Design and Tradition / A short account of the principles and historic development of architecture and the applied arts

by Amor Fenn

Opaque Colour

Care should be taken in mixing the colour to the required tint or shade. This requires some experience, as when white forms part of the mixture, the effect when dry is always lighter and colder than when the paint is in the fluid state; therefore allowance for this should be made. Opaque and tempera colours are not used so fluid as ordinary transparent water colours, and if applied too thin will fail to cover the surface solidly, or dry blotchy. Cartridge paper is not only good enough but more suitable for opaque colour than papers of better quality. Not merely is there no advantage in these, but the texture is an unnecessary embarrassment; moreover cartridge paper can be obtained in continuous form of good width.