73. Oak graining has always been in the lead in the quantity of it that is done, and it is no wonder. It offers so many variations, and in either in its heart growths or in its quarter sawed condition an endless number of forms can be indulged in which are all pleasing to look at. It can be grained inoil or in distemper in both of its forms and in combinations of the two.
HEART GROWTH IN OIL.
74.The groundfor all oaks isbuff. Light oak requires a cream tone of it which can be deepened for the darker shades. For red and black oak a trifle of red can be added to the buff, which is made from some good ocher added to white lead. (See paragraphs 26 to 30 about preparing grounds under various conditions.)
75.The graining colorsproper are prepared to suit the shade of wood desired from raw sienna, raw umber and for very dark antique oak with a little ivory black added. The color should be megilped in order to make it comb and wipe clean. (See paragraphs 33 to 36.)
The wiping should be done as advised in paragraphs 48 and 49. Then combed as stated in paragraphs 50 to 52.
76. The graining will be improved if thesame is overgrained after the wiping out and combing coat has become hardened. This must not be overdone to look well. It consists simply in using some of the graining color used before, and in touching up a few places on the grained work. This darkens them some and these variations of color enriches it. The student will notice it upon natural wood usually where the veining makes a turn, etc. Study nature, but do notoverdo it.
77. When the overgraining is dry the job is ready for varnishing. In varnishing use an elastic varnish as much as possible, as both the ground coats and the graining colors contain oil and a hard, quick-drying varnish will not be so likely to give and accommodate itself to these as an elastic one will. As the varnishing coats which follow graining of all kinds are about the same for all woods it will not be necessary to repeat each time what is said here.
78. In varnishing over distemperedwork a quicker and harder varnish can be used than that named above. As many prefer a wax finish to varnishing, this can be applied over the work. The ready prepared wax finishes are best to use; they are easily applied with a brush or even a rag and afterward polished over with a cloth or a hand polishing glove made of lamb skin with the wool left on. It will soon polish up into a soft-toned subdued gloss which is pleasing and imitates “rubbed work†in hardwood finishing.
GRAINING OAK HEART GROWTH IN DISTEMPER.
78. It will be well not to have the ground coats too oily for graining in distemper, as it may be difficult to spread the distemper color over it, especially in cool weather. On the other hand again, it must not be too flat, as then the colors will sink into it and if from any cause one desires to wash them off they will be indelibly marked out upon the ground, and will at the least look dirty.
The check roller can be used to good advantage in putting in a few checks here and there, and a little fine stippling on the side away from where the main heart growth is to be pencilled in with the camel’s hair brush will help the looks of it. When dry proceed to put in the heart growth, using the overgrainer wherever possible in doing the fine line work over the stippling. It goes without the saying that all the veining, both heart growth and fine lines, must be well blended with the badger hair brush.
73. What is said of oak graining in general?
74. How are oak ground tints to be made?
75. How are the colors to be applied?
76. How is the graining overgrained?
77. How is the varnishing to be done?
78. How is wax polish finish applied?
79. There are a great number of ways of graining quartered oak and when one says that it is imitated in oil graining, but very little more information is conveyed than that the work is executed in that medium instead of in distemper color. The manner of doing it may vary greatly, as well as the growth itself, which is infinite almost. It is, therefore, a matter upon which little more information can be given without the actual showing than the rehearsing over of general principles. If the student has provided himself with a number of samples of quartered oak veneers and has practiced their reproduction in oil and in distemper, he will have gained an experience that type and printing ink cannot possibly teach him.
80. The grounds are to be the same asdescribed in the heart growth graining of oak. The graining color should be “rubbed in†very evenly, but neither too thick nor too thin. In most of the work, and that is naturallythatwhich one tries to describe in giving general directions in graining a certain wood, the surface should be combed over with rubber combs and afterward split up with a fine steel comb to break up the vein lines. Some skill may be shown in this, for if done properly and at the right angle the lines will appear as thickly studded pores, but if not, anything but that.
81. The method of “wiping out†is described in paragraphs 48 and 49. Remove all the flakes of the larger sorts first, which usually are to be found in the center of the wood samples, keeping in mind a definite idea of what the work is to represent; this lays out the general character of the wood.
82. The subsequent wiping out is to be done in accordance with the main flaking, gradually lessening the size of the secondaryflakings to the outer edge, where usually they are found much more numerous.
83. The graining may be much improved by softening the edges by using a very soft clean cotton cloth very lightly upon their lower edge. The proper doing of this requires some skill and usually is shunned by the cheap fellow, as it takes some little time as well as skill.
84. Overgraining quartered oak may be the means of greatly improving its looks, especially where a gnarly and knotty specimen is attempted. As stated before, this is done by the application of the color in oil used in the “rubbed in†coat to such parts which it is desired should look darker than the rest.
85. Sometimes the graining is finished up in water colors. The graining must, of course, be thoroughly dry in order that the distemper colors may take hold over it. Most beautiful effects can be obtained by this dual method of graining quartered oak.It requires skill in the operator, but good judgment and experience the more, as it is an easy matter to overdo it, when instead of a thing of beauty it becomes an eye sore.
86. Varnishing is the final operation in all kinds of graining, but the graining may also be waxed polished as noted in the preceding lesson.
Much more could be written as to the many various methods that are being used in the graining of oak, especially of quartered oak, but the space limit of this manual is too confined to attempt it. The directions given will suffice to indicate to the student how to proceed and as he progresses along, the variations in the manner of doing the work will suggest themselves to him and he will grow into them naturally.
