Page:Cyclopedia of Painting-Armstrong, George D (1908).djvu/184

176 which may be quickly grained, the proportions of the linseed oil and turpentine should be reversed.

The following are recipes for ordinary oak grounds: For light oak, use a mixture of white-lead and yellow ochre (sometimes with a touch of chrome to brighten it). Oxford ochre and Venetian red are used for dark oak, with the addition of burnt umber, and raw sienna for still darker wood. A rich tone of buff, given by vermilion and chrome, is sometimes adopted. A buff ground is made with 7 pounds white-lead, $1/2$ pound of yellow ochre ground in oil, $1/2$ pound of driers, mixed with linseed oil 2 parts and turpentine 1 part, and stained when thin enough for use. White-lead, stained with orange chrome, and thinned with one raw oil to two turps. Mix 1 pound of white-lead, 2 ounces of patent driers, and 2 ounces of Oxford ochre. Thin with oil and turpentine.

As regards the graining color, for water color work, it should be ground up very fine in beer, and kept in a bottle tightly corked, when used it should be thinned with weak beer and water. A permanent water color graining is obtained by melting gum arabic in hot water, and mixing enough of the gum with the graining color to bind it. If the gum is in excess it will cause cracks. Softness, flatness, variety and permanence are produced by this method. The grain of oak is frequently done in spirit color. Gilders' whiting is ground up stiffly in turpentine, and stained to the required tint with burnt umber and raw sienna, which are also ground up stiffly in turpentine. A small quantity of japanners' gold size and boiled linseed oil or ordinary varnish is now added to bind it, and it is then thinned with turpentine and strained through a piece of muslin into a large-mouthed pot, when it is ready for use. If too much varnish is used, the color will set so quickly as to be unmanageable. Only a small portion of graining, just enough to allow for combing, can be done at a time, as the color dries so quickly. The lights are taken out with a fitch,