Porcelain Beginner: China Paint and Firing
I am interested in learning to china paint. I have a background in ceramics but have never tried painting on porcelain. I am having trouble finding general information on firing procedures. I find and have purchased numerous books with patterns but not many with the basics. I feel a little lost and am hoping you can help. I have heard that you have to do seperate firings with procelain. Could you please explain this and why this has to be done. Also what cone do you fire to w/ porcelain and does it change depending on the color of paint being used or is it fairly standard? Can paints be mixed easily or are their colors that cannot be mixed. I am also naive on the mixing mediums but gather paints come in powder form and you dilute them to proper consistency using the medium- mix thinner for transaparent and thicker for deeper colors. Am I correct? Also, can I use the china paints you offer on things other than dolls? And finally, If I paint on a glazed surface versus a porcelain bisque surface, how would the technique change. I am a beginner and know these questions sound naive and basic but I am having great trouble finding anything of general information. I would appreciate anything you could offer. thanks for your time. Teresa W
  Hi Teresa, One of the best books you can get on chine painting (or course, for dolls) is Beautiful Dolls Made Easy. We have it available on our website. China paint (we call it a paint fire) is fired at cone 018. You can go hotter to cone 016, but if you get too hot the reds tend to turn brownish or even fire off. Red tones are the only ones that are 'funny' this way..
  The reason you do separate paint firings (it is optional) is just to avoid painting "wet on wet"...meaning that if you're painting eyebrows, for instance, and you get the brows just perfect, but you still want more 'hairs', then you fire the head with the brows you like, then after that firing, paint more brow hairs, and fire again. Also, to get a lot of depth when painting eyes, you paint, fire, paint and fire, etc.
  China paints are easily mixed. You can use either an oil medium (and then you have to clean up with turpentine) or with a water base medium. We have several mediums for both. A water-base 'Area' (or painting medium) is just a medium that drys relatively quickly. A fine line water-base medium slows the drying time. When using water based mediums with China paints, the paint is similar to watercolors. When using an oil base medium, the paint is similar to an oil paint. You mix by putting a small amount of the china paint powder on a ceramic surface, such as a glazed tile (a wall tile you would put in a bathroom, for instance) you can purchase at any hardware store. You can also mix the paint on a piece of glass or any other hard, non-porous surface. A little goes a long way. Put the paint in about the middle of the tile, then off to one side (but not too far away on the tile) put a small amount of whatever medium you want to you. With a palette knife, bring a little of the dry powder into the wet medium. I usually put the amount of china paint powder that fits on the tip of the palette knife to begin with. Then you mix (stir) and "grind" (with the tip of the palette knife) the powder into the medium. You want the final mixture to be about the consistency of toothpaste. And you want to make sure that all the granules of powder is completely mixed in.
  I usually mix up colors (using different colors of paint) after I have the base color mixed - using the paint much the same way as watercolors. But some people mix the dry powders first. They do this if they know a certain color formula and have precise measuring tools.
  Again, you don't have to mix thinner or thicker for depth of color. You can add medium to your brush (or use just plain water if you've mixed with a water-based medium). You can actually use plain water as your medium, but water tends to dry the paint that you've mixed very quickly ---much like those solid circles that you see for kids' watercolor paints.
  To get a depth of color, you can do multiple firings, deepening the color between your paint fires.
  You can paint over an already glazed surface, but the paint may not adhere to the surface. It's best to paint over bisque and then apply a glaze if you want. But remember, the glaze you have may be fired at a hotter temperature than what you would fire the china paint at. The glaze should seal the paint, but i can't guarantee that it will. I would experiment on a 'throw-away' piece of ware first. For dolls we don't usually use glaze - although parian dolls are glazed.
  Even if you're not planning on making dolls, the "Beautiful Dolls made easy" book is a great reference for painting and firing and is definitely worth the money, even though it's not a very large (number of pages) book. -- Susan