows on an object can be drawn more intelligently and correctly when it is known just what formations produce them.
A great deal can be done in modelling without the aid of a teacher. So, not waiting to look up a professor, suppose we commence by ourselves and see what we can do. It is very fascinating work, and if a few failures are the result of our first attempt, we need not be discouraged, for what others can do, we also can accomplish.
The writer has lately been initiated into the mysteries of this art, and since, as they say, the person just graduated from a primary department is best fitted to teach in that department, perhaps the hints given here may be better suited to the understanding of beginners than if they were written by a great sculptor, who might forget that everyone does not know, as well as he does himself, the preliminary steps necessary even in accomplishing the grandest results.
Modelling Tools
Instead of entering into the later and more artistically finished processes we will confine ourselves to the prelude or introduction to modelling; and then, girls, with the object before you, your only guide and instructor, you must work out the rest for yourselves.
The first thing to do is to provide your
Materials,
and here is a list of all you will need:
1. Clay, such as is used by potters, perfectly free from grit.
2. Modelling-tools. These can be bought at any artists’ material store, and the simplest ones might be made at home of hard wood. Only a few tools are necessary for a beginner; Fig. 162 shows those most useful. The fingers and thumbs are the best of all tools, and a great deal can be done with them, though for fine, delicate modelling tools must be used.
3. Modelling-stand. A regular modelling-stand with rotary platform will cost from eight to twelve dollars and the expense may be an objection; but the writer has found that an ordinary high office-stool with revolving seat makes a good substitute. If the stool is not high enough it can be raised by placing on the seat a drawing- or pastry-board, and on top of that a square wooden box about one foot high and broad enough to allow sufficient room for a good-sized head and bust.
4. Basin of water and towel for washing and drying the hands.
How to Manage Clay.
Clay costs, near New York, from one to three cents per pound, and about fifty pounds will be required. If possible buy it moist, but if dry, put it into an earthenware jar, or anything that will hold water, and cover with clear water. Let it remain until thoroughly moistened; then with a stick stir the clay around as, when a small girl, you did the mud while making mud-pies, until it is free from lumps and is perfectly smooth; clear away from the sides of the jar and pile it up in the centre.
When it is dry enough not to be muddy and is still pliable, it is in a fit condition to work with. It is necessary to keep your hands perfectly clean and conveniences for washing them should be handy.
Do not use muddy water or a dusty towel.
Use any tools that will produce the result desired with the greatest ease; a little experience will soon determine what they are, but as a rule the largest are best.
When leaving unfinished work cover it with a damp cloth to keep it moist. If you are working on a head, and the features have been commenced, stick a small wooden tool in the head just above the forehead to hold the cloth away from the face, for it is liable to soften the nose and push it out of shape if it rests upon it.
A frame made of laths (Fig. 163) covered with oil-cloth or rubber (an old gossamer water-proof will be just the thing), placed over the modelling, will keep it better than the cloth, as it excludes the air and prevents its drying (Fig. 164). When using the frame, sprinkle your work by dipping a clean whisk-broom into water and shaking it over the clay. Remember, the clay must always be kept moist and pliable and never allowed to dry. If it does become dry and hard there is nothing to do but to put it back into the jar, and go through the process of damping it again.
Keep your tools clean, and do not allow the metal ones to become rusty, as they will if carelessly left on the modelling-stand when not in use. To avoid trouble of this kind it is best to put your tools in a box where they will be perfectly dry. Unless you wish to go through one of the writer’s first experiences, when she was obliged to let her tools lie in a pan of kerosene oil for two days, and then clean them with knife-brick.
How to Preserve Modelled Clay.
If terra-cotta clay is used, it can be baked in a kiln, which will, while hardening, turn it a fine buff terra-cotta color, and make the object, if well modelled, ornamental enough for almost any use.
From the other clay, plaster casts can be taken, and the article reproduced in plaster as many times as desired.
Hints for Modelling a Head.
Always work from a model, and it is best to try copying plaster casts before attempting to model from life.
How to Model a Head.
Place on the centre of your stand a wooden or tin box (a cigar-box will do) to form the base; cover this with clay in the form of Fig. 165, and stick a support in the middle, as shown in diagram. The support may be a piece of kindling-wood eight inches long and about one inch thick.
Build up the clay around this stick, as in Fig. 166, and with your hands mould the clay, piecing it out here, and cutting off there, until it bears some resemblance to a head, as in Fig. 167.
Still using your hands, get the general proportions of the head, and then commence the features. Begin with the profile, using tools when necessary, and try for character without detail; then turn the head a little and work from that point of view; always look at your model from the same point of view as you do your work. Turn the head in the opposite direction and model the other side, keeping the face evenly balanced. Continue turning your work little by little, until each outline it presents is as near as you can get like the corresponding outline of your model, and then work up the detail.
In modelling any object the same process, of viewing the model from all points, must be gone through with.
Do not strive to obtain a likeness at first, but be careful to have all of your outlines correct, and the likeness will come of itself.
How to Model in Wax.
Modelling-wax prepared at home is much better than any that can be purchased. The following recipe is a very good one:
Modelling-wax.
- 1 pound pure yellow beeswax.
- ½ pound corn-starch.
- 4 ounces Venice turpentine.
- 1½ ounce Venetian red powder.
- ½ ounce sweet-oil.
Put the wax on the stove in a saucepan and let it melt; take off and pour in the turpentine. Never attempt to add this while the wax is near the fire, as it is extremely dangerous. It is a good idea, when buying the ingredients, to have the oil and turpentine put in the same bottle (which should have a wide neck), then they can be poured into the wax at the same time. Warm the bottle of oil and turpentine in hot water to soften before mixing with the wax. Keep stirring all the time. Pour in the corn-starch and Venetian red. When the corn-starch is dissolved the wax is ready for use.
Bas-relief Figure in Wax.
Modelling-wax is much more expensive than clay; it is used principally for small objects and those that require fine workmanship. It is quite useful for sketchy work, as it may be carried about almost like a sketchbook, and being so much cleaner than clay, it can be used even in the parlor without damage to table or carpet. With the wax on a small board one can sit at a table and work very comfortably. The tools for clay modelling may also be used for wax; probably the smallest will be most useful.
Bas-relief Head in Wax.
As cold weather advances, we like to pass the evenings in some agreeable occupation, that may be carried on without disturbing the family group around the fireside. For such occasions, modelling in wax will make a pleasant pastime. Sitting quietly, taking part in the general conversation, or listening while someone reads aloud, one may model the wax into many pretty forms to be preserved afterward in plaster, or, obtaining a profile view, a likeness of one of the group may be done in bas-relief. If a slate is used to work on, it will make a good foundation, and the head can first be drawn on it in outline and the wax built over it, using the drawing as a guide. The slate is smooth and firm, and it is a good idea to use it as a foundation for all wax bas-relief, especially when plaster casts are to be taken from the modelling, for in that case the panel forming the background must be perfectly even.
Making Plaster Casts.
CHAPTER XXV.