79. What is said in a general way on the graining of quarter sawed oak?
80. What is said of the rubbing in coat and combing?
81. How are the flakes and champs put in?
82. What is said of the wiping out?
83. How are the edges to be softened?
84. How is the overgraining done?
85. What is said of combination oil and distemper work?
86. How is the work finished?
87. There is a great deal of quartered oak graining that is done in distemper in certain localities, especially where the grainers have come into the knack of it. When it is well done it is fully as good as when done in oil. The quality of the work is what counts, and it is just as easy to produce an eye sore in the one as it is in the other.
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88. It is true that the operator has no time to take a nap and hardly to bat his eyes, and that no doubt is the reason whyso few grainers attempt quartered oak in distemper. The colors do dry very quickly, so the graining must be done without hesitation or waste of time. If it has been practiced on the lesson boards mentioned in paragraph 72 no one who has succeeded on them need be afraid of tackling it on door panels, etc.
89. Everything in the way of colors, sponges, rags, overgrainers, blenders and tools being ready and within reach, the woodwork to be grained should be washed over with water into which vinegar has been poured. When it has become nearly but not quite dry, proceed to lay on the color in streaks with the overgrainers, then with the rubber or fine steel combs run through the lines in order to break them up and to serrate them, and immediately proceed with the rag and thumb or the rubber substitute for it to wipe out the champs and flakes in the way and manner described in the wiping out of oakin oil graining; soften the edges by using the soft cotton rag in the same way also. It is needless to say that one panel at a time is all that should be colored up, and even this will be found too much by many, but it can be done and it is not so difficult as it looks to be; only, as said before, there is no time to think of the “girl you left behind you†or anything else but doing the work.
90. For a change dark flakings and other flaked veinings may be put in instead of light ones. In this sort of quartered oak graining the whole thing is reversed. The color is applied evenly but solidly over the panel and immediately combed with rubber combs and split as related in the preceding paragraph; then with the camel hair pencil brush proceed to pencil on the flakes and champs as desired, slightly blending them with the badger blender. This is not so difficult to execute as by wiping out, because it does not matter about hurrying.
91. In either method the use of the check roller can be resorted to to improve the looks of the graining, it is best to delay it until the graining has been completed, as then it can be put only in such parts as really require it, while if put on beforehand it may be that they may be placed where they should not. They are not essential and, as stated before, really a detriment when not used rightly. The expert who knows where to use them, however, obtains a more natural finish by their use.
92. The overgraining ought to be done in oil colors and put on very thinly, then with clean cotton rags wipe it off from such parts that are required to be light, which will give the shading as if it had been done in oil over oil graining with the difference that in shading the latter the overgraining color is applied only where it is wanted and requires no wiping out.
93. Where distemper graining is overgrained with oil colors it practically becomesthe same as oil graining and that alone will usually protect it against accidents caused by water washing it off, but as the finish does not look even, that must be supplied as in the previous graining described, by either waxing or varnishing, or a combination of the two as related in paragraph 77.
87. What is said of quartered oak graining in distemper?
88. Why are some grainers afraid to undertake graining it in distemper?
89. How is the wiping out done?
90. How is dark flake graining done?
91. How may the check roller be used?
92. How should distemper graining be overgrained?
93. How is distemper graining to be finished?
94. Ash graining is very similar to oak graining, and but that the growth is somewhat coarser than that of oak, and that it is usually more evenly veined, at least in the American species, the student would find no need of further directions. It is somewhat more open, too, showing considerable porousness in some of its growth, so much so that some grainers stipple it as for walnut, but flog it finer and the color used being more subdued these pores do not show up so prominently. This, of course, relates to the graining it in water colors mainly, although it works nicely in oil for wiping out also, especially when the color used is for dark ash.
95. The ground should be very nearly that required for oak graining, just a trifle darker than is required for light oak. This, as in oak, is variable, and one must be guided by what finish is intended to begiven. Even the natural specimens vary greatly, and with the present fashion of staining woods into all sorts of outlandish hues one must take the cue as to what the ground shall be from the color used on the finish as stated before.
If it is finished in the natural color belonging to ash, the color of the ground can be made from ochre added to white lead as the base color, using more or less of it as a lighter or darker shade is desired.
96. The graining of ash in oil is done in much the same manner as that which is related for oil grain of oak in paragraphs 75 and 76. As the growth in the American varieties is straighter grained than that of oak, there will be no difficulty in wiping it out, only that the coarser growth must be reproduced as naturally as possible. The colors and megilp will be also about the same as for oak in the natural tone, and such other coloring matter must be added as found necessary to produce any of thestained effects wanted in others. If the ground is stippled before the wiping out, it should be done with raw umber and raw sienna in distemper; it will be well to reduce their strength by the addition of whiting in order that the stippling may not appear too prominent.
97. The graining of ash in distemper is very easily acquired and presents but little difficulty to one who has his mind imbued with the main characteristics of its growth. The graining may be done with or without stippling, but if the stippling is well done it will improve it. The veining is done with the camel’s hair brush, and the blending should follow it up quickly so as to divide up the veining before it has had time to set. This will enable the washing up of the stippling by the pressure of the blender, and will leave a paler base for the veining, which by the stronger contrast will appear more natural.
98. Ash is overgrained for the samepurpose as related of oak. It shows up the darker parts, or if they may be so called, the nerves of the wood. This should not be overdone, however, as it will defeat the very purpose for which it is done at all. It is better not to overgrain at all than to overgrain too much, and the student had much better do too little of it than to err upon the opposite side. The color used for overgraining is oil colors, as related for oak graining in paragraph 92.
