Embroidery and Fancy Work. Anonymous
Ear,—This is worked on a straight central line. Work a chain stitch (rather long), and take an upward slanting on either side. In making the slanting stitches, bring the needle out inside the chain stitch.
Ship Ladder. — Make a" straight stitch a quarter of an inch in length; bring out your needle on the right hand side a little above where it went in, and one quarter of an inch off. Put it in on the left hand of the straight stitch, a little below and about a quarter of an inch away. Bring the needle out at the end of the straight stitch and repeat.
Lattice Stitch. — This is useful for filling rather wide spaces. Work five slanting stitches across the stripe, about a quarter of an inch apart, and cross them by five stitches worked in the opposite direction, interlacing the threads as you work. Miss a quarter of an inch and repeat.
Persian Cross-Stitch. — This is a long slanting stitch crossed by one one half as long.
WORK BASKET IN TICKING WORK. (Fig. 23.)
Cut four pieces of ticking, shaped as in the illustration; in the model these pieces are eight inches long measuring from the point, and the cardboard foundation is ten inches square, but with the corners rounded off. Having worked your ticking, sew it on, together with a silk inner bag, to which the ticking work must be caught by carefully hidden stitches. Work a handle and fasten on. The fancy edge is crocheted from silk as follows:— Crochet a foundation row of the necessary length; then work—
1st. Row: 9 chain, pass over four loops, one double in the next. Repeat.
Fig. 23.
2d Row: Three double in the three centre stitches of the nine-chain, three picots (of five-chain, one single in the first.) Repeat.
PAINTING IN OILS.
Color, however brilliant or charming, can never disguise bad drawing, nor will time, which may tone down and mellow too glaring or vivid coloring, lend any disguise to faults of drawing. An old Italian proverb may be freely translated: — "If time corrects painting, it does nothing for drawing. " But if you wish to begin painting, you need not necessarily wait till you are a proficient with your pencil. Good drawing may be learnt as well with the brush as in any other way; and in fact, the artist must learn to draw with his brush, that is, to produce the right effects of light and shade, true perspective, etc. Good lessons are, of course, of inestimable value, but many have done much for themselves by study and assiduous practice.
As for the outfit required, it need not necessarily be a very expensive one. If you can manage to have a room to yourself, however small, so much the better. Darken all the windows but the one at which you have your easel. A northern exposure is to be preferred, as the light is more even. If painting from nature, the lower part of the window should be darkened, in order to give the proper effects of light and shade. Your palette should be light and fit your hand comfortably. Nos. 2, 4, 6, and 9, flat red sable brushes, one flat bristle brush, and one badger blender No. 4, will be a good assortment to begin with, which can be added to as you wish. It is well, however, to have two or three No. 6 brushes, as that size is constantly needed. Get the best brushes, as it is very unsatisfactory to work with poor tools. For the same reason, get Windsor & Newton's paints, which are more reliable than the American. A good selection of colors would be the following: —
| *Silver White. Yellow Ochre. Light Cadmium. Medium Cadmium. Orange Cadmium. *Light Red. *Vermillion. Madder Lake. Rose Madder. *Indian Red. Cobalt. | Permanent Blue. *Antwerp Blue. *Terre Verte. Zinnober Green (light; Schonfeldt's) Raw Umber. Burnt Sienna. Bone Brown. *Ivory Black. Blue Black. |
This list can be shortened by taking only the colors marked with an asterisk, with the addition of burnt umber, raw sienna, and Naples yellow. For some reasons it is far better to restrict yourself to as few colors as possible, so as to learn their capabilities. The old masters had a much more limited range of colors than we now possess, yet who will dare to dispute their claims to pre-eminence as colorists? To your list of materials add a two ounce bottle of poppy oil, a tube of Soehnee frères' retouching varnish, some soft old calico or muslin, a tube of megilp, and, if necessary, transfer and tracing papers.
A sketch block for oil painting, containing 32 sheets, 7x10 inches in size, can be bought for $1,00; 10x14 for $2.00. These are good to practice on. You can also purchase wooden panels, or papier maché, wooden, or porcelain plaques for decorating. It is considered advisable, generally, to paint standing, but as some will find it necessary to paint at a table, a small easel for the purpose will be desirable. It can be made by any carpenter from the following measurements: The top and bottom pieces are respectively fifteen and seven inches wide, with a perpendicular brace, eighteen inches in height, connecting top and bottom. The side pieces connecting the top and bottom should have holes in them at regular intervals for about half their length; a couple of pegs fitted into these holes serve to support a loose bar of wood, on which the picture rests; by means of the holes the picture can be placed higher or lower on the easel as is desired, A leg twenty inches long and pointed at the end, is hinged to the back of the easel at the top; and one twenty-two inches long, pierced with holes, is hinged to the bottom of the easel. By means of these holes, the inclination of the easel is governed. Academy board, or canvas stretched on a frame, can be used to paint on, instead of the sketch block referred to above.
Sketch your design correctly, but lightly; if you cannot draw, trace and transfer it as directed elsewhere, but if you paint much you will soon be able to throw aside these aids. Now study your subject and "set your palette" with the needed colors. It is well always to put the colors on in the same general order, as you will then work more systematically. To "set the palette," squeeze out of the tubes portions of color about the size of a pea, and lay them along the upper edge of the palette, be, ginning from the thumb side in the following order:—White, Naples yellow, raw sienna, burnt sienna, light red, Indian red, vermilion, terre verte, zinnober green, umber, blue, and black. You have thus ample space for mixing, with the palette knife (which must be added to the list given above), the various tints on the lower part of the palette. The lighter tints are usually placed on the right hand side of the palette. White or black is usually combined with all colors as they are required lighter or darker.
To make any tint, take on the point of the knife a small portion of megilp, and the colors you want, mix them on the palette, scrape them up, and lay them in gradations for use.
Of course in a single chapter we cannot enlarge on the laws of color. The amateur should, if possible, possess and study thoroughly some good book on the subject.
The following lines by Henry Hopley White were originally published in connection with a diagram illustrating the relation of the colors. They may help some in the study of color, and are convenient for reference.
"Blue—Yellow—Red—pure simple colors all
(By mixture unobtained) we Primaries call:
From these, in various combinations blent,
All the colors trace their one descent,
Each mixed with each—their powers combined diffuse
New colors forming Secondary hues;
Yellow with red makes Orange, with blue—Green; In blue with red admixed, is Purple seen. Each of these hues in Harmony we find, When with its complimentary combined; Orange with blue, and green with red agrees, And purple tints near yellows always please. These secondary Tertiaries produce, And Citrine—Olive—Russet—introduce;