HOW TO MAKE PLASTER CASTS.
IT is not at all difficult; anyone can succeed in it who will take the pains to follow carefully the directions given here for making plaster casts. Without the knowledge of drawing or modelling you can in this way reproduce almost any article in a very short time.
Casting in plaster is really so simple a process that even a child can soon learn to manage it nicely.
You will need a board, about a foot and a half square, upon which to work, fifteen or twenty pounds of clay, five pounds of plaster-of-Paris, a cup of warm melted lard, and several small wooden pegs; these can be made of wooden tooth-picks or matches broken in two.
Select an object with few angles and a smooth surface to experiment on; a firm round apple will do. Rub the lard all over the apple until every particle is greased; then lay it in the centre of your board. Take some clay and pack it around it just as high as the middle of the apple, forming a square, as in Fig. 168. Smooth the clay off on the edges and stick pegs in diagonal opposite corners (Fig. 168); then with more clay build a wall close around the apple and its case, making the sides one inch higher than the top of the apple (Fig. 169). Put a cupful of clear water into a pan or dish, and stir in enough plaster of Paris to make it like batter; pour the plaster over the apple, filling the clay box to the top. This makes a half mould of clay and a half mould of plaster.
When the plaster is hard, which will be in a very short time, pull away your clay wall, and take out the apple and half plaster mould together, lifting the apple from its half clay mould.
Remove the clay from your board and set the plaster mould containing the apple in the centre. Rub lard over the apple and upper edge of the mould, build around it the clay wall, as you did the first time; roll a small piece of clay into a slender conical shape and stand it upright on top of the apple, as in Fig. 169. This will make a hole through which to pour the plaster when filling the completed mould, and it must stand high enough to reach above the top of the clay wall.
Pour the plaster over the apple as at first, and let it set or harden. Take away the wall of clay once more, and carefully separate the two parts of the mould with the blade of a table-knife; remove the apple, and all is ready for the final cast which is to produce your plaster fruit (Fig. 170).
Thoroughly grease the inside of your mould, fit the two parts together, and wrap and tie them with string to hold them in place.
Pour in the plaster, through the hole left in one-half of the mould, until it is quite full; then gently shake it to send the plaster into all small crevices.
Let your mould stand without moving again until sufficient time has elapsed for the plaster to harden; then gently separate the two parts and you will find a perfect cast of the apple.
The ridge made by the joining of the mould you must scrape off with a sharp knife, or rub with sand-paper.
In taking casts of almost any object not too complicated, this same method must be employed. The only difficulty lies in deciding just where to place the dividing-line, which must be exactly at the broadest part of your model, otherwise you will break your mould in taking the object out.
In casting a hand the clay must be built up around each finger to precisely its widest part; therefore it is a good plan, before commencing, to mark on the hand, with a fine paint-brush and ink, the line that is to be observed.
When making casts of long objects, or those that are larger at one end than the other, such as vases, always lay them on one side, as a much better mould can be obtained in that way.
I have read that if milk-and-water is used for mixing the plaster, or, after the cast has hardened, if a little oil, in which wax has been dissolved, be applied to the surface, it will take a high polish; and if left for a while in a smoky room it will acquire the look of old ivory.
The same writer also states, without giving the proportions, that liquid gum-arabic and sufficient alum in solution, mixed and put into the slip or soft plaster, will make the cast so hard that it can be set as a panel in a cabinet.
The dead white of plaster-casts is frequently objected to when they are wanted for ornaments; but that difficulty is easily overcome by mixing dry colors with the plaster before wetting it.
A small quantity of yellow ochre will make the plaster creamy or ivory-like; brown will give a wood color, and red a terra-cotta.
Plaster-casts can also be bronzed with gold, red, or green bronze, which makes quite handsome ornaments of them. A plaster panel in bass-relief, bronzed with gold bronze and mounted on black or dark-colored velvet, is an exceedingly rich wall decoration.
To mount a panel of this kind you must first secure a smooth, flat piece of board, not more than half an inch thick, and just large enough to allow about four inches of the background to show all around the panel when it is mounted. Cover the board with velvet or velveteen, bringing it smoothly over the edges, and tacking it down at the back. Fasten on it a small brass hook. Fig. 171 is the best kind to use, which is tacked to the board with small, brass tacks.
Make a ring or loop for hanging the panel in this way:
Take a piece of wire about three inches long, form a small loop in the middle, and give the wire several twists; then bend the ends out on each side.
Scrape a narrow place in the top edge of the panel, just long enough to admit the wire, and about half an inch deep; then place the wire in this little ditch and fill up the hole to the top with soft plaster. When this hardens the ring will be quite secure. Fig. 172.
CHAPTER XXVI.
CHINA PAINTING.
CERTAINLY you can paint on china; have confidence, and do not hesitate because you may never have studied art, but select the china you wish to decorate and we will go to work. First, take what is needed for present use from the following
List of Materials.
PALETTE.
A common square, white china tile is the best palette for mineral colors; but in case you have no tile, an old white plate will answer the purpose.
BRUSHES.
These are of camel’s-hair, Figs. 173 and 174, are broad and flat, and are used in placing the color on the china when the surface is to be tinted. Fig. 175 is for blending the color after it is on the china; it is called a blender, and is useful where borders and surfaces are to be tinted. Figs. 176 and 178 are for general use. Fig. 177, with its long, slender point, is for gilding, another similar brush is needed for India-ink. Mark the two brushes in some way to distinguish them one from the other, and never use either for any paint except that for which it is intended. Fig. 179 is a stipple for blending the colors when painting a face, a fish, the sky of a landscape, or wherever delicate, fine blending is needed.
Brushes for China Painting (about one-half actual size).
To clean the brushes after using: dip them in turpentine and wipe off the paint on a cotton cloth, repeating the operation until the brushes are perfectly clean; then dip them in fat oil, and bring them out smooth to a fine point. Do not allow the brushes to become bent over, if the box is not long enough for them to lie out straight, remove the quills from the wooden handles and they can easily be replaced when needed. Should the brushes seem a little stiff at the next painting, immerse them in turpentine; this will make them soft and pliable.
Horn Palette-knife. Steel Palette-knife. Steel Scraper.
(Reduced sizes.)
To save the expensive gold paint, the gilder should be kept exclusively for gilding, and need not be cleaned, as it will not be injured if the hairs are carefully straightened out and the brush put away with the gold.
KNIVES.
Fig. 180 is a horn palette-knife for mixing Lacroix white, the yellows, and all such colors as are injured by contact with metal. It is the only knife used with the mat paints for Royal Worcester decoration. Fig. 181 is a steel palette-knife for general use. Fig. 182 is a steel scraper for removing paint from the china when necessary. Always clean the knives after mixing one color, before using them for another.
PAD.
This is made of a ball of cotton tied in a piece of soft lining-silk, fine linen, or cotton-cloth (Fig. 183) and is used for tinting.
Printer’s Pad.
