Page:Cyclopedia of Painting-Armstrong, George D (1908).djvu/180



The art of graining consists in working transparent color over an oil ground, the ground being of a color that will match the lightest tone in the markings on the wood. The transparent colors used for the general markings match the colors in the real wood, and are applied with large brushes, the effect is further assisted by still darker touches of color, put on here and there in places with smaller brushes. To produce a good piece of graining, the most important matters to be considered are, the ground on which the graining is to be worked, the figuring, the over-graining, the glazing, the tools, the state of the color and the manner of applying it, and, because there are several modes of procedure, the particular process to be adopted. There are three different kinds of graining—namely, water color (distemper), spirit color, and oil color, outdoor work is done in oil, water color is used for facility and for fine gradation, and spirit color for quickness. The several methods are frequently combined, as, for instance, water color over oil, in order that the second coat of the figure may not disturb the first. If water color is used over water color, the under coat must be fixed with a mixture of equal parts of varnish and turpentine.

It is assumed that the reader already is acquainted with the practical elementary stages of brush work, as the plain painting is termed, and that he is capable of producing a good ground upon which the graining can be worked. The ground of the graining is very important, for although a skilful workman could work on a white or even a poorly constituted ground, yet he could do far superior work on a ground of good tone and in good condition. The ground is a technical term involving two distinct ideas, surface and