99. Hungarian ash is so very much different from the American species in its growth that it might be well to cut it loose altogether from the ash group and to give it a place by itself. It resembles somewhat the growth sometimes seen in some yellow pine specimens. It is very wavy and the saw cutting across them the veins appear contorted into all kinds of circling growths, but with all this widening out suddenly of two lines which nearly meet together, there is a system in it and none ever cross overeach other. The student must study a natural specimen of it in order to understand this spiral and twisting system of growths, and when he sees through it he will find no difficulty in reproducing it in water colors, which is the only manner Hungarian ash is ever grained. It is possible to grain it in oil, but the time required to wipe it out will prevent grainers from ever attempting it the second time.
94. What is said about the graining of ash?
95. What is a proper ground for the graining of ash?
96. How is ash grained in oil?
97. How is ash grained in water colors?
98. How should ash be overgrained?
99. How is Hungarian ash grained?
100. The graining of chestnut presents no difficulty either to one who has a good knowledge of the handling of graining tools. Its general character is much the same as that of oak and ash. It differs from either, however, and has a growth entirely its own. Its principal points are: Coarseness of veining; its fibres being thick and when cut across by the saw present numerous coarse pores which must be represented by stippling coarsely and somewhat irregularly flogged on, as it shows only a few in parts where the saw has not cut the fibres across either squarely or slanting.
101. The graining of chestnut may be done in either oil by wiping or in distemper. By either method it will be best to stipple it in the manner stated in the previous paragraph—rather coarsely. The ground is a light buff, just about such as described for oak or ash, and may vary to suit the grainingand grainer. It can be wiped out easily in oil, but much the best way is to grain it in distemper, as it is easier and more quickly done. The veining is put on with a camel’s hair brush and blended with the badger hair blender before the color sets. The veining being coarse is easily put on. Its growth is not nearly as regular as that of ash and presents much variation in its forms. The color used for the stippling should be the same as given for ash stippling, but should have but little whiting added to it, as the pores must appear coarse and prominent. The colors used in either oil or distemper graining are raw sienna deepened with raw and burnt umber to suit.
MAPLE.
102. The graining of maple differs materially from that of the woods described heretofore. In color it is on the same order, however, of a light buff tone. It should be given a ground color just off the white by the addition of a trifle of ochre tothe white lead base. There is considerable variation in this and if one is required to match or imitate some aged maple the general tone will need to be much deeper, and may require a ground as deep toned as that of oak or ash, as maple darkens considerably by age.
103. Again as fashion has decreed that maple should be stained a light gray one has to grain it in imitation of that and the ground must then be made by the addition of lamp black to the white base sufficiently to make a faint pearl gray. The veining proper is not very prominent in maple. This consists of very fine lines with little if any feathering. Maple is a very close wood and shows but little if any porousness, therefore should never be stippled. The chief beauty of ordinary maple lays in its mottlings and not in its veinings. Plain maple being what is now under consideration, curled and bird’s eye maple will be taken up in a separate lesson.
104. Plain maple is never grained in oil as it would be too tedious to imitate it by wiping. Therefore its graining by distemper work is the only method worth the while to describe. To be able to grain it well the student must have its character well made out—in his head at least. The color if the wood is grained in its natural color is made from raw sienna weakened down to suit by the addition of whiting. The character of the wood is best produced by the application of the color with a sponge. This should be blended at once and if the color has been properly applied with the sponge, the mottlings produced by the blending of the color will usually suffice and a few more of a deeper tone may be added in the overgraining. As soon as dry, which requires but a few minutes, the veining proper may be put in with the same color with a camel’s hair pencil, but should not be blended. This should be done with a fine pointed brush as it should not be prominent. The better way to vein maple is to use a light raw sienna toned crayon pencil and to draw them out where desired. These produce an even stroked vein much easier to obtain by their use than with a brush.
105. The overgraining of plain maple is done in oil and consists of a few darker mottles made with a brush specially made for this purpose, but which in reality is little better than a plain double thick varnish flat brush, and the latter will be found good enough for this purpose. If the color happens to be too thickly put on, it can be wiped out with a clean rag and left only where it is desired. It should be made of raw sienna darkened with raw and burnt umber and thinned with raw linseed oil and turpentine, half and half. It has been supposed all along that the maple graining was done in its natural color. If gray maple is to be imitated the distemper color should be made from ivory black toned down with whiting and the overgraining color fromivory black thinned sufficiently to produce the tint wanted.
100. What is said in general of chestnut graining?
101. How should chestnut be grained?
102. What is said of maple graining in general?
103. How should gray maple ground be prepared?
104. How should plain maple be grained?
105. How should maple be overgrained?
106. This is the most elegant form of wood known and good specimens of the wood are a sight that well repay for the trouble of looking them up, as they will make a glad heart to the man who lovesbeautiful forms. To imitate it well by graining requires some practice and a good knowledge of what is required to produce the innumerable variations seen in it. When its growth is well understood it is not so difficult to imitate it. It may as well be stated here at the beginning that more bird’s eye maple graining is spoiled by overdoing than by not doing enough work upon it. The beginner had better confine his efforts to but a very few of the “bird’s eyes†at first. The few will look well and modestly nestled among their surrounding mottlings, but when this is overdone, which at the beginning especially is a synonym for badly done—whew! Better wash it off and try it over, with less of it next time, and the chances are that it will bear looking at it.
107. The graining of bird’s eye maple is always done in distemper, for the same reasons that were given in describing the graining of plain maple, and for a few additional ones of its own besides, so that all that willbe said in connection with it must be understood as appertaining to distemper work.
108. The ground when the graining is done in imitation of the natural color of the wood must be of a very light tone of cream color, or the finished work will be too yellow. If it is to be finished in imitation of the gray stained variety the ground must be made to correspond to that shade and a faint pearl-gray ground must be put on as noted in paragraph 103. The ground should not be too glossy, nor too flat, either, for the distemper colors will not work at their best on either extremes, but one should strive for an egg-shell gloss as near as possible.