THE PAINTS
are Lacroix’s colors; they come in tubes and should be squeezed out on the palette and used as in oil painting, with a little turpentine and fat oil when desired. To moisten the colors while painting dip your brush, carefully, without shaking or moving it around, into the turpentine or oil, and then in the color. Allow the paint to lie on the palette as it comes from the tube, except when two colors are mixed, or when using the stipple for blending one tint with another, or when tinting, then the paint must be mixed and rubbed down with oil and turpentine. Keep the colors in a cool place, and when returning them to the box, after you have finished painting, do not lay them back on the same side. Always remember to turn them over so that the color will not separate from the oil. If you are careful and follow these hints, your colors will keep in a good condition. We would advise you to purchase the paints as they are needed, thereby avoiding all unnecessary expenditure.
OILS.
Fat oil is for general use in painting. Clove oil is used in its place when two or more tints are to be blended together, as in painting a face, etc. Capavia oil is always mixed with the colors for grounding.
TURPENTINE
is in constant demand in china painting. It is used with all the different oils, paints, bronzes, and gilt, and should be poured in a small cup or any little vessel, and kept convenient while painting.
TAR PASTE
comes in bottles, and is used to take the color off of tinted backgrounds, in order to leave a clean surface of the china in which to paint the design in different colors. The paste should be rubbed down smooth on the tile with the palette-knife; if it is too hard, a little tar oil may be added. A small brush is best to use for the paste in covering the design you wish to wash out; but be very careful to keep within the outlines, for this mixture will take off the color wherever it touches. When the tint is light the paste may be wiped off in a few moments; but when it is dark, the paste must be allowed to remain on for perhaps hours before the paint will be sufficiently softened to remove.
Use small balls of raw cotton-batting in wiping off the paste, and take a fresh piece for every stroke. If any of the tar paste is left on the tile after using, scrape it off with your palette-knife, and return it to the bottle.
MAT GOLD
is for gilding, and can be either burnished or highly polished. It comes on a little square of glass inclosed in a box. This gold can also be used as solid ornamentation or for delicate tracery, and is sometimes used over colors, greens excepted, but is then never so bright as when on the plain white china.
The gold is prepared for painting on a tile kept expressly for the purpose, and which must not be used for any other paint. Place some of the gold on the palette with your palette-knife, and mix a little turpentine with it by dipping your palette-knife in the turpentine and rubbing down the gold with the turpentine on the knife. If more is needed, again dip your knife in the liquid, and do so as often as it is necessary; but you must use the utmost care not to have the gold too thin; gild with it as stiff as it can be smoothly applied.
Should any gold remain on the palette after the gilding is finished, mix in a little turpentine and scrape it all up with your palette-knife, then replace the gold on the square of glass.
Silver is used the same as gold.
The bronzes are for handles and conventional flowers or figures; they are rich and pleasing in effect.
PURE GOLD
cannot be employed for gilding plain white china. It also comes on a little square of glass and is used for gilding over colors. It can be applied over any mineral paint or relief, and may be polished or burnished as desired.
This gold is mixed with turpentine, for use in the same manner as mat gold.
RELIEF.
The best is mat relief, which comes in a powder, and is used for both tube and mat colors. It is prepared by mixing with a very little fat oil and turpentine, and should be applied stiff enough to make a raised line. It is useful where a small raised surface is desired, as on the edge of a leaf or the petals of flowers. A fish-net is much more effective if the gilt be put on over the relief. Should the relief dry and become too stiff while using, soften it from time to time with a little turpentine, always using the horn knife for mixing, as the steel knife should never be used with the relief, and the relief must always be fired before the gilt is applied.
Enamel white can be mixed with delicate tints, turpentine, and a very little fat oil for raised flowers; or the white alone may be used for pearls, imitation of lace, or embroidery, but its use is limited and it will not stand two firings, so should always be the last paint applied.
MAT COLORS
are for Royal Worcester decorations. They come in powders, and when mixed with a little oil and turpentine are used in the same way as the Lacroix tube paints.
BOX FOR MATERIALS.
Select a light wooden box, or one of strong pasteboard; have the box of a convenient size to contain all your painting materials.
PIECES OF SOFT, OLD MUSLIN,
torn in different sizes, and plenty of them, are very essential for cleaning brushes and rubbing paint off the tile or china; the demand for clean pieces will be constant while painting.
CHINA.
Have this of the very finest French ware, without spots or other imperfections of the surface, and never attempt to decorate china after it has been used, for it seldom proves satisfactory.
A Monochrome Painting.
For this we will need a tile, a pad, a broad flat brush (Fig. 173), some turpentine, capavia, two tubes of paint—one copper-water green, the other brown green—a palette-knife, and some pieces of cotton cloth. Now be sure your china is perfectly clean and dry, then mix your copper-water green for
Tinting.
Place enough color on your palette to cover the entire surface to be tinted; dip your palette-knife in the capavia oil and tap it off the knife on the tile; in the same way place turpentine on the tile with the oil, and use your palette-knife to thoroughly mix the paint, oil, and turpentine. If the mixture seems too stiff add a little more oil and turpentine, but be careful not to have the paint too thin so that it will run; test its consistency with a brush on a clean place on the tile.
As a rule, the proportions for tinting should be five drops of paint to three of capavia, mixed with a little turpentine.
The paint being prepared, take the flat brush and begin to paint; rapidly cover the entire surface with color. Then go over the tinting with a pad, touching lightly and gently, not letting the pad rest a moment on the paint, nor touching it twice in the same place in succession. Continue going over and over it until the grounding is even and of a uniform tint. Then set the china away to dry, in a safe place, where it will be free from dust. Always make a fresh pad every time you tint, and a separate one for each color used, as a pad cannot do service more than once.
All tinted grounds and borders are made in this way, the capavia oil and turpentine being mixed with any of the grounding colors you may wish to use. Tinting is very easily and quickly done; but should anything happen to spot or mar the evenness of the grounding, the paint must all be washed off with turpentine, and the china tinted over again.
When your green-tinted china is perfectly dry, gather some maple leaves and with the brown-green paint try a
New Method of Decorating China.
The leaves must be free from dust and moisture and perfectly fresh. Place a small quantity of paint on the palette, do not mix the paint with oil or turpentine, but rub it down well on the tile as it comes from the tube; make the paint perfectly smooth, now press a small clean pad down lightly, lifting and again pressing until the paint is smoothly distributed on the pad; next select a leaf and place it face or right side downward on a piece of folded newspaper, then press the pad down on the under side of the leaf, which is now lying upward, repeating the operation until the leaf is sufficiently covered with paint. This done, carefully place the leaf painted side downward on the china, over it lay a piece of common wrapping-paper, and rub your finger gently all over the covered leaf. Then remove the outside paper and very carefully take up the leaf, when an exact impress of the natural leaf will be printed on the china. Repeat the operation with another leaf either larger or smaller, and still another, using as many as you wish; connect the leaves to a central branch by making the stems and branch in the same color with a small paint-brush. To do this paint a long line for the branch and other smaller ones for the stems of the leaves. Set the china away to dry, and it will be ready for firing. Very pretty effects may be secured by using two shades of one color for the tinting and designs. First tint the china, and when it is perfectly dry, ornament it with the same paint in the manner described, making the ground of a lighter tint than the decorations. The colors of fall leaves can be used on white china, or you may make the combinations and designs of whatever is most pleasing.
