Courtyard House: Starting in a Ceramics Factory

Chapter 33: Techniques for Using Camphor Oil and Paintbrushes

It was almost time to leave work.

After getting his food from the cafeteria, Li Feng sat down and ate directly at Chef Lin's table.

The food was very good today.

There's braised pork to eat.

After all, this was during the three years of natural disasters.

Being able to eat braised pork is quite a treat.

Li Feng believed that most factories didn't offer this kind of treatment.

However, this also reflects that the ceramics factory has a good sales channel; otherwise, they wouldn't have served you braised pork.

After Li Feng finished eating, his mouth was greasy.

Not far from Li Feng, Master Lin also chose to eat at the factory today because the canteen had braised pork. Otherwise, Master Lin usually wouldn't eat at the factory but would choose to go home to eat.

By this time, Master Lin had finished his meal.

He opened his cup and took a sip of hot tea.

have to say
Drinking hot tea is really comforting in this weather.

After finishing his tea, Master Lin asked Li Feng.

"Have you finished eating?"

Li Feng wiped the oil from the corner of his mouth with his hand, then nodded to Master Lin.

"I've finished eating."

At this moment, Master Lin noticed the material pen on the table behind Li Feng.

So he asked Li Feng.

"Are these ink pens completely dry?"

Upon hearing this, Li Feng immediately nodded and said...

It's completely dry.

"Absolutely no problem."

Li Feng knew that Master Lin asked him this because these material pens cannot get wet after they have been used to apply the material.

If it gets wet, the lines drawn on it will fall off even after firing.

Therefore, the most basic requirement is that the ink brush must not contain water.

When Wu Min went to buy pens yesterday, he specifically mentioned this to Li Feng.

So he understood what was going on.

After hearing Li Feng's answer, Master Lin nodded and said...

"Um!".

"Row".

Master Lin looked at the pens on the table, then said to Li Feng, "You bought two single-material pens, three half-material pens, and two double-material pens."

"Hmm! Not bad."

"As for the brush, you won't need it for now."

"For single-material pens, one uses Western Red and the other uses Dark Black."

"As for the half-brush, we'll just open one later."

"If it's a double-pen, you'll open one, but you basically won't need it; just keep it as a hobby."

"I'll teach you how to care for your brush later."

"Li Feng".

“Nurturing the brush is extremely important for us painters.”

"The pen is like our weapon, and what we need to do now is to take good care of it."

"Do you know?"

Li Feng nodded solemnly to Master Lin.

"I see".

"I will definitely do my best."

After hearing Li Feng's answer, Master Lin asked Li Feng to find a clean porcelain plate, and then he took out the frankincense oil.

After Li Feng placed the porcelain plaque on the table, Master Lin sat down next to the table and then directly dipped one of Li Feng's half-pen pens into the bottle containing frankincense oil.

At this moment, the tip of Master Lin's sizing brush was covered with frankincense oil.

Then Master Lin put the bottle containing frankincense oil aside, and then tapped the half-brush of material that Li Feng had bought on the porcelain plate at a 30-degree angle.

Master Lin tapped and twirled the material pen as he worked.

At this moment, Master Lin explained to Li Feng.

"I'm preparing the materials."

"My purpose in doing this is to apply the frankincense oil I just dipped into the brush."

"The purpose of doing this is to be able to draw lines smoothly."

"A fine brush is not as good as a regular brush."

"Although they all look the same."

"But the paint you use must flow from the belly of the brush to the tip, and then onto the porcelain plate."

"So this allows for smoother drawing."

"Did you understand?"

After hearing what Master Lin said, Li Feng quickly nodded to Master Lin.

"I see!".

Master Lin nodded and then returned the material pen to Li Feng.

He then gave instructions to Li Feng.

"Next, you need to train all the material brushes you bought." "Just as I just said, use two single-material brushes, one with reddish-brown material, one with dark black material, and one with pearly material."

"The other pens that are kept and maintained need to be taken out and polished every now and then, you know?"

Li Feng nodded, and then immediately did as Master Lin had just said.

It took about twenty minutes to dip the five pens in frankincense oil and then apply it to the porcelain plate.

After Li Feng finished doing all that, he immediately told Master Lin about it.

Master Lin first asked Li Feng to wipe the frankincense oil off the porcelain plate.

Li Feng finished it immediately.

After it's done.

Master Lin sat in Li Feng's seat.

He then took a dish from the table, which contained Zhuming jade.

In other words, it refers to the pigments used for pastel painting.

At this moment, Master Lin said to Li Feng.

"today!".

"I'll start teaching you how to draw lines."

"Why! I didn't say draw lines, I said pull!"

Upon hearing this, Li Feng immediately replied to Master Lin.

"That's because the lines are written out."

"Instead of being drawn."

Master Lin was very satisfied with Li Feng's answer, so he praised Li Feng.

"Um!".

"good.".

"Actually, ceramic painting is similar to meticulous brush painting."

"Lines are the skeleton of a painting, and we practice lines in order to build this skeleton well."

“The density, weight, and transitions of the lines are all very important.”

"If you want to paint a picture on ceramics."

"You have to learn how to draw lines from other people's paintings first, and then look at the colors used in the paintings."

"certainly!".

"This is the most basic thing."

"Many people who paint traditional Chinese paintings say that the works we paint are all craftsmen's work."

"But that's not entirely true."

"But you don't need to think about these things now. What you need to think about now is to practice this line well."

"First, I'll teach you how to prepare the materials."

"When polishing pearls, the first step is to dip them in camphor oil."

"Camphor oil is used to neutralize the properties of the Zhuming material and make it fluid, so that the Zhuming material can flow smoothly from the tip of the pen."

"But you can't use too much camphor oil."

"If you draw too many lines, they will explode or scatter."

"If you don't have enough, the lines you draw will be broken or you won't be able to draw them at all."

"This is not the same as using ink."

"Once you've adjusted the shades, you can start drawing directly."

"Therefore, it is very important to understand the properties of Zhuming material. As long as you understand the properties of the material..."

"I think you should be able to draw lines very soon."

"Now, listen carefully."

Upon hearing Master Lin's words, Li Feng couldn't help but move closer.

Only then did Master Lin begin teaching Li Feng the Dao.

"First, dip the tip of your pen in camphor oil, remember that!"

"It's the tip of a pen."

"The purpose of doing this is to help you control your oiliness."

"If you add too much, you have to remove the excess camphor oil, which will take a long time."

"So most of the time here we just dip the tip of the pen in a little camphor oil."

"After dipping, it's like nourishing a brush, applying material to the material dish on the pearl-like material."

"Your pen should be placed next to the Zhuming material."

"After dipping the brush in a certain amount of pearl pigment, rotate the brush and tap it in the blank areas. The purpose of doing this is to get the pearl pigment into the belly of the brush."

"The tapping process is also to mix the camphor oil and pearl pigment evenly inside the brush belly."

"After mixing it well, you can draw lines on the porcelain plate."

After Master Lin finished speaking, he drew a long line on the porcelain plate in front of him.

Looking at the line, Li Feng felt that it was long, powerful, and even, giving the impression of standing upright.

He looked at the lines and realized they resembled the iron-wire lines found in meticulous brushwork paintings.

Just as Li Feng was thinking about these things, Master Lin handed the pen to him.

Then tell Li Feng to practice hard.

After Master Lin finished speaking, he went to paint porcelain.

Li Feng paused for a moment, then began practicing lines using the material brush that Master Lin had prepared.

(End of this chapter)