109. The graining proper proceeds very much as was described for the imitation of plain maple. The same colors being used in either the natural color imitation or the gray tone with a somewhat different manner of laying on the color with the sponge, in order to produce longer ridges of mottlingsthan is usually necessary in plain maple. These mottlings must be running in one direction mainly, but in a haphazard sort of way, and not uniformly as in ladder rungs. It requires some experience and an intimate knowledge of bird’s eye maple growth to do this preliminary laying out of the work. It is not difficult, but it must be done in the right manner in order to produce natural looking results.
110. The putting in of the bird’s eyes is done in various ways—some ways being better than others. One of the ways used by many is to use the points of the fingers upon the still wet distemper color and to peck it on usually upon the apex of the ridge of the mottles. It is far from being the best way, but it is the quickest. In the natural wood the eyes are very seldom found upon the darker mottles, but more frequently upon secondary ridges between them, or even upon the valleys laying between them. As there is not enough colorleft there to produce them by peeking them on with the fingers, the operators by that method have to confine their work to the aforesaid ridges, where they really do not belong.
Much better and more natural ones can be put on with a fine pointed artist’s sable brush, and when one has become habituated to their use they are very quickly made.
Again they may be put in with colored pencils of a tone deep enough to suit the rest of the work. This is more quickly done than with the sable brush, but the strokes cannot be varied as with that, and the more artistic graining requires their use. There are a number of other more or less mechanical processes used in producing the bird’s eyes, but none surpass the one’s described.
The veining is done with colored pencils as related in paragraph 104 and overgrained as described in paragraph 105.
In all cases where graining is done in distemperit is to be understood that the graining is to be varnished or receive a protecting coat of some kind or another, and as this is required in all cases of distemper graining it will not be repeated hereafter.
106. What is said regarding the graining of bird’s eye maple?
107. In what medium is bird’s eye maple usually grained?
108. How are the grounds to be prepared?
109. How would you proceed to put on the mottling lay out?
110. How are the bird’s eyes put on?
111. Sycamore is another wood which, like maple, shows but little pores. Its growth, unlike maple, is an indescribable interlacing and twining of its ligamentswhich when sawed produce an infinity of variations with short, jerky, snappish terminations, and an infinity of short mottlings. This very infinity at last produces a uniformity on account of their smallness, as the eye cannot catch all their variations. Were it possible to greatly increase these of such a size as those of maple, sycamore would be one of the richest of our woods.
112. It is passably well imitated in distemper work and grained quickly. The ground should be deeper than that of any of the woods previously described, of a decided buff tone. The graining color should be made from raw sienna and burnt umber in distemper. The graining should be done with the sponge and immediately well blended. If the sponge is pecked on to the surface to be grained, the blending will produce the small mottles, and another pecking done in such places as needed and blended will usually produce a very fair representation of the wood. Another way is to puton the color evenly with either a sponge or a brush and to rotate the rotary cylinder rubber roller graining tool upon it and blend quickly. This gives a very fair imitation if well done.
CHERRY.
113. Cherry graining presents no great difficulty, as it is a wood of very plain growth, so much so that it looks rather tame and for that reason it is very seldom imitated by graining. There are some of the rooms in the old-time houses where the woodwork is cherry, and it sometimes happens that repairs are done to it, and which have to be grained in order to match the old work.
114. The ground color is made by tinting white lead with ochre, venetian red and burnt umber. A very fine stipple of burnt umber much reduced with whiting may be given it and the veining should be put in with a pencil of the proper color, whichshould in no wise be very prominent as in the natural wood it does not show much darker than the fine pores or stipple work. Of course all of the work is done in water colors.
SATINWOOD.
115. Satinwood, with the one exception of holly, is one of the easiest of all woods to imitate. There is but few markings upon it and next to nothing in veining. Mottlings of no great prominence by their depths of coloring are the only markings. The wood varies somewhat in the depth of its tone from a light to a medium tone of buff.
116. The ground will vary from a very light buff to a darker shade of the same. As said before the graining consists of mottlings which are not very prominent, therefore the graining color, which is made up from raw sienna and burnt umber in distemper reduced to less intensity by whiting,should be put on thinly with a sponge and blended so as to show no feathering.
111. Relate what are the main characteristics of sycamore?
112. How is sycamore grained?
113. What is said of cherry graining?
114. How is cherry grained?
115. What is said regarding the characteristics of satinwood.
116. How is satinwood grained?
117. Mahogany is one of the most beautifully formed woods that nature produces. In its plain form or in its most intricate featherings, it is always pleasing to look at and its most profuse variations of form do not cause any nausea nor does one become confused or tired of them. It is found in many variations of color. New mahoganyis very light toned and seldom darker than a medium buff tone. It acquires a reddish tone by age, which becomes a rich dark red in time. This redness is usually artificially supplied in the natural wood by staining. In graining it is the most usual to reproduce the rich red darker variety, and that of the light varieties is only resorted to in order to match some parts added to a room which has been finished in the light natural wood.
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118. The ground for light mahogany should be a buff more or less dark, according to the character of the finish wanted. A medium oak ground made by the addition of ochre to white lead is the most usual for light mahogany. For the darker mahogany imitations the ground should be rather reddish and much darker in tone. To the white lead base should be added yellow ochre and venetian red. For some specimens a trifle of burnt umber shouldbe added in order to darken it, but never sufficiently to kill the red yellow tone.