It is well to have some idea of what your decoration is to be like before commencing with the leaves. If you desire a spray, try to place the leaves as they are on the natural spray, or as represented in some picture taken for a guide. The prints also look well used in a conventional style. As any kind of leaves or grasses that will print can be employed, your decorations will always be original and true to nature.
Flowers are more difficult to print, yet when the impressions are successful they are very beautiful.
You will find this new idea an interesting method of ornamenting china, while the decorations may be made in much less time than is usually required. The style is suitable for dinner-sets, vases, tiles, plaques, and lamps, and it requires no knowledge of drawing or painting to decorate china in this simple yet effective manner.
Tracing.
Lay a piece of tracing-paper over the design to be copied and trace the outlines very carefully with a hard lead-pencil. Then have your china perfectly clean and dry, and give it a wash all over with a clean cotton cloth wet with clear turpentine. Place a piece of red transfer-paper on the china, and having determined exactly where you wish the design, lay the tracing-paper over the transfer-paper on the space for decoration. Use bits of gummed paper on the corners of the transfer- and tracing-paper to hold them in place, and carefully go over the lines with a lead-pencil, remove the papers, and the design will be clearly outlined on the ware. Now rub a little India-ink on a common individual butter-plate of white china, and using a fine brush, very carefully paint over the red marks with the India-ink, making your lines as distinct and delicate as possible. When this is finished, again wash the china with turpentine to remove any of the red coloring which may be apparent on its surface. Thus prepared the design can be painted, or the china may first be tinted and allowed to dry, when the outlines will be plainly visible through the tinting, and the color can be removed from the design with tar paste. Use the scraper to take the grounding off of minute spaces. For those skilled in drawing it will not be necessary to trace the design, as it can readily be sketched on the china with a lead-pencil after the ware has first received a coat of turpentine, and when tinted the decoration can be drawn on after the grounding has thoroughly dried, and the color may be removed as before.
Mottled Grounds.
Prepare the paint as for tinting, only make it more moist, and dab it lightly over the china by means of a piece of cotton cloth on the end of your finger; this will give the china a mottled appearance which in some cases is preferred to the plain grounding.
Snow Landscape.
We will take for example Fig. 184.
After tracing the design, paint a streak across the sky, just back and a little above the trees, with carnation No. 1 mixed with clove oil and turpentine, then another narrow streak above it of a lighter shade, and another still lighter of the same color, allowing each tint to meet. Next mix light sky-blue with clove oil and turpentine, and paint as deep a tint as it will make across the sky at the top of the plate, graduating it down to the red; use the stipple immediately while the paint is wet to blend the colors and tints; this finished, make the reflections on the ice, beginning with carnation No. 1 for the ice nearest the castle, and ending near the bottom of the plate with the deepest shade of light sky-blue, using the colors mixed for the sky. Paint the foliage in the background with neutral gray and sky-blue mixed with turpentine and fat oil for the darker tones, and turquoise-blue with neutral gray, turpentine and fat oil for the lighter parts, also for shading the darker portions of the snow. Then take brown No. 4 as it comes from the tube, with a little turpentine when necessary, for the shading of the trees in the foreground, the outlining of the castle, and the tufts of grass and edges of the ice in places where the copy requires it.
Leave the white china for the high lights and the white snow on the roof of the castle, on the trees, and here and there on the ground.
Paint the castle with neutral gray and yellow ochre mixed with turpentine and fat oil, and its windows with brown No. 4, using the color as it comes from the tube. Now allow the plate to dry and then have it fired, after which mix carnation No. 1 with clove oil and turpentine, and touch up the sky and reflections on the ice, using the stipple if necessary; then mix light sky-blue with clove oil and turpentine and paint the sky where that color is required and the light shadows on the snow; then take yellow ochre for portions of the trees, places in the foreground, and touching up the castle; mix this color with fat-oil and turpentine.
Again strengthen the trees and other places, where the painting requires it, with brown No. 4, unmixed, except with a little turpentine when necessary; for the last touches mix relief-white with fat oil and clean turpentine, using the horn-palette knife always when mixing the white; this is to be laid on, in little raised places, where the snow is whitest on the ground and where the snow has lodged in the trees.
Now inclose the snow scene with a gilt band, using the stipple to make an uneven edge of gilt on the surrounding white rim; the gold next to the picture must be perfectly smooth and even; put this on with your fine long-haired brush; then make a similar band on the edge of the plate and it will be finished and ready for its last firing.
Almost any snow landscape with a sunset sky may be painted in this way.
Often you can find Christmas cards which will furnish very good copies.
How to Paint a Head on China.
Select a pretty copy from some photograph, as in Fig. 185; very carefully trace the head on a plate and go over the lines with Indian ink; next give the plate another wash with turpentine, to remove all remains of the color from the transfer-paper; then mix thoroughly two parts of carnation No. 2 with one part of ivory-yellow, adding a little turpentine and clove oil; give the face and neck a wash with this color and touch up the cheeks with carnation No. 1 mixed with clove oil and turpentine; now lay on the shadows with neutral gray, five parts, mixed with deep chrome-green, one part, using clove oil and turpentine in mixing the colors; last, the deepest shadows with brown No. 4, two parts, to one of ivory-black, mixed together with clove oil and turpentine, and immediately before any of the paint dries use the stipple to blend the colors, making the face round out and have the blending soft and true to nature; set your copy before you and try to have the shadows on the face you paint correspond exactly with those in the copy.
Now leave the face and neck, and place some brown No. 4 on the tile; do not mix it with anything; use it as it comes from the tube, dipping your brush in turpentine when it becomes necessary to thin the paint a little; with this paint the shading of the hair and follow with your brush, as nearly as possible, the sway of the masses. That finished, paint the eyes, eyebrows, and nostrils with brown No. 4 and ivory-black mixed together as they come from the tubes, using when necessary a little turpentine; then mix a little carnation No. 1 with fat oil for the lips. Next turn your attention to the drapery; shade the white material with gray No. 1, unmixed, and gray No. 2 for the deeper shadows, mixed with fat oil and turpentine.
For the handkerchief on the head mix emerald-green with fat-oil and turpentine; put it on in a light tint, so that the handkerchief can be shaded, when dry, with the same color.
When the plate is dry, it is ready to be fired. After it has been fired touch up the shading on the face and neck with two parts of carnation No. 2 mixed with one of brown No. 4, using clove oil and turpentine while mixing; and for the deepest shadows mix two parts of brown and one of ivory-black together with clove oil and turpentine. This must be put on carefully, so that the shadows will not be too dark. Use the stipple to blend the shadows; then give the hair a wash of yellow ochre all over, and touch up the handkerchief on the head with emerald green, the same you used before.
