Studio: international art (3.1894)

On Colouring Sculpture

letters and papers. Sometimes they bring orders y—>^ n COLOURING SCULPTURE,
for the port of discharge, in which case the vessel a \ _j_ gy GEORGE FRAMPTON,

o

4-4--

will perhaps square away up Channel and never I B A R A II BY MATTHEW

enter the harbour. But this time she comes right \ t WEBB

on, the pilot skilfully threading his way through
the already crowded Roads till he finds a berth I.—By George Frampton, A.R.A.

high up by the old training ship. With a roar that Space will not permit me in this brief article
can be heard all over the harbour the anchor and to touch upon the history, tradition, and pre-
chain run out, and as she swings to the wind we cedent of coloured sculpture. I shall confine
leave our ship and make for home, passing close myself to that most unsympathetic of all mate-
rials, plaster, in the use of which
I venture to say that colour is
the only final treatment. It is
the only treatment which can
make the repeats interesting,
and force the spectator to look
k j [ at every length or piece that

_ ^ J. ^ contains the design in a general

MJt^ J" . ^"fljSjjjjjjfi^f*" ....»«**» speaking of colour in relation

... 5-" "" - "•»*•* - ' W mean the laying on of flat sur-

faces of paint in the design, as
in the pattern of an oil-cloth ;
but the bringing out of all the
different tones that are to be

under old carved sterns, just clearing sharp jib- obtained by rubbing over the painted surface with
booms and smiling figure-heads, and fetch up to a soft rag, &c.

our moorings with an appetite, and ready for In preparing plaster to receive colour, I have
another trip to-morrow. H. S. T. tried several mediums, such as size, wax, and shellac.

With size, great care is required. The

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best white size should be obtained, and
it should not be laid on thickly. Wax
to my mind has the best effect, but it
is very difficult to manage on account
of its tendency to work up should you
attempt to alter the colour after it has
been put on. Shellac or varnish—
which, like size, should be white—is
best applied in a thin state until a slight
shine is visible on the part to be
painted. This mode of preparing the
plaster enables one, as the work pro-
gresses, to rub off with ease by the aid
of turpentine, and without disturbing
In connection with the above paper, it may be the ground, any colour with which one may not
interesting to note that Mr. Henry Scott Tuke's be satisfied, or which does not harmonise with the
August Blue, in the present Exhibition of the Royal general colour scheme.

Academy, which has been purchased by the ad- Where colour is to be employed, the design
ministrators of the Chantrey bequest, was painted should be carefully thought out with a view to its
near the Manacles. All Hands to the Pump, and use. As a rule it is well to confine oneself to big
most of Mr. Tuke's recent pictures, were painted shapes for each separate colour. All small detail
in this locality. is best left out, as it is apt to cut up the work. I

may mention Harvest, a charming little work by

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