119. The graining color for light mahogany is prepared by mixing raw sienna and burnt umber in distemper; that used for graining dark mahogany is made from burnt sienna and burnt umber, the manner of doing the graining in either coloring being the same. Mahogany seldom shows any regular veining, but soft tones of mottlings, rather coarse and lengthy, but these usually are not numerous in what is known as plain mahogany. The whole character can be put on in one operation and with the sponge, which by the proper pressure will make out the broad veinings, which when blended out to bring out the feathering usually suffice to give the right character to the wood. The proper use of the sponge should be practiced in order to make the color lay strong in parts where it is wanted dark, and to wipe it out thinwhere but little coloring is desired to show over the ground.
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In some specimens of plain mahogany many fine pores appear, and it may be well to flog a few of the lines made by the sponge lightly before blending. This must be quickly done, as otherwise it would become too dry for blending. There will be enough porousness show after the blending to make a more natural appearance than if the stippling had not been resorted to.
120. Crotch and feathered mahogany should be well studied out in order to reproduce it rightly. It is not very difficult to do the work, but as said before the operator must have a good idea of what he is going to do and should have the space to be grained all pictured out in his mind’s eye. The feathering is brought out by the proper use of the sponge and the blending of it properly afterward has much to do in the making it look natural, for if it is not done right it will make an otherwise goodpiece of work look ridiculous. In the natural wood these fine markings are very scarce, and never seen outside of veneers and are costly, therefore hardly ever seen except upon high priced furniture, but in the grained imitation the operator can indulge his wildest fancies in reproducing the choicest specimens of the wood at a small outlay.
121. In the crotch mahogany veneers one will frequently notice a fine set of veins which cross the mottlings or featherings in an opposite direction. They are not nearly as prominent as these, but seem to be a succession of fine paint lines. These when put in as they should be help out the graining very much, and the putting of these in is the chief object of overgraining. The coloring should be the same as that used for the graining, only thinned a trifle more and sometimes just darkened a bit more by the addition of a little ivory black in distemper. The fine lines are put in with the fan overgrainingbrushes from which the hair has been well thinned out, so they will separate by running through a comb into a number of parallel fine lines.
117. What is said regarding the graining of mahogany?
118. How are the grounds of light and dark mahogany prepared?
119. How should plain mahogany be grained?
120. How is crotched and fancy feathered mahogany to be grained?
121. How is mahogany overgrained?
122. At one time when graining was at its height, walnut graining was next to oak, the main wood which grainers had to imitate, and some of them attained to such skill as entitled their work to be calledart. It is not used just now to near the same extent that it used to be, but as the prevailing sorts of woods that are grained are subject to changes caused by fashion, there is no telling how soon walnut graining may take the lead among the dark wood imitations. The color of the various specimens of walnut vary greatly. The general tone of American black walnut is darker than that of the European species variously known as English, Italian, etc., they all being the same. But aside of the fact that American black walnut is darker, the degree of darkness varies considerably in various specimens. Walnut, especially black walnut, is a rather coarse, open-pored wood, with a heart growth which is well defined and of pleasing forms. The veneers which are sawed from walnut roots and forks of limbs, as in the crotch walnut, are very intricate and beautiful when all the details are well brought out by polishing.
123. The ground for walnut graining,as may be well supposed, will vary greatly, according to the desired finish. The average European walnut ground is made from ochre, burnt umber and a trifle of venetian red added to a white lead base, and will be deeper or lighter according to the finish desired. It will be more yellow in tone than the ground that is used for the darker American species. For the latter the same colors are used in preparing the ground, only that it is made deeper on the average, and that it should not be quite as yellow toned as the ground used for the European variety.
124. The openness of the wood represented by the pores is easily reproduced by the stippling it should receive before the heart growth is either wiped out in oil graining or pencilled on in distemper. Some grainers dispense with it in oil work, but the finished work suffers from it. The stippling color is best made from some good Vandyke brown, and it may also be madefrom burnt umber in distemper. It should be flogged on evenly and rather coarse, as it will not look good if flogged too fine.
125. After the stippling the graining may be done in oil by wiping out. The color used for graining may be either Vandyke brown, which has been made more drying by the addition of an extra quantity of good drying Japan, or from burnt umber, to either of which enough megilp has been added to keep them from running when sufficiently thinned out for wiping.
The easiest way of graining plain growth walnut of either the European or American varieties is in distemper, and while it may not be as good in the estimation of some, it is much more quickly performed, and when well done will look fairly good and natural. For the graining of it in distemper the same colors should be used in that medium as noted for oil work, and the veining pencilled on the stippled surface and well blended out while still wet.
126. The overgraining of plain walnut graining will add much to its naturalness of looks. This consists mainly of the darkening of some of the parts. It should be done with the oil color used in graining it in oil for either oil or distemper work. In the latter case the color should be sufficiently thinned and well rubbed out as to give it a coat all over and afterward it should be wiped out from all parts where it is not wanted with soft cotton rags.
122. What are the principal characteristics of walnut?
123. How are the grounds for European and American black walnut prepared?
124. How should walnut be stippled?
125. How is walnut grained in oil and distemper?
126. How is walnut overgrained?
127. The natural plain growth of walnut usually presents no riotousness and is rather staid and well behaved, but with a sufficiency in variation to suit the most fastidious. Not so with burled walnut or root walnut of either the European or the American varieties. One would hardly recognize them as relations of the former but by that they carry some of the colors of the plain, besides many shades more and variations of them of their own. The European varieties are usually lighter toned than the American sort, and the contorted course of the veining is somewhat more regular in appearance, otherwise the burling and knots are very much the same. The same design executed in either European or American walnut would look well if properly done. There is considerable system in the seemingly wild growth of walnut burls.Their representation requires considerable study in order to represent them naturally, not that it is very hard to do, but in order rather that it be not overdone. There is nothing that has a more vulgar look than an overdone imitation of burled walnut.