For the background of the head mix light coffee, turpentine, and capavia oil; make it an even tint with the blender (Fig. 175); the brush must be clean and dry, and used in the same manner as the pad in tinting, then, for the outer border, mix celestial-blue with capavia and turpentine, and with your large flat brush paint the border and blend it to an even tint with your pad. When this is finished wipe off the paint around the edge as evenly as possible, so that the bare china may be left to receive a band of gold. Roll up a piece of white cotton cloth into a small point and with this remove the paint around the inner edge of the blue border, making an even narrow white band; this is also to be gilded.
On a clean tile mix the mat gold with turpentine, and using the slender, fine, long-haired brush, carefully cover the white bands of china with gold; when this is finished the plate is ready for the second and last firing. If a fairer complexion be desired, make the flesh-tints of the same colors, only lighter in tint; try the paint on the edge of the tile until the tint is correct. Always try your colors this way when painting any design. For blue eyes use sky-blue shaded with black; the high light of the eye may be left the white of the china. If you wish the hair very light, take ivory-yellow and shade with sepia and black.
Once more we say, be very careful in tracing not to get the head or features out of drawing, as so much depends upon the correct outlines. Before sending china to be fired, paint in small figures the date on which it was decorated and add your name or initials.
How to Paint a Carp, Sea-weed, and Fish-net on China.
Having traced in your design very carefully, mix one part of neutral gray with two parts of sky-blue, some clove oil, and turpentine; with this paint the upper edge of the back of the fish dark, graduating to white along near the centre of the fish; stipple this so that it will look even, soft, and rounding, keeping it dark on the edge and tinting down to the white china; paint the tail and dorsal fins a flat tint of gray No. 2 mixed with fat oil and turpentine; then mix carnation No. 2 with fat oil and turpentine for a flat tint on gills, mouth, and ventral fin; shade the mouth with the same color and paint the anal and pectoral fins a flat tint of carnation No. 2 mixed with sepia; when dry shade with the same color, and also shade the gills and fins painted carnation with carnation, and the dorsal fins and tail shade with ivory-black mixed with fat oil and turpentine; try the paint with your brush until you get rather a gray tint instead of black, and use this for the shading; now paint the rows of spots along the back of the fish ivory-black, making the dots smaller as they approach the tail; and with your eraser take the paint off of the eye, leaving a clean white spot of china; paint a fine circle around this in ivory-black; then paint a portion of the eye black, leaving the white china for the high lights; in painting the scales and lower part of the fish use gray No. 1 as it comes from the tube, mark an outline of gray along the lower edge of the fish and stipple it off in the white, remembering this gray must occupy only a narrow line along the lower edge of the fish.
Commence to mark the scales in gray No. 1 by making a line of them with a fine-pointed brush downward across the body of the fish (Fig. 186) and this will be a guide to build out from (Fig. 187); after the painting has thoroughly dried begin again by marking, on the head and around the eye, the tiny scales in gray No. 2, with a little fat oil and turpentine, and paint a line along the upper edge of the head and back with brown No. 4, and another lighter line of the same color along the back just below and adjoining the first one; paint the eye and markings on the head brown and strengthen the tail and dorsal fins with gray No. 2; touch up around the gills with sky blue, also with yellow ochre where the copy requires it. Then turn your attention to the sea-weeds; mark the thread-like branches of these in different colors, using carnation, brown No. 4, gray No. 2, and brown-green; paint each weed in one color, place the sea-weeds on one side or corner of the plate, making them branch out this way and that, as in nature. Now clean off your palette and mix some mat relief for the fish-net, which is to be placed over and across a portion of the plate; with a lead-pencil mark the netting on the plate, but do not touch the fish; then with a very fine brush follow the markings with the relief, when it is necessary to paint across the fish, your eye and the copy must be your guides, as it would take the paint off the fish to attempt any marking on it. The relief on the fish cannot be altered, so be careful to have it correct the first time. Should the line of relief be too broad in other places, remove it with your scraper and make another trial. When the plate is perfectly dry it must be fired, after which put in a background of warm gray mixed with capavia and turpentine; bring this to an even tint with the blender, and if any paint blends over on the fish wipe it off while the color is damp; also remove the paint from the netting and set the china away to allow the color to thoroughly dry; next paint broad sweeps across the plate, but not over the fish, with gray No. 2 mixed with fat oil and turpentine, to represent the different tints of the water, and again remove the paint from the net; now touch up the sea-weed and the fish where they need strengthening, then give the fish a very light wash of gray No. 1.
Here and there along the upper edges of the water colored gray No. 2 make a very fine line with enamel or relief-white mixed with a little fat oil and turpentine; gild the fish-net, using either pure gold or mat gold, cover the relief carefully with the gold, and put it on thick but in fine lines; this accomplished, finish by gilding the edges of the plate with mat gold, and when dry send it to be fired. To avoid mistakes when sending china to be fired, state whether you wish the gold burnished, dull, or polished.
Foliage on China Made With a Sponge.
Prepare the paint with fat oil and turpentine, rub it down smooth, then with a small sponge apply the colors, using different shades as the first dry, and touching up afterward with a brush; in this way you can also paint backgrounds which cannot be made with the brush.
Mixing Colors.
The best way to paint with safety when you are in doubt what colors will mix, is to test them yourself. For this purpose take a French china plate and make experiments with different colors on the plate; at the same time write down a memorandum of the paints used and of those mixed, have the plate fired; then paste your memorandum on the back. Use this for reference, and with experience will come the full knowledge of the use of all the paints.
Royal Worcester Ware
is very delicate and dainty and something quite novel for amateurs in the way of china decorations.
Very beautiful pieces of this ware may be seen now in all the leading china establishments in New York City, and so choice is it that even some of the largest jewelry stores have rare Royal Worcester vases among their most valuable articles on exhibition.
We know of no book that teaches this art of decoration, and although we have seen some amateur work which only an expert could distinguish from the genuine article itself, we think our exposition of the method is the first of its kind printed in this country; and girls, if you would know the secret, so that you also may be able to paint and gild in this beautiful fashion, you have only to listen while the writer tells how to decorate a Royal Worcester vase as she did; then you will have a practicable and detailed method which we know to be good, having tried it.
Fig. 188.—Royal Worcester Vase.
