The Engineer's and Mechanics Encyclopædia: Painting, House.

The Engineer's and Mechanics Encyclopædia,
comprehending practical illustrations of the machinery and processes employed in every description of manufacture of the British Empire.
With nearly Two Thousand Engravings.
By Luke Hebert, civil engineer, edifor of the History and Progress of the Steam Engines, Register of Arts and Journal of Patent Inventions, etc.
In two volumes.
VOL. II.
London: Thomas Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row.
MDCCCXXXVI (1836).
The art of covering with various suitable pigments the wood-work, plaster walls and ceilings, iron work, &c., of the interior and exterior of houses. It may be divided into three separate branches, viz. — plain painting, graining, and ornamental painting.

The material chiefly employed in plain painting is white lead. It is a carbonate of lead produced by the action of the vapour of vinegar on sheet lead; and, when ground up with linseed oil, forms the common white lead paint of commerce. See Ceruse. It is improved by being kept for several years. To produce the different tints, various colours are added to the white lead base, in quantity according to the intensity of the tint desired, amounting, sometimes, to tn exclusion of the white lead in the upper or finishing coats. The following are the colours generally used by the house painter: —

White.
White lead.
Nottingham white.
Flake white.

Black.
Ivory black.
Lamp black.
Blue black.
Patent black.

Yellows.
Chrome yellow.
King's yellow.
Naples yellow.
Yellow ochre. Raw sienna. Yellow lake.

Browns.
Burnt umber.
Raw umber.
Vandyke brown.
Purple brown.
Spanish brown.
York brown.

Reds.
Vermilion.
Scarlet lake.
Crimson lake.
Indian red.
Venetian red.
Red lead.
Orange lead.
Burnt ochre.
Burnt sienna.

Greens.
Brunswick green.
Emerald green.
Verdigris.

Blues.
Prussian blue.
Indigo.
Cobalt.
Ultramarine.

To bring these colours to a state fit for use, they are ground up with a small quantity of oil; but for painting in distemper, the colours must be ground up in water. Linseed oil is that which is in general use, and is quite sufficient for the purpose of the plain painter, especially when improved by being kept for several years, as it then loses a great part of its colour. It is obtained by pressure from the seed of flax. In very rare instances, where the least yellowness in the oil would be injurious, nut or poppy oil may be used with advantage.

Spirits of turpentine is largely employed in painting; it is obtained by distil lation from crude turpentine, which is procured from the larch and fir-trees: being of a volatile nature, it is used by the painter to produce what is called a flat; it evaporates, and leaves the paint without the least shine. It is also employed in those situations where oil would not dry, as in the first coat on old work, which is likely to be a little greasy from smoke, &c.

To hasten the drying of paints, dryers are generally used. Those most in use are sugar of lead, litharge, and white copperas. These, when well ground, and mixed in small portions with paint, very much assist them in drying; indeed, some colours will not dry without them. Red lead is also an excellent dryer; and in cases where its colour is not objectionable, is much used. Sugar of lead is, however, the best dryer, though somewhat more expensive than the others. It should be observed, that, in the finishing coats of delicate colours, dryers are generally avoided, as they have a slight tendency to injure the colour. Linseed oil has sometimes a drying quality given to it by boiling with drying substances, which renders it extremely useful on some occasions. A very good drying oil is made by boiling one gallon of linseed oil with a quarter of a pound of litharge, or red lead, reduced to a fine powder. It must be kept slightly boiling for about two hours, or until it ceases to throw up any scum; when cold, the clear oil must be poured off, and kept for use.

The tools and apparatus employed by the plain painter are not very numerous; we shall mention the principal of them. The first in order is the grindstone and muller. This is an apparatus necessary to every painter, as the purity of the colours sold ready ground at the shops is not to be depended upon; and some colours, as lakes and Prussian blue, will not keep long after grinding. The grindstone is a slab of porphyry marble or granite, about two feet square; the chief requisite is, that it be hard, and close-grained.

The muller is a hard and conical-formed stone, the diameter of the base or rubbing surface of which should be about one-sixth of that of the grindstone, and the cone high enough to get a sufficient hold of it with the hands. The face of both grindstones and muller should be perfectly flat and smooth. A large palette knife is used to gather the colour from the stone as soon as it is sufficiently ground.

The palette is a small thin board, of an oval shape, having a hole in it for the thumb to pass through; it is used chiefly in ornamental painting, and for mixing up small portions of colour on. With this is employed the palette knife, for mixing up colours on the palette: it has a long, thin, and elastic blade, rounded at the extremity.

