Plate 10.
FLAKED OAK, LIGHT, SHADED.
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.