Plate 45.
CYPRESS IN OIL.
The grain of cypress somewhat resembles that of hard pine, but is broader in the heart and finer-grained; it also presents more contrast between the light and dark portions of the growth. The ground is slightly darker and more yellow than that used for oak. The graining-color is made of raw and burnt sienna and burnt umber, and is mixed in oil. When the color is rubbed in, the hearts are wiped out in the usual manner. A rubber comb can be used to make portions of the heart by occasionally using it in the finer portions of the wiped-out hearts, taking care that the lines made by the comb closely follow those made by hand, and that they are equally distinct, or the places where the comb has been used can readily be distinguished from the rest of the work, and they look very bad. There is but little use for the fitch tool in matching cypress; the combing is mostly fine and rather straight. The steel combs should never be used over the lines made by the rubber comb. The work may be shaded with some of the graining-color to which some black has been added, and the whole thinned with spirits. It needs but a very thin glaze, and is ordinarily finished without shading.
[CHAPTER XIII.]
HARD PINE.
This wood is seldom imitated, and, although its grains are simple, they cannot be matched without taking pains. The grain of hard pine is in some respects different from that of any other wood; the growths are generally quite narrow, and are not complicated, without having many knots, and are decidedly straight, as is also the combed work. The groundwork is much the same as that for oak, being slightly more yellow. The graining-color—which is mixed in oil—is composed of raw and burnt sienna, and a little burnt umber is added. The grains are put in by first using the rag to wipe out the hearts and then pencilling in the grain, or for the lighter parts of the grain the pencilling may be omitted. The combing is done with moderately fine combs. Never go over the same place twice, as the grains of pine are always straight and never interlock, like those of oak. The work should lightly be blended lengthwise. The color used to pencil in the growths should be darker than that with which the work is rubbed in, and the blending should always be done toward the outside edge of the grain. When the work is dry it may lightly be shaded to give it depth, or slightly mottled. Some pieces of hard pine are profusely mottled, and I have seen specimens that had the appearance of fine Hungarian ash.