128. The student should familiarize himself with the growth of many specimens and besides he should carry an imprint in his mind of all the various natural specimens he may come across. In these studies he will no doubt have noted that the ground color or the lighter parts in the natural wood does not run uniform as in the plain wood. Some parts will require a much lighter ground than others, and good grainers take advantage of that knowledge and prepare the grounds in various shades in order to produce the effects desired. Some try to obtain these by overgraining, but while that improves the graining it will not produce the realistic effects possible by the varied colored grounds. This demandsgood judgment and a full knowledge of the intended work so that a boy cannot be sent ahead to do the grounding, but the grainer himself must do it according to his own conception of the intended work.
129. The graining is always done in distemper. The colors used are raw and burnt sienna, raw and burnt umber and ivory black. To these may be added Vandyke brown. The lay out is first laid out with a sponge. A different sponge should be used in each color. After all the principal features have been put on and blended properly, the work proper of putting in the details commences and is done with camel’s hair pencils, fan overgrainers, etc. It is presumed that the student has practiced these before, as he will hardly care to expose his ignorance upon a door panel where it would be very likely to put him to shame. Nothing but practice makes one perfect at this work. Yet many who have practiced it for years fail to do as good work sometimesas a novice would, because they have a false conception of it and keep on in the old rut, which was wrong from the beginning. It is not difficult of execution, but cannot be done right in a haphazard manner any more than by making lines and curves and expect to produce a good sign if not put in their proper places.
130. As hinted in paragraph 28, some grainers expect to do too much with the overgraining. They try to correct a faulty ground work and to put in many details which properly belong to the graining proper. It is possible, of course, to help very much in the correction of many faults, especially in those of bettering the mottlings, but if the graining has not been laid out nor grained pretty near right, no amount of overgraining will make it right, and more work that would have been passable is rendered worthless by overdone overgraining than from any other one cause.
127. What is said of burled and root walnut graining?
128. How should the grounds be prepared for it?
129. How is burled walnut grained?
130. How is burled walnut overgrained?
131. Rosewood has never been very extensively used in interior finishing. Its dark, somber tone unfits it for most situations and its great cost unfits most people from even thinking about its usage. Therefore, while the last reason has not been a factor in discouraging its graining, the first one given has sufficed to confine its use to that of a few fancy articles of bric-a-brac or fancy pieces of furniture, and in the latter it has been mainly in the stained form that it is seen. As, however, it sometimes happens that a grainer is called upon toproduce it upon a fancy box or something else, he should know how to do it.
132. The ground for rosewood should be compounded from venetian red brightened up with vermillion and lightened with white lead, but not too much. It should be of a decided red, and while but little of it usually shows through the dark superstructure of veins, and that little in the natural wood is always of a decided red tone, some grainers add ochre to the red, but that only serves to muddy up the red tone and should never be resorted to.
133. The main character of the wood should be put on with a sponge with distemper color consisting chiefly of ivory black, to which a trifle of umber may be added, but which is not necessary really. The main character of the wood is laid out in long, wide stripes, which should consist chiefly of a number of fine lines or veinings. The first laying out should be put on rather thin and allowed to dry, when the fine linework can be put on with the fan overgrainer, and the parts of the ground which have not been covered with the first wide stripe lay out mentioned should be gone over with the fan brush and a number of fine lines made running into the dark straight ones. It is between these that a little of the ground will show here and there only. The character of the wood should be well understood in order to make a fair imitation, and no one will attain that by being told “how it looks,†for that is impossible, rosewood being so unlike any other wood.
There is usually no overgraining necessary if the work has been properly done. Nor should the fine line work done with the fan overgrainer be blended, as the veining stands out sharp. As sometimes the beginner will be apt to have it show too much of the red ground, it may be well to give a glazing coat of ivory black in oil over the whole surface and to wipe up a few of the parts where the red ground is desired toshow through. This will act as a protection to the work, too, and when dry a coat of varnish can be given it which will usually suffice then.
134. Many more woods could be given, but of all the rest yellow pine is the only one which is ever likely to be imitated, and very little of that excepting in the matching of some repair work. There is no reason for giving it a special description, as that given in paragraphs 94 to 99, and especially in 99, will come as near to it as it would be possible to make it.
131. What are the principal characteristics of rosewood?
132. How are the grounds for rosewood to be prepared?
133. How is rosewood grained?
134. What else is said regarding the graining of yellow pine and other woods.
135. The imitation of marbles and other stones of a variegated character is much older than that of the imitation of woods by graining. This is no doubt due to the universal custom of public buildings in the Roman Empire being finished in stonework, marbles, jaspers, onyx and other variegated stones. The patricians vied with each other in the lavish decoration of their palaces, which were, of course, the real thing, but many of the merchants and plebeians who could not afford these expensive finishes, had recourse to an artificial representation of them, in their principal chambers at least. The marble imitations found so far do not speak very highly for the skill of the marblers of that period, and it must take a rank far below that of other mural decorations done at the same time presumably by a higher grade of artists.
136. The enormous use of marble andonyx in various decoration in this country, which has been developed within the latter part of the past fifty years, has been educating the people to the use of something better than the miserable paper imitations which have paraded as marble, or rather been a parody upon it. Such as these paper imitations have been, it is no wonder that people of taste have tabooed them from their homes, preferring a plain wall or washable varnished tile paper to those ludicrous misrepresentations.
