It is said that in order to become an artist one must be born with certain qualifications or he will fail to be successful: this is equally true in the case of the grainer; and some people think that in order to become a first-class grainer more gifts are required at birth than if the person were destined to become an artist, as the artist generally has before him models or the original of his picture, while the grainer is supposed to imitate whatever kind of wood or marble is called for—in most cases, without any of the original before him and doing the work from recollection of the grain of the particular wood or marble he is imitating. While it is very true that the average imitation of wood or marble is poorly done, still the whole business should not be condemned, and any large city can furnish illustrations of the fact that graining is so well done as to deceive workers in wood; and they ought to be competent judges.
The idea of representing wood by painting is as old as any branch of the business, and, though excellent work has been done in days gone by, the efforts of the foremost grainers of the present time will favorably compare with those of any age, as, with new inventions to aid them, they have taken rapid strides toward perfection.
[CHAPTER XVI.]
THE TOOLS USED BY GRAINERS.
Steel combs ([Fig. 1]) are four or five inches wide, with teeth of three regular sizes—course, medium and fine. They may be used for all woods where the grain is strongly marked, whether the work is done in oil or in distemper; there is also a four-inch steel comb with teeth graduated from coarse to fine ([Fig. 2]) that is often useful; a few one- or two-inch steel combs are handy for use on mouldings or on odd corners.
Fig. 1.