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The Art Of Making Liuli (Coloured Crystal) The Process:  1)Inspiration
A drawing is first created with the intention of transmitting emotions and ideas of the final product onto paper. As we know, fine art often has goals beyond pure creativity and self-expression. An inspiration penned down in the Liuli art is an essential element in ensuring that the final product will be a masterpiece. 
2)Sculpting An artist creates an original artwork from wax, clay, wood or another material. Wax and oil-based clay are often preferred because these materials retain their softness. Softness in Liuli crystal glass is an important ascetic that defines the product.  3)Mould Making
A mould is made of the original sculpture. Most moulds are at least two pieces, and a shim with keys is placed between the two halves during construction so that the mould can be put back together accurately. Most moulds of small sculptures are made from plaster. Usually, the original artwork is destroyed during the making and initial deconstructon of the plaster mould. This is because the originals are solid, and does not easily bend as the plaster mould is removed. Often long, thin pieces are cut off the original and moulded separately. Sometimes, especially in the case of large original (such as life-size) sculptures, many moulds are neeed to recreate the original sculpture. 
4)Making Copies of Mould This new, hollow wax copy of the original artwork is removed from the mould. The artist may reuse the mould to make more wax copies, but wear and tear on the mould limit their number. For small crystal artwork, a common number of copies today are around 4 to 6 copies.  5)Chasing
Each hollow wax copy is then "chased": a heated metal tool is used to rub out all the marks which show the "parting line" or "flashing" where the pieces of the mould came together. The wax is then "dressed" to hide any imperfections. The way the wax looks at this stage, is what it will look like when it is cast.  6)Adding Colour
Two or more types of colour is usually added to the Liuli. One of the first things that people notice about Liuli are its bright multiple colours. Normally, glass and crystal artwork can only be fired in one colour. Any attempt to mix the colours will cause cracking when burning. Only Liuli crystal can contain multiple colours within one piece, allowing the creator to transfer more artistic expression into each individual piece. 
7)Mixing of Colour and Lead The coloured crystal is mixed with lead and other components to give Liuli its translucency and colour mix perfection, then its placed into the wax mould and prepared for the next step.  8)Burnout
The wax-coated piece is placed in a kiln, whose heat hardens the silica coating into a shell, and the wax melts and runs out. Now all that remains of the original artwork is the negative space, formerly occupied by the wax, inside the hardened shell. This process is known as "lost cast wax" or "Pâte de Verre". Liuli work always contains bubbles trapped inside during the high-temperature firing process. Since the bubbles are random in number and location, some artists feel they add to the uniqueness of each piece and give it some life of its own.  9)Removal and Base Cutting
The outer shell is only removed after 1 to 2 weeks after the burnout process. At this stage whether the product comes out according to the artist's impression is not known until the outer shell is removed. When the shell is removed and it is to the artist's satisfaction, the base of the product that has overflowed is trimmed to give the product a proper base to rest on.  10)Polishing 1
The product goes through a manual hand sander to remove all excess of unwanted material and it's cleansed with a solution. 
11)Polishing 2 The product goes through a fine sander to bring out the colour, lustre and translucency of the Liuli crystal and the final cleaning and polishing is done at this stage. 
12)Inspection and Quality Control The product goes through final process of inspection and quality control to ensure that the final product is to the artist's satisfaction.
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