Sunday 14th of March, 2010 at 07:57PM

WORKING WITH MATT WHITE Inspiration & Information

What are the benefits? I guess it’s a personal choice. I am always looking for complimentary techniques and find that matt white works beautifully alongside lustres and rich grounding. It can give you a base texture and a feel for things such as Flannel Flowers that are soft and suede like, complimented by a brilliantly coloured lustre background works a treat. For the dense fur on animals such as a Wallaby or Kangaroo for example and also for buildings and brick walls – it has so many uses. I have used it as shadow flowers behind large pink Lilies for a soft effect, and also just as shapes, both penned and blocked in, to link areas in my work. Why bother using it? I have found it gives a wonderful base to paint on, similar to painting on paper. It allows me to build up colour and establish most of my painting in just 2 fires. I like to take my time and over paint some areas (that is go back into the dry paint and pile on some more colour intensity) and I also like to work with lots of detail. So I guess it suits a person such as myself who likes to be neat, tidy, and as exact as I can possibly be. Can I paint like I normally do? Paint as normal, only direct your brush strokes with a purpose: that is put the colour where you want it, leave it alone instead of blending everything together- or ‘fluffing about’ like so many of us do. Use a stippler or cotton bud or even a fine sponge to soften edges of colour where you want to grade your colour tonally. Use whatever works for you. Maybe even just a clean brush with medium to soften where needed. You can wipe out a clean line simply by using any of your wipe out tools. Naturally there are hard and soft tools available, and thick and thin wipe out tools, and all come in handy for the particular effect you are seeking. Fire your work at about 760-780 dg.

Why not just use bisque porcelain? Bisque is more porous, is cream/off white in colour most of the time and the shapes are limited. Matt white when applied is smooth, can take colour without altering the colour density (provided the colour is not over fired), can be grounded onto any shape and can be complimented by the glaze areas left. Other pastes can be applied on top of the matt white, such as texture paste or enamel for extra highlights. I have had a student who forgot to switch off her kiln, and the firing went to 900 dg. The matt white stayed perfectly matt, which was amazing. How do I apply the Matt White? I ground it on. I use a thin grounding oil such as Gwen’s or Josephine’s Grounding Oil. Apply the oil evenly with your finger to the area and pad back with silk over the sponge until the oil resembles a satin finish. There should be no wet spots or thick spots in the oil as this will result in an uneven finish and spoil your painting surface. Brush over the Matt White and be sure to wear a mask as it contains high lead levels. Make sure the oil is saturated with the powder and then brush off the excess. Remove any red resist and tidy up any edges that are uneven with a satay stick. Fire to 790-800 dg. Give it a good rub with the sanding paper until it feels smooth. You are now ready to paint. Can I use Red Resist over Matt White? Yes you can. You only need to remember to rub some turps over the matt white before applying the red resist. The same as you would do if using lustre and applying resist over fired lustre. It will ensure that the resist comes off easily. Also make sure that you don’t skimp on the use of the resist. That is, it should be a good even application and look all the same colour of red/pink. If any area is coated too thinly, then your lustre will come through, and believe me, you will not see it until after the firing is done! Take your time, use a good quality brush with a good point and magnifiers if you can’t see the lines cleanly enough. All these processes contribute greatly to your overall finished product. It’s not just the quality of the painting that counts. Be meticulous in all areas of your work. The plate I have with Flannel Flowers for instance has had 4-5 hours of masking on it and that’s not the time taken to pen, design, paint and gild it. What else can I do with Matt White? In many of the European books, you will see that the artist uses a scrafitto method to scratch out patterns into the Matt White. A pattern is scratched out and MOP lustre is applied with a brush over the entire area. Any pattern that has been scratched back to the porcelain will then have a beautiful iridescent colour. Actually if you are going to do this, then I suggest you use Fay Good’s French Acid Etch powder, which is pink. The pink colour will allow you to see where you are scratching out and make it much easier – your eyes will thank you! It looks very like Matt White and can also be painted over if need be. Applying different coloured lustres over this type of work could be interesting – some experimenting is needed.