Select a vase of the finest French china, and be sure that it is perfectly clean, dry, and free from dust. Then with a clean white cotton cloth give the vase a wash all over with clear turpentine, and having chosen your design, make a tracing of it on the vase, and it will be ready for grounding. Mix enough mat lemon-yellow to cover the entire surface of the vase. First place a little of the powder on the tile, then dip your palette-knife in the capavia oil and tap it off on the tile; in the same way drop turpentine on the tile with the oil. Use a horn palette-knife and thoroughly mix the paint, oil, and turpentine; if the mixture seems too stiff, add a little more oil and turpentine, but be careful not to have the paint too thin, so that it will run; try the paint with a brush on a clean place on the tile to see if it is of the right consistency and shade; do not let the color be too intense; it should be of a delicate tint, and if it is too dark add a very little more oil. Take a broad, flat brush and begin to paint at the top of the vase, passing around with short strokes rapidly over its whole surface; go over the tinting with a pad, touching lightly and gently; then set the vase away to dry in a dry place free from dust. The Indian-ink outlines will be plainly visible through the paint, and when the grounding or tinting has thoroughly hardened, to remove the color from the design, mix a little of the tar paste upon a clean tile by working it with your palette-knife until it is smooth. Use a small brush and go over the design with this mixture, covering every part except the stems and fine grasses; be very careful not to go outside of the lines. When the design is all painted with the paste, begin at that first covered and wipe off the tar paste with small pieces of cotton batting rolled into little balls, using a fresh wad for each stroke; clean it all off carefully and the vase will present vacant white china spots where the flowers, leaves, and bird are soon to appear. For a guide we will take Fig. 188. Now mix a little mat pink with fat oil and turpentine in the same way you prepared the grounding yellow, only this time fat oil takes the place of capavia; use the horn palette-knife as before; the steel knife should never be used with the Royal Worcester colors, as the metal is apt to rub in with the paint, dulling and spoiling the colors. Paint all the flowers a flat tint of light pink. Always try the color first on the tile until you have the desired shade. By the time all the flowers have received their tint of color, those first painted will be dry enough for shading. Observe attentively the copy, and notice where the different flowers are shaded; then shade yours with the same color, following as nearly as possible the copy before you.
For painting the leaves, mix separately with turpentine and fat oil, mat light yellow-green, mat dark-green, and mat blue green. These colors can be used separately or any two mixed if desired. Shade the leaves with mat yellow-brown mixed with the different greens. Paint the body of the bird a flat tint of mat gold-yellow and the top of its head and back green; the edges of wing and tail and eye must be of mat black. When the bird is dry, shade its breast with broad sweeps of mat gold-yellow, according to the copy; then mix black with yellow-brown for the other shading on the bird’s breast, and mix black with blue for painting and shading the wings and tail.
While the paint is drying on the vase mix the mat relief for the raised edges of bird, flowers, and stems. Mix the relief with turpentine and fat oil, making it as stiff as it can be used. With a very fine brush outline the bird, its wings, and tail; also a few strokes on its breast, tail, and back; be sure the relief is stiff enough to make a fine raised line; then outline the flowers and the stems; the leaves are not raised on the edges. When this is finished the vase is ready for its first firing. Allow the ware to become perfectly dry before sending it to the firers.
As great care should be taken with the firing of royal Worcester china, send your vase to the most reliable firers you know of, and when it is fired and returned, all that remains to be done is to carefully gild the vase. Mix pure gold with turpentine, but do not have it too thin, as the gold should be applied as thick as possible. For fine gilding use a fine small brush with long hairs; this will make a distinct thread-like line; first cover all the relief with the gold, next outline the leaves, veining them if necessary; then with thick gold make your grasses according to the copy. When the gold becomes too stiff work in a little more turpentine. After you have finished this gilding, mix some mat gold with turpentine and gild the top rim of the vase; use the small stipple brush cut off square at the end (Fig. 179), and bring the border down unevenly along its lower edge, making it the same way on the inside of the vase; then with the fine long-haired gilder cover the upper edge of the vase thick with gold. This finished, gild the bottom of the vase in like manner and make the handle solid gilt; after it is all dry the vase is ready for its second and last firing, and when it returns again from the firers you will have a piece of beautiful Royal Worcester ware similar to that seen at Tiffany’s.
The mat colors used, remove all the gloss from the china, and when mat lemon-yellow forms the grounding, the china comes from the firing having the appearance of beautiful decorated ivory without any glaze.
This ware must be seen to be appreciated, and is suitable for vases and ornaments, but the Royal Worcester colors cannot be used on table china, for any grease coming in contact with the colors would spoil them.
Exquisite little vases of all shapes are decorated in this manner; the delicate gold tracery and outlining brings the designs out effectively. In this style of painting the decoration is more conventional, and does not require the same amount of working up and shading, but is as a rule, treated simply, flat tints with a little shading being all that is required. Almost any floral design can be used on royal Worcester, when outlined with relief and gold; there are, however, copies which come expressly for the purpose.
CHAPTER XXVII.
A CHAPTER ON FRAMES.
AFTER the foregoing chapters on drawing and painting, it is surely our duty to provide the means of framing the various pictures which we hope will be the result of their teachings. Unframed, a picture is apt to be tucked away out of sight, or it becomes rumpled and spoiled when left lying about, and a picture-frame, as a rule, is quite an expensive article; but with a little ingenuity and good taste almost any girl may manufacture frames, if not of equal finish, at least as durable and quite as artistic as any the dealer can produce.
The cost? The cost is the price of a wooden stretcher and a bottle of gold paint.
The first sketch shown here (Fig. 189) will give some idea of the appearance of a frame decorated appropriately for a marine picture. The articles necessary for this frame are a stretcher, some rope, a piece of fish-net, several dried starfish, and gold paint. The stretcher must first be gilded; then the rope, upon which the fish-net has been strung, should be fastened with small tacks around the outer edge, joining it at the corner, where the starfish will hide the ends. The net must be large enough to drape gracefully across one corner, along the top, and fall a short distance down the other side of the frame. When the starfish, graduating in size, are tacked around the draped corner, and they, as well as the rope and net, are given a coat of gilt, a pretty, unique, and substantial frame is the result.
If starfish are not to be had, sea-shells may be used instead (these of course will have to be glued in place), and if fish-net is also out of reach, a piece of fine netted hammock can be used as a substitute.
Original Design—Marine Picture Frame.
For the benefit of those who spend their summers at the sea-shore where such things are obtainable, I would advise that a small collection be made of the quaint and pretty products of the place, as they will be found useful in various ways for decorative purposes.
Fig. 190.—Section of Decorated Frame
The next sketch (Fig. 190) shows a corner section of frame especially appropriate for a flower piece. The open lattice-like border is cut with a sharp penknife from stiff pasteboard and tacked along the edge of the frame.
The pattern shown in diagram (Fig. 191) is simple, quite easily made, and well suited for a border, though other and more elaborate ones may be used. This border must, of course, be made in sections. The edges to be connected should be cut to fit exactly, then after tacking them upon the frame the whole may be laid upon a table, face downward, and strips of paper pasted across the joints (see Fig. 192), which will hold them securely together. If the work is neatly done, when the gilt is applied all traces of the joints will disappear. The decorations of this frame consist of a spray of artificial rosebuds and leaves, gilded and tacked on the upper left-hand corner. A few scattered rosebuds look well upon the lower part of the frame near the right-hand side.
Section of Border for Decorated Frame.
Figure 193 is the section of a frame which will look well on almost any kind of picture. It is made by tacking a small rope around the inside edge and then covering it and the frame with crumpled tin-foil, which, after it is pressed to fit the rope, is brought around and tacked on the wrong side of the frame, joining that edge which is turned over the top. Care should be taken while handling the tin-foil not to flatten it, as its beauty depends upon its roughness. The pieces are joined by simply lapping one edge over the other, the uneven surface hiding all seams. This frame like the others must be gilded.