The most important of the painter's tools are the brushes: these are of all sizes, both round and flat, and are made chiefly of hogVhair. The large round brush called the pound brush, and a smaller one called the tool, are those mostly used in plain work. The smallest hog's-hair brushes are called fitches, and are used for putting in small work where the tool would be too large. The pound brush is used as a duster for some time previous to putting it into colour, whereby it is rendered much softer. The smallest brushes are the camel-hair pencils, with long or short hair, according to the work to be done. The variety of brushes used in graining will be spoken of when we come to that division of the subject.

The stopping-knife has a shorter blade than the palette-knife, and is pointed. It is used for making good the holes and cracks with putty.

Putty is made of common whiting, pounded fine, and well kneaded with lin seed oil, till it becomes about the consistence of stiff dough.


Grinding colours.

All substances employed for painting in oil require to be ground up with a small portion of the oil previous to mixing them with the whole quantity required for use; for this purpose, they must first be pounded, and passed through a tolerably fine sieve, then mixed with a portion of linseed oil, just sufficient to saturate them; a quantity, about the size of a small egg, is to be taken on the point of the palette-knife, and placed on the stone; the muller is then placed upon it, and moved round about, or to and fro in all directions, bearing a little weight on it at the same time. This should be continued until it is ground perfectly fine, having the consistence and smoothness of butter. The colour must be occasionally trimmed from the edges of the stone and muller with the palette-knife, and put under the muller in the middle of the stone. When sufficiently ground, it is removed from the stone with the palette-knife, and a fresh quantity taken. It is not well to have much colour on the stone at one time; it makes it more laborious, and will take a longer time to grind the same quantity equally well.


Mixing colours for painting.

Before the colours which have been ground can be applied to the work, they must be rendered fluid by the addition of linseed oil, or spirits of turpentine, or certain proportions of both. When a tinted colour is required to be mixed up, a small quantity of the proper tint should be first prepared on the palette, which will serve as a guide to mix the whole quantity by. With the ground white lead there should first be well mixed a portion of oil, and then the tinting colour should be added, as ascertained by the pattern on the palette. When these are thoroughly mixed and matched to the proper tint, the remaining portion of the oil or turpentine is to be added; this is better than putting in all the oil at once: it should then be' strained through a piece of fme canvass, or a fine sieve, and should be about the consistence of cream, or just so as to work easily. If it is too thick, the work will have an uneven, cloudy appearance, and it will be hard to spread; while, if it be too thin, it will be likely to run, or will require a greater number of coats to cover the ground, and render the work solid. The straining ought not to be neglected where the appearance of the work is studied.


Preparing work for, and manner of proceeding with, the painting. New work.

Clean the work, carefully removing all projections, such as glue, or whiting spots; this is easily done with the stopping knife and duster; then cover over the knots with a composition of red lead, called knotting. The red lead has the property of drying very hard; and if it was not used, the paint would not dry on the knots, and they would show through every coat. If the knots are very bad, they must be cut out. After knotting comes the priming, or first coat of paint. When the priming is quite dry, all nail-holes, cracks, and defects, are to be made good with putty; then proceed to the next coat, called the second colour; when this is dry, those places are to be stopped which were omitted in the last coat; and proceed according to the number of coats intended to be given. It should be observed that second colour for new work is made up chiefly with oil, as it best stops the suction of the wood; but second colour for old work is made up chiefly with turpentine, because oil colour would not dry or adhere to it so well. The colour should be spread on as evenly as possible; and to effect this, as soon as the whole, or a convenient quantity, is covered, the brush should be passed over it in a direction contrary to that in which it is finally to be laid off; this is called crossing: after crossing, it should be laid off softly and carefully, in a direction contrary to the crossing, but with the grain of the wood, taking care that none of the crossed brush marks be left visible. The criterion of good workmanship is, that the paint be laid evenly, and the brush marks be not observed. In laying off, the brush should be laid into that portion of the work already done, that the joining may not he perceived. Every coat should be perfectly dry, and all dust carefully removed, before the succeeding one is laid over it.


Old work.

