DOUBTLESS many have admired the handsomely colored photographs exhibited throughout the country by agents who claim to know the secret of the art, and the method of teaching it. The fact is, it is no secret, the process being an old one, and very simple.

Materials Necessary For The Work

The best of tube paints in flake white, orange-yellow, Indian red, vermillion, chrome-green, rose-madder, terre-verte, ivory black, Prussian blue, and vandyke brown, a convex glass in size to suit, an ounce of castor-oil and balsam of fir in equal parts, an ounce vial of castor-oil, adhesive paper, good mucilage, and camel's hair brushes in three sizes. None of these are difficult to procure, except the Convex glass. That can be obtained from any first-class picture dealer. [345]

The Process

Let your photograph lie in rain-water for ten or twelve hours; it can then be taken from the card with ease. Use a blotter to dry it. Clean the glass thoroughly. Cover the face of the photograph with mucilage, using a soft linen cloth, and at once place the face side next to the under side of the convex glass. Place soft paper over it, and work out all air and moisture, beginning at the center. When perfectly smooth, lay the picture aside for an hour, after which wet the entire surface with the mixture of castor-oil and balsam of fir, and place in the sun. In about eight hours the picture will become perfectly transparent. After it has become perfectly transparent, wipe off the picture with castor-oil and a linen cloth to free it from the stickiness caused by the balsam of fir. The picture is now ready for the paint.

How To Paint The Picture

Take a fine brush and the least possible amount of flake white, and touch the white spots in the eyes. Next outline the face, ear, nose, and mouth with a slight line of white. If the eyes you wish to paint are blue, use vandyke brown for the pupils, and Prussian blue mixed with a little white for the rest of the eye, using white for the corners. If the eye is brown, paint the pupil black, and the rest of the eye brown. The corners are painted with white and yellow mixed for dark eyes. For a blonde, paint the lips with white and rose-madder; for a brunette, use white and Vermillion. For the center of the ear, use a fine paint of Vermillion; for the rest of the ear, white, with a slight touch of rose-madder. Paint the cheeks and chin of a blonde with a mixture of rose-madder, white, and a little touch of yellow. For a brunette use vermillion instead of rose-madder. This mixture gives the flesh tint. Use the flesh tint beneath the brows and around the eyes. Add a little white to this, and paint around the edges of the hair, increasing the amount of white as you near the eyebrows. Use flesh tint for the neck. For blondes, use a background made of Prussian blue, rose-madder, and white; and for brunettes use white, rose-madder, and terre-verte, well mixed.

For jewelry, use orange yellow mixed with a little white. For hair slightly gray, use ivory black and pure white mixed. For auburn hair, mix white, yellow ochre, and vandyke brown.

These pictures will remain in good condition for some time, but after a few years will become opaque. Good materials are absolutely necessary. This work requires much patient effort. When the painting is all done, place the picture in an oval frame, such as are found at the picture stores.

Decalcomania, or the Art of Transferring Pictures.

There is no more ready process for decorating panels, vases, flower stands, the beds of vehicles, and, in fact, anything upon which a picture can be placed with slight cost, than the art of decalcomania.

The Materials

The pictures for transferring are for sale in picture, paint, and varnish stores at very trifling cost. The other materials are, a small quantity of balsam of fir, or some good white varnish which will dry quickly, a small sponge, and a brush for applying the varnish.

How To Transfer The Picture

A little practice is required to make a neat transfer. Clean the object to which the picture is to be applied, and take great care to leave it dry and perfectly free from any oily substance. Apply a thin, even coating of either varnish or balsam of fir to the face of the picture, and press the picture to the surface to which it is to be transferred. Be careful that the picture is never moved after it is once applied. Smooth it down very evenly, working out every blister and air-hole. The next step is to remove the paper, which will then reveal the picture firmly stuck to the surface intended. The process of removing the paper is very simple, but skill is required. With the sponge, moisten the paper, gradually but thoroughly. This should be done before the varnish is quite dry. When the paper has been sufficiently moistened, it should be neatly peeled off, beginning at a corner, when, if the foregoing instructions have been faithfully observed, the picture will be revealed firmly sticking where desired. Sometimes a portion of the picture will come off with the paper; this results from one of three causes, - either the varnish was not evenly spread, or it had not dried enough to hold the picture, or the paper had not been sufficiently moistened.

The remedy is apparent.

Among the late uses to which this method has been put is the transferring of pictures to silk and satin, in place of painting, and it may not be amiss to state that when they are transferred, the pictures very much resemble oil paintings. There is no reason why these pictures could not be transferred to any plaque or vase, making really beautiful ornaments. If the pictures are not attainable at local stores, they can be obtained in the larger cities.