Page:Cyclopedia of Painting-Armstrong, George D (1908).djvu/36

28 over the top of a clean pail, and it will then be ready for use.

Before commencing the actual calcimining, lightly rub over the whole of the ceiling with a piece of fine glass-paper, to take off any little knots or brush-hairs left on the finishing coat. Then dust the ceiling before proceeding to whiten it.

In laying on the wash, a large flat brush should be employed, and if this is not over-charged a ceiling or wall may, with a certain amount of care, be white or color-washed with little or no splashing. The way to lay the distemper on is not to take up too much in the brush, and not to flick the brush at the end of each stroke, or you will splash everything. "Work the brush in any direction, but be sure that every part of the ceiling is covered with the calcimine taking care to keep the edges of the patches going, that is, do not let any edge get dry before coming to it again. To do this, it is essential to have a scaffold that is easily movable from one end of the room to the other. The calcimining must be done very expeditiously, and any ceiling over 14 feet square should not be attempted single-handed without some previous practice.

Ceilings should always be calcimined by working away from the light. Two men are required to do a good-sized ceiling-flat; they should start at the window end, and, keeping their work in one general line, spread the distemper from the end as far towards the center as they can both conveniently reach. The scaffold is then brought forward and another shift covered, and so on until the whole ceiling is finished. The solvent used for distemper work being water, it will be seen that extreme heat or a draught of air, such as will evaporate the water, is to be avoided during the process, but so soon as a ceiling is completed, the object is to dry it off as quickly as possible, and hence it is well to open every door and window to create a draught.

Properly executed distempering should have a level, but