Carefully remove all dirt and extraneous matter with the stopping knife and duster; those places near the eye should be rubbed with pumice-stone, and greasy places should be well rubbed with turpentine. Bring forward new patches and decayed parts with a coat of priming; stop and make good with putty, then proceed with the first coat, or second colour, in turpentine. The quality of the next coat will depend upon the manner in which it is to be finished. If it is to be painted twice in oil, and flatted, the next coat, or third colour, should be mixed up chiefly in oil, and tinted like the finishing colour, to form a ground for the flatting. The greater the shine of the ground, the more dead will the finishing coat or flatting be; likewise, the more dead the ground, the better will the finishing oil shine; therefore, it is a general rule that for finishing in oil the under coat should be turpentine, and for finishing flat, the under coat, or ground colour, should be oil; but observe, that all turpentine under coats have a little oil with them, and all oil under coats, except the priming or first coat on new work, have a little turpentine with them.

Knotting is made with red lead, carefully ground, and thinned with boiled oil and a little turpentine. For inside work, red lead, carefully ground in water, and mixed up with double size, is a good substitute, and is generally used: it must be used hot.


Priming for new work.

This is made of white lead with dryers, and a little led lead tu harden it, and further to assist its drying; it is thinned entirely with oil, and should be made very thin, as the new wood, or plaster, sucks it in very fast. It is a frequent practice with painters to save the oil coats by giving the new work a coat of size, or size and water, with a little whiting, called clearcole; but where durability is consulted, this should not be done. The size stops the suction of the wood or plaster, but, at the same time, it prevents the oil paint from adhering to the work; the consequence is, that it is apt to peel or chip off, especially in damp places. Clearcole is sometimes advantageously used on old greasy work, on which oil paint would not dry.


Second colour for new work, or oil second colour.
This is white lead thinned with oil and a little turpentine, with suitable dryers. The proportion of dryers for ordinary cases is about one ounce and a half to ten pounds of white lead; but in winter, or under other unfavourable circumstances, the quantity of dryers must be increased.

Second colour for old work, or turpentine second colour.
This is white lead thinned with about three parts of turpentine, and one of oil, also a little dryers. Where much turpentine is used, less dryers is required.

Turpentine colour.
This is only used when the work is to be finished in oil; that is, left shining. It is thinned almost entirely with turpentine, that the finishing coat may have a better gloss.

Third, or ground colour, is thinned with two-thirds oil and one-third turpentine, and tinted a shade darker than the finishing colour.

Finishing oil colour is thinned with a little more oil than turpentine, and tinted to the desired colour.

Flatting, or finishing turpentine colour, is thinned entirely with turpentine, and has no shine.

A bastard flat is thinned with turpentine and a little oil, which renders it more durable than the perfect flatting. To procure a good flat, it is necessary to have a perfectly even glossy ground, and it should be of the same tint, but a little darker than the finishing flat.

For clearcole and finish.
Stop defects with putty, clearcole, and finish with oil-finishing colour, as directed.

For two coats in oil.
Turpentine second colour, and finishing oil colour.

For two coats in oil and flat.
Turpentine second colour; third colour, and flat.

For three coats in oil.
Turpentine second colour; turpentine colour; and finishing oil colour.

For three coats in oil and flat (old work).
Turpentine second colour; turpentine colour; third, or ground colour; and flatting.

For four coats in oil (new work).
Oil priming; oil second colour; turpentine colour; and oil finishing colour.

For four coats in oil and flat (new work).
Oil priming; oil second colour; turpentine colour; third or ground colour; and flatting.


Tinted Colours.

Stone colour.
White lead, with a little burnt or raw umber, and yellow ochre.

Gray stone colour.
White lead, and a little black.

Drab.
White lead, with burnt umber and a little yellow ochre for a warm tint, and with raw umber and a little black for a green tint.

Pearl colour, or pearl grey.
White lead with black, and a little Prussian blue.

Sky blue.
White lead, with Prussian blue.

French grey.
White lead, with Prussian blue, and a little lake. These last, used in various proportions, will make purples and lilacs of all shades.

Fawn colour.
White lead, with stone ochre, and a little vermilion or burnt stone ochre.

Buff.
White lead and yellow ochre.

Cream colour.
Same as the last, with more white.

Lemon colour.
White lead, with chrome yellow.

Orange colour.
Orange lead, or chrome yellow and vermilion.

Peach colour.
White lead, with either vermilion, Indian red, purple brown, or burnt stone ochre.

Gold colour.
Chrome yellow, with a little vermilion and white.

Violet colour.
White lead, with vermilion, blue and black.

Sage green.
Prussian blue, raw umber, and yellow stone ochre, with a little white, and thinned with boiled oil and a little turpentine.

Olive green.
Raw umber, with Prussian blue, thinned as before.

