Hi Tonya,

When I say as base I mean direct on copper. If you apply over flux, you get a much more transparent result, at least the kinds I use.

Thank you, Mer.

Thank you, Mer, for sharing...I think I'm going to try the leaded opalecents...

 

Hello,  I know this blog was awhile ago, but I just found it.  I am wondering if you mean to even isolate the fine silver wires with flux to keep from yellowing?

Can you tell me what opal pearl of white you have used successfully over transparent colors.  I am working on a Hog Fish.  They change colors with their environment and with fear.  I have seveal layers of pale gold, gold, and red orange on the piece already.  And it's a bit darker than I wanted.  I was hoping to use some white opal to tone it down without loosing the colors underneath.  I will be using NG 301.

 

 

Hello, 

Yes, the opalescent enamel can turn yellow just from cloissonné wires if it touches them, but it might be barely noticeable, you will have to do tests.

 

That depends on the effect you want. I don't know which brands you use, I would use Soyer 101 for example. If you fire too long, it will become very milky and hide the colours below and probably spoil the piece, so be careful with the firings. It may give a nice effect, but not necessarily a lightening, more like a whitening. Again, do tests in scrap pieces of metal using the same colours. Every possible outcome cannot be predicted, you have to test it.

Is it common knowledge to wash opal colors well.  I was told by another artist that I should never wash opal colors.  Now I am confused.

Sondra,

I was taught to wash all enamels used for cloisonne, including opalescent colors.  You wash enamels to remove impurities so your color is clearer.  Washing an opalescent may make it less opaque and slightly more transparent because it removes the finest grains which tend to be the most opaque, but it also gives you an cleaner color, less of that milky look.  It will still look like an opalescent, though.  

 

Have you ever sifted a jar of transparent or opalescent enamel into several grits, then made side-by-side samples of them to compare?  This separates the finest grains just as washing does, but now you can use the fine grains rather than throwing them away.  The finest grit will give you the lightest color, and it will also be the most opaque.  The coarsest grit will be the most transparent and will have the cleanest, strongest color.  I do this with all my Ninomiya colors because they tend to have a lot of very fine grains and I don't want to waste them by washing them away.           

I have never heard of that, and I definitely wash my opalescents. I wash all of my colours, including opaques. Very rarely I use unwashed colours, to sift only, and often I wash them and dry them to sift. But I rarely sift in fact.