Page:Cyclopedia of Painting-Armstrong, George D (1908).djvu/342

334. The mixed colors, likewise, will probably deteriorate before the scene is finished, should the weather be hot. In that case, if the color sinks to the bottom of the mixture, the size will float on the top. Pour this out and replace it with fresh size.

TO PREPARE THE CANVAS.

If the dimensions of the canvas do not exceed that of the frame, strain it and nail it on with $1 1/2$ or 2-inch clout nails, about four inches apart from each other, taking care that the threads of the canvas have perpendicular and horizontal directions. The nails should only be driven home about halfway, as, when the painting is finished, they will all have to be taken out again in order to remove the canvas from the frame. Having thus strained and fastened the canvas so as to get it to lie tolerably smooth on the frame, apply the size to it as afterwards directed and the whole will be stretched as tight as a drum-head.

But suppose the canvas is too large to allow the frame to take in the whole height of the scene, which frequently happens even in regular painting rooms, resort must be had to what is called a bight in the canvas and proceed thus: Nail the top of the canvas along a straight line drawn on the top of the frame, and let the remainder lie evenly down the front, dropping the portion of the canvas that extends beyond the bottom of the frame through the cut, if there be one, or gathering it up carefully below. Now drive a nail through the end of a seam that is about halfway between the top and bottom of the frame, after having pulled it slightly downwards, keeping the side edge of the canvas even with the side of the frame. Then measure how far the nail last drove in is from the top or bottom of the frame, and nail the other end of the scam to the other side of the frame at the same relative distance. Next stretch a chalk line from one nail to the other and make it