A very effective rough surface on a frame can be produced by dabbing on it with a palette-knife the scrapings of the palette. Of course this frame cannot be made in a day, but if every time the palette is cleaned the paint is used in this way it will not be long before the surface is covered and ready for gilding.
Fig. 193.—Section of Frame covered with Tin-foil.
The cork paper used in packing bottles makes quite a handsome frame for black and white pictures or photographs (Fig. 194). This paper is sprinkled all over with small bits of cork, making a rough surface and one admirably suited to the purpose.
Cork Frame.
First the foundation of the frame is cut of stiff pasteboard exactly the size and shape desired; then the cork paper is cut the width of the frame and glued securely to it, the corners being joined as in Fig. 195. The frame is very pretty when left its natural color, as it resembles carved wood at a little distance, but it can be gilded if preferred.
The inside mat is made of white or gray-tinted cardboard, cut with the open space for the picture, from half an inch to an inch smaller than the opening of the frame. The mat is pasted to the back of the frame and then the entire back is covered with strong paper pasted at the top and two side edges, and left open at the bottom until the picture is shoved in place, when the lower edge is fastened also. The mat will look well if the inside edge is gilded.
Fig. 195.
Another frame is made in the same manner as the one just described, only instead of using cork paper a thick coating of glue is put all over the face of the foundation, and sand or small pebbles are sprinkled over the entire surface. This must be quickly done before the glue has time to harden.
The writer has in her possession a pretty little winter landscape done in water-colors. It is a snow scene, and its light effect is well set off by the frame, which is made simply of two pieces of heavy brown strawboard or pasteboard. The two pieces are cut exactly the same size; then the centre is cut out of one, leaving a broad frame of equal width on all sides. The picture is placed between these two boards, which are then glued together. The cord for hanging it is fastened to two small brass rings which are attached to pieces of tape glued to the back of the frame, as in Fig. 196. Fig. 197 shows how a piece of paper is pasted over the tape to hold it more securely.
When making a frame of this kind the picture to be framed should first be measured and the width of the frame decided upon; then cutting a piece of paper the size the open space is to be, or one-half inch smaller all round than the picture, it must be laid upon the pasteboard and a mark drawn around it showing its exact size and proportion (Fig. 198). The width of the frame can then be measured from these lines, which will place the opening exactly in the centre (Fig. 199). The lines must be perfectly straight and the measurements correct or a lop-sided frame will be the result.
In cutting out the frame a sharp knife should be used, and it will be a great help in keeping the lines straight if a ruler is held down firmly close to the line to be cut, and the knife guided by that.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THANKSGIVING.
NOT to Pagan ancestors in far-away countries, but to our own Pilgrim Fathers do we trace the origin of Thanksgiving Day—as purely American as our Independence Day. Instituted by William Bradford, the Governor of Plymouth, and first observed by the Puritans, who, suffering from hunger and privation, were truly thankful when the first harvest brought them the means of support for the approaching winter, it has come to us as “the religious and social festival that converts every family mansion into a family meeting-house.” The pleasant New England custom of the gathering together of families to celebrate Thanksgiving is now observed in most of our States. From far and near they come, filling the cars with merry family parties, who chatter away of anticipated pleasures to be found in the old home. Little children taught to lisp grandma and grandpa are instructed by their mammas not to be afraid of the old gentleman who will meet them at the depot, nor the dear old lady who waits with open arms at the door of grandpa’s house.
One Little Indian.
Children old enough to know what a Thanksgiving at grandpa’s is like are wild with delight at the prospect before them. Their eyes brighten at the thought of the great pantry where grandma keeps her doughnuts and cookies; of the cellar with its bins of sweet and juicy apples; of the nuts and popcorn, all of which taste so much nicer at grandma’s than anywhere else. And then what fun the games will be which they will play with cousins, who, though rather shy at first, will soon make friends. The lovely young aunties, too, who help grandma entertain all these guests, will join in the games and suggest and carry out schemes of amusements which the children would never think of.
Pilgrim’s Spectacles.
What a happy holiday it is, how social and pleasant and comfortable and easy! How near and dear all the bright faces gathered around the long table at the Thanksgiving-dinner, seem to be. Truly, we should all be thankful that we have a Thanksgiving.
However, this chapter is not written merely to generalize upon the pleasures of the day, but in order that we may offer something new, in the way of amusement, which will add to the fund of merriment on this occasion. The series of
Patterns of Pilgrim Father’s Hat and Collar.
Impromptu Burlesque Tableaux
illustrating some of the principal events in our history will be appropriate for this national holiday, and will prove a mirth-provoking entertainment.
When two rooms are connected by folding-doors, a whole room may be used for the stage. In this case no curtains are necessary, as the doors take their place, and, for impromptu tableaux, answer very well. When there are no such connecting rooms, one end of a large room can be curtained off with sheets, or any kind of drapery, suspended from a rope or wire stretched from one wall to the other. It is best to keep the audience as far away from this improvised stage as the room will admit of, for distance greatly assists the effect.
Landing of the Pilgrims.
Costume of Pilgrim Father.
Tableau 1.—The good ship Mayflower has just touched Plymouth Rock. Pilgrim Father stands upon the rock, and reaches down to help Pilgrim Mother to land. A number of Indians sit upon the edge of the rock, fishing unconcernedly over the side, while the Pilgrims take possession. In the ship Pilgrim children are standing, with outstretched arms, waiting to be taken ashore.
COSTUMES.
Pilgrim Father.—Cape, a broad-brimmed, high-crowned hat and large, white collar, over ordinary boy’s dress, spectacles—cut from black paper (Fig. 200). The cape may be of any material, so that it is of a dark color.
The hat can be made by cutting from stiff brown paper a crown (Fig. 201), fitting it around the crown of an ordinary flat-brimmed hat, bringing it into a conical shape, and pinning it in place (Fig. 202). The brim should be cut from the same paper in a large circle (Fig. 203), the hole in the centre being just large enough to fit nicely around the crown, over which it is slipped, and pushed down until it rests upon the real hat-brim (Fig. 204). The paper brim should be about seven inches wide, and the crown nine inches high. Figure 205 is the pattern of collar, which can be made of white paper or muslin.
Pilgrim Mother.—Full, plain skirt, white kerchief, small white cap, and large spectacles. A gentleman’s linen handkerchief, put around the neck and crossed over the bosom, answers for a kerchief. The cap, too, can be made of a large handkerchief in this way.
Fold the handkerchief in the manner shown in Fig. 206; lay it flat upon a table, and turn the folded corners over as in Fig. 207; turn up the bottom edge over the other, and roll over about three times (Fig. 208); take the handkerchief up by the ends and the cap (Fig. 209) is made.
Manner of Making Pilgrim Mother’s Cap.
Costume of Pilgrim Mother.
Children.—The young Pilgrims’ costumes are like the others, on a smaller scale, but they wear no spectacles.
