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hamada china paint

updated tue 15 mar 05

 

Richard Mahaffey on sun 13 mar 05


Paul,
Did Hamada china paint or did he use the much more common (in Japan)
enamels?
I believe that the difference was in firing temperature with china
paint around cone 017
and enamels above cone 015, in addition to the composition of the
fluxing materials.

Also in my experience China paint tends toward a dry surface where as
enamels tend to be shiny and thicker when fired.

Rick

Darcy Giesseman on mon 14 mar 05


Rick,

I usually simply lurk on this list, but thought maybe I could contribute
to this discussion.

In referring to "..China paint tends toward a dry surface" do you mean a
matte appearance rather than a more glossy or shiny one? Over/onglaze
china paints are available in matte and, for lack of a better technical
term coming to mind, "regular" which has more gloss/shine than matte yet
isn't usually obviously shiny to the eye. There are also some glazes for
china paints which can be applied over the paint then refired, but I
haven't used them much. In my experience, the amount of flux in the paint
and firing temperature/cone # also seems to affect shine.

Thickness of china paint and depth of color can be achieved either by
using a Meissen/Dresden style of painting or succcessive applications of
painting and firing. However, if applied too thickly eventually the paint
will begin to pop off during firing which basically essentially ruins the
piece.

Yes, I've done and still do china painting. One piece I fired 40 times
before it broke during the last gilding firing.

I hope this helps and makes sense.

Darcy Giesseman




> Paul,
> Did Hamada china paint or did he use the much more common (in Japan)
> enamels?
> I believe that the difference was in firing temperature with china
> paint around cone 017
> and enamels above cone 015, in addition to the composition of the
> fluxing materials.
>
> Also in my experience China paint tends toward a dry surface where as
> enamels tend to be shiny and thicker when fired.
>
> Rick
>
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Paul Lewing on mon 14 mar 05


on 3/13/05 10:57 AM, Richard Mahaffey at rickmahaffey@COMCAST.NET wrote:

> Did Hamada china paint or did he use the much more common (in Japan)
> enamels?
> I believe that the difference was in firing temperature with china
> paint around cone 017
> and enamels above cone 015, in addition to the composition of the
> fluxing materials.
>
> Also in my experience China paint tends toward a dry surface where as
> enamels tend to be shiny and thicker when fired.
What he used was always referred to as overglaze enamels, but the
differences are pretty much semantic, and they depend on who you talk to.
Some people say that china paints are transparent, enamels are opaque. Some
colors of china paint are glossy, some are not. Sometimes it depends on
what temperature you fire them to, sometimes on the chemical composition.
China paints are fired between cone 018 and 015 depending on the color, if
you do it the traditional way. I fire all my colors to 016 all the time.
And the composition of the fluxing materials has a s much to do with the
color you want as anything else.
And if you ask a china painter about "enamels" she'll talk about a substance
that is neither what you'd call china paint nor what you'd (or Hamada) call
enamel.
So did he use enamel or china paint? You tell me.
Paul Lewing,
signing off now till I get back from Baltimmore.