Potterycrafts China Painters Fat Oil

Fat oil traditional China painters medium, usually mixed with turps. Also suitable for underglazes but requires hardening on.

Tips for on-glaze painting:

Cadmium reds and yellow:

 These warm colours need to be applied more thickly and fired at a slightly lower temperature, to 790C (maximum), with little or no soak. This method is most relevant to P4288 Golden Yellow.

Transparent colours:

 Any on-glaze or glass paint can be made transparent by the addition of clear flux. Products available from Potterycrafts are: 

R5925 - Mixing flux for low sol colours
R5926 - Mixing flux for low sol colours, suitable for use with cadmium
colours
R5625 - Mixing flux for leadless colours
R5930 - Mixing flux for glass colours (high temperature)
R5948 - Mixing flux for glass colours (medium temperature)
These fluxes can also be used as a protective layer over on-glaze decoration to give extra durability.

Outlines:

Outlines for designs can be traced or drawn free hand using a soft pencil or fine marker pen. For a more permanent result, a pale brown or grey on-glaze colour can be used with a fine brush or pen. This can then be fired to give an outline which will not be lost after the first firing.

Outlines are best done on ware that has been de-greased with turpentine and dried.

Matt colours:

 On-glaze colours can be matted down with the addition of a matting agent such as zinc oxide. This should be mixed at approximately two parts colours to one part matting agent.

Metals and lustres:

When working with any metals or lustres, we recommend you use a brush dedicated to those products. Do not wash your brush with soap and water, as this may cause faults on your next application. Rinse used brushes in the appropriate essence and then wrap the bristle in aluminium foil. If necessary, soften your brush with essence before working.