Indians.—Bright-colored shawls for blankets, and feather-dusters for head-dresses. The duster is tied on to the back of the Indian’s neck with a ribbon which passes under the chin, and the shawl is placed over the handle, partially covering the head and enveloping the figure.
PROPERTIES.
The ship is a large wash-tub, which is placed in the centre of the stage; its sail is a towel, fastened with pins to a stick, the stick being tied to a broom, as shown in illustration. It is held aloft by one of the children in the tub.
The Good Ship Mayflower.
Plymouth Rock is a table, occupying a position near the tub. On top of it is a chair, placed on its side to give an uneven surface, and over both chair and table is thrown a gray table-cover. The fishing-poles of the Indians are walking-canes with strings tied to the ends.
First Harvest.
Tableau 2.—Pilgrim families, grouped in the centre of the stage, examining an ear of corn and rejoicing over their first harvest.
PROPERTIES.
A broom, upon which is tied one ear of dried corn, or popcorn, it doesn’t matter which, and if neither is to be had, an imitation ear of corn can be made by rolling paper into the shape of Fig. 210, cutting husks after the pattern Fig. 211, and putting them together like Fig. 212. The broom is held erect, with the handle resting on the floor, by Pilgrim Father.
| Fig. 210.—Paper Ear of Corn. | Fig. 211.—Pattern for Outside Husks of Corn. | Fig. 212.—Ear of Corn Finished |
Devastation by the Indians.
The Corn-field.
Tableau 3.—A long table reaches across centre of stage; upon it are empty dishes, and the remains of a feast.
At each end and at back of table are grouped the Indians, who are gnawing large turkey-bones and eating huge pieces of bread and pie. The Pilgrim family stand at each side, and view with horror the destruction of their dinner.
PROPERTIES.
The table is a board placed across the backs of two chairs. In the centre of the table is a large pie-plate, with only a very small piece of pie remaining in it; most of the other dishes are empty.
The Revolution.
Tableau 4.—This is represented by the revolution of a wheel. Pilgrim Mother stands in the centre of the stage, at a spinning-wheel, which is set in motion just as the curtain is parted.
PROPERTIES.
If a real spinning-wheel cannot be obtained, a velocipede, baby-carriage, or child’s wagon, turned upside down, will answer the purpose. In the illustration the curtain has been made transparent, to show how the two back wheels of a velocipede are disposed of. A broom is fastened in an upright position to the velocipede, and on the handle is tied a piece of gray linen (a handkerchief will do), to represent flax. A string tied to the linen is held by Pilgrim Mother. The curtain must be dropped before the wheel ceases to revolve.
The Spinning-wheel.
Slavery.
Tableau 5.—Pilgrim Mother is bending over a wash-tub, with sleeves rolled up to shoulders, washing; a great pile of clothes lies on the floor at her side; she looks angrily at the Pilgrim Father, who sits opposite to her with his legs crossed, calmly reading a newspaper.[F]
PROPERTIES.
The tub used for the ship, placed on two chairs; a washboard and a pile of clothes, white predominating. A rocking-chair for the Pilgrim Father.
Rebellion.
Tableau 6.—Pilgrim Mother stands in defiant attitude, facing Pilgrim Father, who has just arisen from his chair.
The tub and one of the chairs upon which it stands are tipped over, and the clothes are scattered about.
PROPERTIES.
Same as in preceding tableau.
The Festive Board.
Peace and Plenty.
Tableau 7.—Table extending across the centre of stage is heaped with all sorts of edibles—whole pumpkins, vegetables, fruit, and flowers. At one end of the festive board stands Pilgrim Father, at the other Pilgrim Mother, smiling at each other. Pilgrim Father holds a long carving-knife, as though about to carve a large pumpkin in front of him. Pilgrim Mother is in the act of cutting a huge pie. At the back of the table are ranged the Pilgrim children, each holding outstretched an empty plate, waiting to be served, and all smiling. At each side of the stage, extending to the front, is a line of Indians sitting on the floor, smoking the pipes of peace. The Indians also are smiling.
PROPERTIES.
Table same as in Tableau 3: Dishes, fruit, and vegetables. The Indians’ pipes are canes with bent handles.
If, in arranging the stage, clothes-horses, with drapery thrown over them, are placed at the back, they will not only form a background for the pictures presented, but the space behind makes a nice dressing-room or retiring-place for those taking part.
Fig. 213.—Pumpkin Lantern.
Pumpkin lanterns, set in a row on the floor just inside the curtain, will be funny substitutes for footlights. They will decorate the stage appropriately, and at the same time be quite safe. Fig. 213 shows how they are made. The face is not cut through, but the features are scraped thin enough to allow the light inside to make them visible. If they were cut, as in ordinary pumpkin lanterns, the light would shine out from instead of on to the stage.
Silhouette of the Headless Turkey.
The Game of the Headless Turkey.
A large silhouette, representing a headless turkey, is cut from black, or dark colored paper-muslin, and fastened upon a sheet stretched tightly across a door-way. To each member of the party is given a pin and a muslin head, which, if rightly placed, will fit the turkey. Then, one at a time, the players are blind-folded and placed at the end of the room opposite the sheet. After turning them around three times one way, then three times the other, they are started off to search for the turkey, that they may pin the head where they suppose it belongs. When the person going blindly about the room comes in contact with anything, no matter what, be it chair, table, wall, door, or another player, she must pin the turkey-head to the object touched. To the person who comes nearest to placing the head in its true place, a prize of a gilded wish-bone, tied to a card with a ribbon, is given. And she who makes the least successful effort is presented with a turkey-feather, which she must stick in her hair and wear for the remainder of the evening.
A Suggestion.
Amid all these bright and happy thoughts of feasting and merrymaking, comes an idea, so gently, yet persistently, forcing itself upon my notice, that it finally assumes the form of a definite plan which I will put to you in the form of a suggestion.
At this time, when, thinking over the numerous blessings, that most of you find to be thankful for, how would it do, girls, to form a society among yourselves, to be called the Thanksgiving Society, whose object will be to provide a real Thanksgiving for other and less fortunate girls, by giving them something to be thankful for before next year’s Thanksgiving shall arrive?
There need be no formality about the society. The only necessary officer will be a secretary, to keep a record of what is done by the society, individually and collectively; which report the secretary will read at the grand annual meeting on Thanksgiving Day.
Many girls, young, like yourselves, to whom it is just as natural to be glad and happy, have little to make them so, and to bring some brightness into their lives would indeed be worth forming a society for.
There are various ways in which kindness may be done these girls, and so many avenues will open to those seeking to benefit them, that it is needless to attempt any instruction as to what work may be performed by the society; if this suggestion is adopted, I know it will be safe to leave it to the quick sympathy and warm hearts of the girls to do the right thing at the right moment. What think you, girls, would it not be worth while to make of this last Thursday of November a Thanksgiving for others as well as for yourselves? and would not your own pleasures be doubly enhanced when sweetened with the thought of having done what you could to make someone else happy?
