A message from mary lyons to all members of Painting - Grisaille, Limogé, Impasto - Chapter #8 on Grains of Glass!

Hope this is the best way to respond to Camille's question.  I've been experimenting with china paints a lot, but I'm no expert.  I use them over a fired base of enamel.  There are many types of media you can use to mix them, depending upon the technique you're using and the final look that you want.  I especially like pen oil with a quill pen.  Some pen oils are made to dry quickly so you can paint over them before firing.  Then there are other media, water and oil based, and I apply those with small brushes like regular painting.  I vary my steps depending on the outcome I want, but ones that work for me are: draw with pen oil, fire, fill in with paints, fire or draw with pen oil, let dry, fill in with paints, fire or draw with graphite, fill in with paints, fire, outline with pen, fire.  Thompson has a good selection of painting media as do all the china paint dealers.  From what I've read about 'real' china painters, they first mix the powder with a mixing media that keeps the paste open for a while and then mix a small amount of that with painting media as needed.  I don't do the mixing step.

Some of the colors to be a bit delicate--specifically reds, oranges and yellows.  So I fire no higher than 1400 degrees and for a short time--only just until it glosses.  Then I fire a soft transparent as a top coat, but once again, only till it glosses.

Sorry to go on so long and you probably already know some of this.  But the short response is--yes, you can most certainly use china paints.  There are so many colors and ways to use them!

Mary

Thank you so much for the information...I have been buying the china paints as I come across them and have a decent selection of colors - lots of purples, reds, yellow, blues, etc. but have no idea where to start actually using them.  I got a little container of lavender oil (very slow drying - I tried it on my whiskers) and I got a bottle of Seeley's Ultra Fine Line Medium too...I still have a looooong way to go to learn this particular method of enameling but now I feel a little more confident that it's do-able to kind of teach myself. 

 

You mentioned graphite...do you use this to draw on your general pattern before coloring? Will a regular pencil work for this?

 

Next question...will the enamels be matte or glossy after they are fired??  If they fire matte, is there something wrong or should the enamel be fired longer? What is the difference between overglaze paints and underglaze paints?

 

Is there anyone that teaches this or any workshops that anyone knows about coming up?

 

Thanks for all the help...I really really appreciate it.  I think I might work on something this weekend...take one of my cloisonne patterns and try to paint it instead of doing the piece with wires...the only way for me to start to learn this is to just start...