137. For many purposes marble imitations are beginning to be used much more extensively than they were and good imitations always captivate the attention of people of taste, with the consequence that when once introduced in a neighborhood it soon happens that the man who is able to do a good job is soon overrun with that kind of work. That it has not become general is because, sad to say, it has almost become a lost art from long disuse. The manycheaper halls, restaurants, etc., in public and semi-public buildings where the real stone is too expensive; the many private vestibules, halls and bathrooms, where their use is almost imperatively demanded by good taste as the only permissible embellishment to relieve the monotony of the walls, by at least a dado imitation of good marble donein oilandwashable. An endless variation in variously formed panels and cornices and surrounding stiles, where contrasting colored varieties of marbles and onyxes can be used, or their use in plain slabs as desired, will enable the artist who does the marbling to produce an individuality of work on every job. The good marbler is entitled to be called an artist, for it is only an artist who can vary this infinity of forms properly. Not that the execution of the work demands great ability in reproducing it—the artist’s skill is developed and shown in the proper arrangement and use of coloring, and also in the proper tracingout of the work itself, but that without the other will surely disappoint.
138. Many marbles resemble each other very closely excepting in their coloring, and even in marbles of the same quarry there will be found such variations in the forms of their veinings, agglomerations in those of conglomerate form that really no well defined description can be given of any of them. The general characteristics is all that can be said of any of them and some general directions given under each which will help the student to do his work upon right lines.
139. Marbles may be divided up into two great divisions, and even these are somewhat interchangeable, and it will depend upon the angle that the slabs have been sawed as to whether they should be placed in one or the other division. These two divisions are the striated marbles, which includes the veined and serpentine marbles, and the conglomerate, which includesmost of the onyxes and marbles which show but little veining. As stated before this arbitrary division is sometimes misleading, as a striated marble will show up in chunky formation if sawed in a certain way, and again considerable veining will show in a conglomerate if sawed at the right angle. The placing them in one or the other of the two divisions applies only when they are sawed in the natural and customary way—squarely through the block where they show their character more fully. In some varieties, however, as in some of the onyxes, there is little regularity of formation and serpentine forms will be found bordered with large chunks of conglomerates, and the latter with more or less of well defined serpentine formation intermingled with it. This really is what makes the chief beauty of the onyxes. The students should study the forms taken by marbles thoroughly as possible in order to store up in their memory the innumerable variationsof forms of all the several sorts of marbles which they come across.
135. What is said relative to the imitation of marbles by ancient civilizations?
136. What uses of marble imitations are made of today?
137. To what parts of interior decoration are they best adapted to?
138. What is said of the irregularity of form in marbles?
139. In how many divisions can marbles be placed in?
140. Under the name of marble are included all variegated stones, and therefore the term “marbling,†like that of “gilding,†which is applied to gold, silver and all metal leaves means considerably more than it should. Truthfully speaking marblesare of lime formation, while granites and jaspers and many others are not. The coloring of the veinings are due to various causes; various substances being deposited and enveloped in the lime formation, some by infiltration of metallic ore beds above the lime formation, which found their way through some of the softer fissures of the imperfectly formed limestone and deposited there. Again, as in honeycomb limestone, substances which deposited along with the lime, but which being more soluble have been washed out of it, leaving the lime full of small holes, as the name indicates. These being subsequently filled up with colored deposits.
141. General directions will be given in this and subsequent lessons as to “how†the various operations used for imitating marbles are performed, and the student will be referred to them when the special description of the various well-known marbles and other stones are given. The same operationsbeing used in nearly all of them, being varied to suit the peculiar needs of each as required.
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142. There is no need of special brushes or tools for any of the operations about to be described, and the ones described as useful for the imitation of wood by graining will more than suffice as but few brushes are needed. For laying the grounds, some of the larger flat ones and some smaller flat ones to lay in colors in smaller groups, and dry ones to blend them. Some fitches or small bristle artists’ brushes and some camel’s hair pencils with a few wing and tail feathers for putting in some of the finer veins, and badger blenders are about all the tools needed.
143. As to material, white lead and zinc white will form the bulk of it, as it is used either as a base or by itself in all the marbles that will be described, with, of course, the exception of the black marbles. As there are so many colors used in imitatingmarbles, the whole list may be of use at some time or other, and it will not be necessary to name them all over at this time, as under each marble will be given the ones needed. Light varnishes are required in order to give the finished marble a uniform appearance and as a protection. This is the hardest part of all to procure, as the stronger ones are not fit to use over white or even upon some of the darker ones having white veins, turning them yellowish. Damar varnish is forced upon the marbler, so there is little wonder if many prefer to leave the work as it is without varnishing.
All the above applies to oil color marbling only as work done in distemper is never varnished. The colors needed in water color marbling are the same as for oil work, only they must of course be in the dry state.
144. The walls of halls are sometimes done in imitation of marble slabs, and one is then required to scaffold for it in order toreach them. As directions were given how to reach the walls and ceilings in Vol. II, or “Interior Painting,†the student is referred to that for fuller details. For most work good step ladders will be found best, as they permit the work to be done with more comfort, the operator climbing up or down as needed without having to reach up or bend down too much.
140. What is said regarding marble formation?
141. What of the general operation used in imitating marbles?
142. What are the tools needed in marbling?
143. What material is used in marbling?
144. What appliances are needed in wall work in order to reach their surfaces?
145. The laying on of the proper colors for the ground is the first operation in the order in which they occur in marbling, and it is a very important one, too. It will be well to state here that the descriptions which are given is for marbling in oil, as that is by far the best way of imitating marble, therefore the proper allowance must be made for water color work of quicker drying, and therefore it will require considerable speed in conducting the marbling operations, giving the operator but little time to do his work in he cannot possibly produce as good work as he can in oil. Only rather plain figured marbles should be attempted by the students in distemper work. The ground is usually put on all over alike in oil, and usually it is put on with white lead. While that is fresh, if a parti-colored ground is desired, a little ofthe proper color is worked over it and blended more or less to suit.
