After a good foundation has been secured, and smooth coatings of lead are desired, which will sand-paper smoothly and leave a pleasant surface to colour over, the dry or tub white-lead should be used. Whiting and white-lead make a good putty, though it is not so much used as it ought to be.
Chrome Yellow is seldom used clear, except for line-striping. There are different shades of it as well as qualities, the best being the cheapest in the end, as it has more body. Lemon and orange chrome are all the carriage painter requires; with these he can mix up any hues needed by the addition of reds.
Indian Red is a strong colour and of great service to the painter, especially in forming the groundwork for transparent colours, such as lakes of a reddish or purple cast, and carmine. Mixed with lampblack, it forms the most durable under coatings that can be obtained where a brown is needed.
Raw Umber is largely used. With blue and yellow it forms a pleasant range of quiet greens.
Combined with white and yellow it gives drab tints or stone colour, which may be toned down by adding black, or lightened up by vermilion or lake. In mixing a light striping colour which may have too much of a raw yellow tone, if a little umber be added the defect is corrected.
Carmine is a very brilliant colour, surpassing vermilion in richness of tone, and yet similar to it for height of colour. It is often adulterated with vermilion, which of course injures its purity. Pure carmine will dissolve in ammonia water without leaving any sediment.
Mixed with drabs, delicate greens, asphaltum, &c., carmine imparts warmth without injuring the colours.
There are several tints and qualities of Lake. Those commonly used are English purple, Munich and Florence lakes. English purple lake will bear some raw oil in mixing it; the others are best without it.
Ultramarine Blue, when pure, is a very durable colour. It is prepared from the mineral Lapis lazuli. Mixed with the lakes, it tones them down without seriously injuring the purity of the colour. For clear ultramarine a dark lead-coloured ground will answer, or make a ground colour of Prussian blue and white to nearly match the tint of the ultramarine.
This is rather a difficult colour to handle, but the secret of laying it on successfully is to have sufficient varnish or boiled oil in the colour to prevent it “flying off” or drying too dead.