I have a pair of Asian man and woman statues similar to the pair of Asian statues on the mantelpiece of I love Lucy, however the colors are quite different from the pair on the show. I decided to try to repaint them to look like the I love Lucy set. I could use a special paint for use on porcelain that I saw at Dick Blick’s, and which can be baked on. However I decided on an ordinary acrylic paint because it will get the look I want and can be scrubbed off again to preserve the original statues as they were. Here is how they looked.

As reference photos I used a picture from the auction of the original prop statue that was used on the I love Lucy show plus a picture of a matching vintage female statue in the same color scheme as the original statue.  These statues came in pairs in co-ordinating colors. The original prop from the show is on the left below and is black with pale pink elements. the female statue is from a recent ebay auction of a vintage statue by the same maker and shows how the original would have looked.

I chose Blick Matte Acrylic 00727-3703 — Red Light for the pink color and mixed it with white to produce a pale pink. and black matte for the black elements.

Here is how they look after the first few coats of black and pink plus some gloss acrylic varnish on top:

I did three coats of base colors of matte black and pale pink, and used a size 0 brush for the fine lines. On top of that is a layer of gloss acrylic to protect the base layers. Next I will use the size 0 brush to fill in the details of ornamentation on the borders of the outfit etc and add a mustache on the man.

Here the detailing is complete. I used the size 0 brush to create the designs on the borders of the clothing to match the original prop. It was a challenge to create the fine lines, the paint had to be very thin and applied with the point of the brush.  a closer look at the reference pictures show that some of the designs are painted in pale blue to look like Chinese characters, luckily I had some blue acrylic paint to get the right look. A final layer of varnish is applied over the top.

I found that the best way to get a straight edge is to use the side of the brush hairs and draw the brush very slowly. Another tip is to hold the item you are painting in both hands, this is a more forgiving way to paint fine details because your left hand can move the item away as you paint to help avoid making mistakes, much better than leaving the item on a solid surface.

I am pleased with the result although I don’t think I will be going in for porcelain painting as a hobby. It’s painstaking work and you need endless patience.