Hints for painters, decorators, and paper-hangers. / Being a selection of useful rules, data, memoranda, methods, and suggestions for house, ship and furniture painting, paper-hanging, gilding, color mixing, and other matters useful and instructive to painters and decorators. Prepared with special reference to the wants of amateurs

by An Old Hand

Bird’s Eye Maple in Oil.—The ground is a light buff, prepared with white lead, chrome yellow and a little vermilion or English Venetian, to take off the rawness of the yellow. The graining color is equal parts of raw umber and sienna, ground in oil to the proper consistency. Spread the surface of the work with this color, and having some of the same prepared a little thicker, immediately take a sash tool or sponge and put on the dark shades, and soften with a badger hair brush; before the color is dry put on the eyes by dabbing the dotting machine on the work, or by striking the colors short and sharp with the tips of the fingers, then blend slightly the eyes in one direction only. When dry, put on the grain with the camels hair pencil on the prominent parts to imitate the small hearts of the wood. The same graining colors to be ground in here for distemper.

Walnut in Oil.—The ground is formed with ochre, Indian red, umber, and white. The graining coat is similar to that described under the oak heading, and is prepared with vandyke brown; and for the darker shades, fine ivory-black; the wiping out and blending to resemble that in mahogany; the fine dark veins of ivory-black to be lightly and wavily drawn over the work after it is blended. It is then ready for the varnish.

Satin-wood in Distemper.—This ground is prepared with white lead, stone ochre and small quantities of chrome yellow and burnt sienna. The graining color is one-third of raw sienna and whiting, ground in pale ale, very thin; then spread the color over the surface to be grained. While wet soften, and have ready a wet roller or mottling brush, in order to take out the lights; blend the whole with the badger hair brush, and with the same color put on the top grain. Varnish.

To Imitate Granite in Oil.—For the ground color, stain your white lead to a light lead color, with lamp-black and a little rose-pink. Throw on black spots with a coarse brush or graniting machine. A pale red also, and fill up with white before the ground is dry.

Another for the Same.—A black ground; when half dry throw in vermilion, a deep yellow, and white spots.

Marble.—For White Marble, get up a pure white ground, then hold a lighted tallow candle near the surface, and allow the smoke to form the shades and various tints desired. This will make a very handsome imitation. Black Marble.—Imitation is made by streaking a black surface with colors, using a feather and pencil. Another plan is to get up a smooth black surface; then take the colors, green, yellow, red, white, etc., ground thick in gold size, and streak the surface with a stick or hair pencil. Allow it to dry, and apply a heavy coat of lamp-black and yellow ochre mixed, mixed rough stuff. When all is hard, rub down to a level surface with lump pumice-stone, varnish and a beautiful variegated marble will be the result.

Red Marble.—For the ground put on a white tinged with lake or vermilion; then apply deep red patches, filling up the intermediate spaces with brown and white mixed in oil; then blend them together; if in quick drying colors, use about half turpentine and gold size. When dry, varnish, and while the varnish is wet, put in a multitude of fine white threads, crossing the whole work in all directions, as the wet varnish brings the pencil to a fine point.

Jasper Marble.—Put on a white ground lightly tinged with blue; then put on patches of rich reds or rose-pink, leaving spaces of the white ground; then partly cover these spaces with various browns to form fossils, in places running veins; then put in a few spots of white in the centre of some of the red patches, and leaving, in places, masses nearly white. When dry use the clearest varnish.

Blue and Gold Marble.—For the ground color put on a light blue; then take blue, with a small piece of white lead and some dark common blue, and dab on the ground in patches, leaving portions of the ground to shine between; then blend the edges together with a duster or a softener; afterwards draw on some white veins in every direction, leaving large open spaces to be filled up with a pale yellow or gold paint; finish with some fine white running threads, and a coat of varnish at last.

Black and Gold Marble.—This description of marble is very chaste, and is in great demand. The ground is a deep black, or a dead color, in gold size, drop black and turpentine; second coat, black japan. Commence veining; mix white and yellow ochre with a small quantity of vermilion to give a gold tinge; dip the pencil in this color, and dab on the ground with great freedom some large patches, from which small threads must be drawn in several directions.