ASH.

In graining ash in oil the colors necessary will be raw umber and raw sienna and a little Vandyke brown or black. Mix the color much the same as for oak, and the same tools can be used. After the color is rubbed in comb the places intended to be plain, and with the fitch tool or sash tool add lines, streaks, etc., if desired, using some color darkened with Vandyke brown or black, and blend lightly lengthwise with the dry brush. The heart-work or growth is represented by wiping out the color with a soft rag, the same way as for the heart of oak, but in ash the hearts are less complicated, and the points of the growth will be found to run more regular, and generally with a rounding edge instead of being serrated, as are the majority of oak-growths. The hearts of ash are also more narrow in proportion to the width of the board than are those of oak, and their imitation is much less difficult. Lightly stipple all wiped-out hearts with the dry brush. I think ash is one of the easiest of woods to imitate, as oak is one of the most difficult.

A very good imitation of a dark piece of heart-work may be done with a small fitch tool when the color is partially set. Sometimes the work is outlined roughly by lightly wiping off some of the color with a folded rag and describing the general direction of the grain to be followed by the fitch. The work is then put in with the fitch tool, and the edge of the color so put in is lifted with the blender, showing one edge light, and if carefully done, it looks well. The fitch tool is also employed to brighten the effects of the wiped-out hearts and to blend slightly. Where both means are used—that is, the fitch tool and the rag—in doing hearts of ash, the work presents a very woody appearance, and looks much better, if carefully done, than either method of doing heart-work does without the other.

Ash is greatly improved by being overgrained, but a great many of the dark streaks can be put in while the color is wet. Allowance can be made when it is intended to overgrain the work, and the dark places can be done more successfully when the color is dry by overgraining. The same color used to grain the work will do for overgraining it, or by adding a little black and thinning with spirits of turpentine and japan for inside work, and japan and oil for outside work where it is not to be varnished.

Ash may be grained in distemper by using stale beer or vinegar for thinners and the colors dry or ground in distemper. The effect of combing may be obtained by using an overgrainer. Where hearts are to be introduced, the work should be lightly stippled with a badger blender; and when dry, the wet rag or sponge may be used to wipe out the color preparatory to putting in the hearts with the fitch tool; this makes a fair job, and is the way followed by many in representing ash. The work looks fully as well, and I think cleaner, if the hearts are put in on the stippling without using a rag or sponge; do not stipple the work too heavily.

In matching Western ash a little blue sometimes helps to counteract the redness of the umber, and will be found to match the dull-gray shade often seen better than black, but ash is of so many varieties and colors as to allow the use of a wide range of colors.

In matching ash the filling of wood has to be taken into consideration. The filling used by the average painter is often anything but what it should be, and the beauty of many an ash door has been destroyed by the miserable attempts at filling often perpetrated by some ignorant painter. This is applicable also to other woods; but particularly to ash.

Plate 11.
FLAKED OR QUARTERED DARK OAK, SHADED.

Plate 12.
HEART OF LIGHT ASH, WIPED OUT.

Plate 13.
HEART OF LIGHT ASH, WIPED OUT, SHADED.

Plate 14.
HEART OF ASH, DARK, PENCILLED.

[CHAPTER V.]
HUNGARIAN ASH.

This wood may be imitated in oil or water color, but the imitation is commonly done in oil. The colors used are raw sienna and raw and burnt umber; a little burnt sienna may be added to the shading color. In oil color the outline of the work is wiped out with a soft cotton rag and softened lightly, or even stippled with the dry brush, and after the color is nearly dry the lines between those wiped out with the rag are gone over with the fitch tool, the color being darkened with umber. The idea is to bring the wiped work into sharper relief. When dry, the shadows may be put in by using either oil or water color and blending softly. A little Vandyke brown will deepen the color, or thin asphaltum may be used in shading or overgraining. Where circumstances require the work to be finished without overgraining, the work may be mottled or shaded in water color on the ground-work before the oil color is applied, and in that case the work must be put in to suit the shadows and the lights that appear through the oil color.

Hungarian ash varies from very bold to very fine grains, and the finer varieties may successfully be done in oil color, using the fitch tool to put in the grains and wiping out simply the lights and the shadows with the rag. The work looks better when lightly stippled in water color with the blender. In doing the work wholly in water colors, the lights and the shadows are first put in, and after these are dry the grains are introduced with the small fitch tool, lifting the edge of the color lightly with the blender. An ash door with the panels done in Hungarian ash make a very neat job if nicely performed.