by Ruth Ball.
Painting enamel may be employed in a wide variety of styles, although predominantly it is used to produce representational work such as portraits and miniature paintings of landscapes and animals. These are often seen on boxes and other small ornamental objects.
Painting enamels consist largely of finely ground metal oxide pigments. They are painted and fired, typically, onto a white ground coat of enamel. Ground coats other than white may be used. Flux, for example, makes a good base for a variety of applications, and in the Grisaille technique, very dark grounds are used as a base for monochrome works.
Historically, painted enamels have enjoyed a number of periods of popularity, one of the most widely recognised being the French 16th century Limoge period. There are several minor variations in technique in common use but generally enamel paint is fired in layers in order to build up painted effects and areas of tonal variation.
For this demonstration a simple technique has been used - the metal was cut to shape, cleaned and then prepared with counter enamel and a base (ground) coat of white enamel. Here two coats of white enamel were fired, and then lightly stoned to give an even surface on which to paint. The counter enamel is of an equal / even thickness.
I use Blythe painting enamels. Although painting enamel is very fine it is nevertheless, after the addition of painting medium, re-ground with a glass muller to a smooth paste.
Enamel paint placed on tile.
Medium added, mixed.
Ground with glass muller.
To a creamy paste.
Further dilution.
Equipment clean-up.
Initially the image for the painting is outlined in a key colour with a fine brush - very fine sable brushes are preferred. The outline is fired into the white base-coat and acts as a guide for the rest of the work. A painting could of course be commenced in a variety of ways - an outline is not completely necessary but is used here to demonstrate the idea of building up a design.
Painting outline.
Consecutive layers of enamel are applied and fired, in order to build up the tonality in the painting. The outline becomes less obvious and becomes part of the overall effect. Generally, the method used here is to work from light to dark and apply the paint in washes of colour akin to watercolour painting.
Each layer is fired separately, to create a variety of painted effects as needed. Firstly, before firing painted enamel the painting medium ( within the paint ) must be completely dried. The piece is held just in front of the kiln opening to allow the medium to dry off and to give the piece a slow introduction to the full heat of the kiln. It is then fired very carefully until the paint fuses with the base layer. A piece can be fired many times in order to develop the depth of effects required. This piece, however, was fired only three times from the outline stage before it was fluxed.
Reinforcing the outline.
Developing tonality.
Painting completed.
Once the fired image is satisfactory the whole surface of the painting is covered with flux and then fired again to give a protective layer and a finished glaze - it is quite a demanding process and requires particular care and attention to detail.
The flux must be ground very finely and washed very thoroughly. Any problems at this stage and hours of painting can be ruined in one firing. The flux must be applied in a very thin coat, thin enough to see the painting through. I tend to only use one coat of flux, although two coats can be applied if necessary.
The flux layer can be stoned back lightly and re-fired to give an even surface. I prefer to apply one layer only, getting an even coat in just one firing. I also prefer not to stone back if I can help it. This however, does tend to depend on how evenly I have applied the final flux layer. :-D The flux fuses with the enamel painted colour. It serves not only to give a protective layer, but also to soften and tone down the colours. However if you get the whole thing wrong the flux can either "lift" the image, or give a milky appearance - it's not nice at all, and hours of work can be ruined !
On my own pieces I tend to use enamel paint for decorative pattern and / or mark-making to add detail and emphasis to a piece. Sometimes all the colours are created by the enamel paint, and sometimes painted over a transparent colour for added effect. I generally like to paint over flux so that the engraved surface also shines through the enamel layers to give depth and added interest to the piece.
Finish-fluxing the piece.
Stages in the process.
Finished piece
