Page:Cyclopedia of Painting-Armstrong, George D (1908).djvu/338

330 MIXING COLORS.

The most difficult feature of painting: in distemper is that the colors dry so much lighter than they are when first put on, and many of them have, by gaslight, an entirely different appearance than they have in the daytime. Most colors dry several shades lighter than they are when wet, and, worse still, they do not all dry lighter in the same proportion, so that any person new to the work cannot estimate the particular shade of his paint when first laid on. It is, therefore, advisable for the painter to try his colors on a small scale at first, and dry them in front of the fire.

To render the colors opaque, a certain proportion of whiting or flake white is always mixed with them, according to the shade desired. Transparent and glazing colors being an exception to this rule, no whiting is used with them. The strength of the size also makes a vast difference; very strong size darkens. As to the appearance of colors at night: French ultramarine, a bright blue by daylight, is a muddy purple by gaslight, and therefore unfit for distant tints or for brightness. Verditer blue, cobalt blue, celestial blue are best. Yellow is much lighter by gaslight, and rose pink loses its brightness. The colors being all mixed with water to a pulpy state are now put into the compartments on the palette, putting no more on the palette than is required for immediate use. In scene painting many of the different shades are only obtained by mixing one color with the other while on the palette. The way to do this is as follows: Suppose a purple is wanted, the painter would take up a clean brush and dip it in the size-can; he would then transfer it quickly to the compartment on the palette containing the rose pink, and having got a good brushful of his color, would spread it on the palette; he would then dip the brush in the ultramarine and mix this also with the rose pink, and to get it a shade or two lighter he would