Ash.
—White lead tinted with a very little vermilion and about an equal quantity of lemon chrome. Some prefer yellow ochre only, others ochre and raw umber in the proportion of four ounces ochre and one ounce umber to thirty pounds of lead.
Birch.
—Eighty parts of white lead to one of yellow ochre produces a good ground, but sixty pounds of white lead, one-eighth of a pound of French ochre and one ounce of lemon chrome is sometimes preferred.
Our examples of graining grounds with their mixtures must be taken as an average arrived at from comparison of the methods employed by different painters in various parts of the country. No doubt some readers will not agree with them and will think that the colour should be lighter or darker as the case may be. As we have explained, the mixtures given are those which may be considered an average, and a variation of them may be made according to individual taste and judgment.
Graining Colours.
Having given the ground colours, we now proceed to give those which are used for graining. It will be understood that the method of obtaining a graining colour varies just as much as it does in the case of the ground colour, according to the opinion of the painter. The following are given as what may be safely followed to get an average good result.
Light Oak.
—Mix one-third burnt umber with two-thirds raw sienna, and add a very little drop black.