146. If the imitation is striated, veined or serpentine marble, while the ground is still wet the main body of color and veining should be put in and blended. The blending in marbling constitutes a most important part, as by means of it veins and lines are made to disappear as it were into the ground gradually, which gives it transparency, and it will look as if it came from the interior and gradually becoming stronger toned as it reached the surface. These effects are all produced by proper blending.
If the imitation is a conglomerate marble the chunks should be put on with dabs of color suitable and of the right size, depending upon the blender to soften them into a gradual disappearance into the ground.
147. While the ground is still wet in veined or striated marble the deeper toned veins, or rather that portion of the veins which it is desired should appear as havingreached the surface by a gradual ascent from below, should be touched with a little of the fresh color and left unblended. This is done with camel’s hair pointed pencils or with the tip end of feathers for some of the finer lined ones.
In the conglomerate imitation the chunks can be touched with fresh color left unblended at what is desired should show as their surface point, so that the chunks will show as if they were gradually sinking away from sight to the interior of the stone.
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148. It will be best after having formed all the character of the veining and having touched up the bright parts to let the work dry before attempting to put in the white veining and what may be called the “high lights,†or the lightest parts of the colored veins or chunks in the conglomerates. If this was attempted upon the wet color and one should; undertake to finish the whole work at the one time, he will find that he cannot produce good white veins and thatthey mix up so much with the others as to become anything butwhite. Where it is desired to produce the impression of white veins disappearing into the rest of the work, however, it will be well to put in some and to blend them in to produce that effect, while the first color is still wet and when it has dried to go over them at what is intended for their surface points with some fresh color, which will greatly enhance their transparent effect. Now the light veins are put in without fear of their tones being destroyed by mingling with the wet ground colors, and all the finishing touches should be put in. Defects, if any, can be corrected and when the work is dry it may or may not be varnished.
149. The directions given above will suffice to give the student the manner of producing any kind of marble or onyx desired. The spots usually seen in granites are produced by striking a brush upon a stick at some distance from the surface which it isintended should be covered, the size of the dots being governed by this distance, and also by the kind of brush used. A fine spraying with turpentine afterward will cause them to spread sufficiently to run together at the edges and to look more natural than if left without this operation.
145. How should the grounds be put on in marbling?
146. How is the veining and blending done in marbling?
147. How is the veining made to appear as if coming up to the surface from the interior?
148. How are the finishing touches put on?
149. What is further said of marbles and how are granites imitated?
AGATE.
150. Agate is a variegated stone, a conglomerate, and according as it is cut will sometimes show a number of veins usually circling around some center. The ground is white lead, and the various colors may be put in and blended over. This is followed up with touching certain parts with fresh color, which is left unblended to give a sharp edge. The colors vary very much in various specimens of agate, some being rather light and others very dark, so the student has a good range to choose from, from crimson lake, prussian blue and chrome yellow or ochre.
BROCATELLO.
151. The ground for Brocatello is made from ochre and white lead, or it may be put on with white lead and ochre brushed into it, leaving it darker in patches than inothers. Then put on a thin glaze over it when dry made of raw and burnt sienna with enough whiting to make it rather transparent. When the color has set sprinkle it over with turpentine by striking a small brush over a stick it will cause it to spread the color and to show the yellow ground through. Then shade the larger blotches with a light yellow ochre to show the angular fragments and give it depth. Then vein with color made of vermillion and Prussian blue, being careful not to put in the dark lines through the blotches.
BLACK AND GOLD MARBLE.
152. As the name indicates this marble’s chief tone is black with blotches of yellow. It is a conglomerate marble. The ground should be put on with black paint and lightened up in parts by working in a little white in spots, as it should not be uniform in tone, but the lightest parts should be as dark as a dark slate. Dab on the yellowspots where they belong and connect a few of them by veins, then blend to produce transparency; then touch up with some of the light color, which should not be blended. Let dry and put on a very few high lights on some of the yellow and with ivory black used as a glaze correct any glaring mistakes by covering them over which will then appear as belonging to the under parts.
DOVE MARBLE.
153. This marble is one of the easiest to imitate on the whole list. It is a veined marble and chiefly a warm gray with white veining. The ground should be made from white lead, lamp black and warmed up with a little vermillion. Put in the white veins and blend; after blending touch up parts of veins you will wish to show as coming to the surface, but do not blend. When dry emphasize such parts as desired with white.
EGYPTIAN GREEN MARBLE.
154. This is a conglomerate marble which presents many varied forms according as it has been cut. Under certain cuttings it presents a mass of crystalline matter of great beauty, and somewhat more difficult of execution than the more ordinary forms of it do. By a little practice, though, the student will find no great difficulty in representing it correctly. It is a marble which presents in any of its forms a beautiful appearance, and one which the operator is pretty sure to be called upon to reproduce, therefore he should spare no pains to study it well and to practice what he has learned in order to be ready for any emergency. The ground is an invisible green made of black with a trifle of yellow added. When dry put on a suitable green glaze, dabbing on here and there the black masses and put in the green network of veining with a feather, touching them up with a camel’s hair pencil with the same color to give itcharacter and transparency. It will be noticed that according as it is cut a mass of crystalline bodies seem to show through the semi-transparent stone, and this will test the skill of the marbler to reproduce naturally.
150. Give a description of the marbling of agate?
151. How is Brocatello marble imitated?
152. Describe how black and gold marble is imitated?
153. Give a description of how dove marble is done.
154. How is Egyptian green marble imitated?