TREE MARBLING
The leather is first lightly pasted over, and drops of water, more or less large, are scattered upon it by jerking the handle of a small couch-grass whisk full of water against the left wrist held a few inches from the surface of the leather. A very little colour is then taken in the brush and jerked in the same manner over the drops of water, with which it will partially mix and give the effect of roots branching out in all directions. Variety can be obtained by applying the water with a sponge instead of the brush, and the colour in large drops over the whole or certain parts only of the field, or by using dyes of different colours which give curious effects in combining. After applying the dye, the surplus moisture is absorbed with blotting-paper.
The leather may be bleached to a light tint by means of an oil-paint brush dipped in decolorant[12]; the bristles of the brush are pushed back with the finger and when released jerk the acid in fine drops over the surface. The leather must be freshly and thoroughly damped so that the outline of the bleaching shades off into the ground.