Bonnie Mackintosh

No letters or queries again…. You must all be geniuses!!!

Apologies to you all, as last issue's article was printed in the wrong page order. Here is the correct order in which to read the pages: pp22, 23, 26, 25, 27, 28.

 

In this issue, I will show you how to make colour samples (colour tests) for your transparent enamels, and within that, how to apply silver foil. (Please note: the silver foil referred to is a very fine silver sheet almost like silver leaf, and not (!) aluminium kitchen foil.) I will also briefly discuss colour shading and colour blending. The rest - the real work! - is up to you!

 

Here is the method (courtesy of Camden Workshops) that I use in my Enamelling classes for testing new transparent colours. It is the best and most comprehensive method I have seen, and will provide the following visual information: -what one layer of the chosen colour will look like over

1. white
2. fluxed silver foil
3. unfluxed silver foil
4. fluxed copper
5. bare copper

and what two layers of the same colour will look like over all of the above.

My colour samples are prepared on round copper discs, but of course you may choose to alter the format to suit the materials you have. Be observant! Note, for example, which colours can by successfully used over bare copper (for basse-taille or champlevé techniques). Observe how some colours (notably gold-bearing pinks and reds) are markedly different over fluxed and unfluxed silver foil.

 

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