Pea green.
White lead, with Brunswick green, or with Prussian blue and chrome yellow.

Chocolate colour.
Spanish brown, or Venetian red and black, thinned with boiled oil and a little turpentine.

Lead colour.
White lead and black.

Plain opaque oak colour.
White lead, with yellow mahogany colour.

Plain, opaque mahogany colour.
Purple brown, or Venetian red, with a little black.

Black should be ground in boiled oil, and thinned with boiled oil and a little turpentine.

It will be obvious that the proportions of the colours above mentioned must be determined by the particular tone of colour required.


Distempering.

The principal difference between oil and distemper painting is, that in the latter the colours are ground in water, and diluted with size. It is much less durable than oil painting, but is cheaper, and is not attended with much smell: it will not bear washing. Ceilings are generally distempered, and walls very frequently. There are several colours used for distempering that will not do for oil, as it would change them. The principal are, — common spruce ochre, common indigo, rose pink, brown pink, blue verditer, green verditer, mineral green, and Saxon green. Whiting is the substance mostly used in distempering. It should be broken and thrown into a vessel of clean water, and left to soak for a short time without stirring it — half an hour is sufficient; the surplus water is then poured off from the top, leaving only the softened whiting, which should then be stirred, to ascertain that there be no lumps in it. To this is added hot durable size, in the proportion of one pound of size to three pounds of whiting; it is then to be well stirred, and left to chill or congeal in a cool place. In summer weather it should stand over night, when, if it is like a weak jelly, it is fit for use. If it is to be a tinted colour, the colouring substance should be added to the whiting previous to the size being mixed with it. Distemper colours dry much lighter than they appear when first laid on; consequently, it is better, before mixing the size with them, to colour a slip of paper and dry it, to ascertain if it is of the desired tint. In distempering old walls or ceilings, it is necessary that the old distemper be first washed off with an old brush and plenty of water. The holes, cracks, and damaged places, should be made good with plaster of Paris, or distemper putty, made of powdered whiting and double size. They should then have a coat of clearcole made by adding a little more size and water to the finishing colour, and using it warm. When this is dry, the finishing colour may be laid on. For new walls, it is only necessary to clearcole and finish.


Graining.

Graining comprises the imitating of woods and marbles; the latter is distinguished by the term marbling: it is strictly an imitative art, and demands in its execution considerable judgment and good taste, united to a close observation of the peculiar characters of the different woods and marbles to be represented; It is usually done on ground prepared for the purpose, the colour of which is varied according to the kind of wood or marble to be imitated; but as the manner of proceeding in imitating woods differs from that in the case of marbles, they will be noticed separately, beinning with —


Graining in imitation of woods.

The first thing to be attended to is the ground; and, although generally laid on by the plain painter, it should receive bie particular attention of the grainer, for on the colour of the ground greatly depends the excellence of the imitation. The ground should be chosen of the same colour, but a little lighter, than the lightest parts of the wood to be imitated, sufficient allowance being made for the varnish afterwards to come upon it. Repeated trials on small patterns is, however, the best, and, indeed, the only safe way of arriving at the tint proper for the ground. The ground may either be mixed up, just as in finishing-oil colour, or it may be a bastard flat; and it should be very carefully prepared, as the shine of the varnish will cause the rough or uneven places to be detected. The pigments employed for graining are distinguished by the painter as transparent colours; those mostly used are raw umber, burnt umber, raw sienna, burnt sienna, Vandyke brown, burnt ochre, and lake; these, with the occasional assistance of small portions of the opaque, or imperfectly transparent colours, — ivory black, Prussian blue, or indigo, and purple brown, or Indian red, will be sufficient to match the colour of any of the woods usually imitated. These pigments were, until within these last few years, worked in oil and spirits of turpentine; but, in consequence of the much greater facility found to be afforded by the use of water or distemper colours, oil is now seldom or never used, except for wainscot or oak graining, which is frequently done in oil. The tools employed in graining are round and flattened hog-hair brushes, of various sizes; tin: round ones are used chiefly for laying on the colour. Occasionally, as in very large pieces of work, large brushes of any convenient form are employed for that purpose. Of the flat brushes, there are cutlers of various sizes, from two and a half inches to half an inch wide; these are made of camel's hair, having the ends or points of the hairs cut off square, to within about three-eighths of an inch from the ferrule; the edges should be very sharp and straight: they are used for producing the mottled appearance, as in mahogany and satin-wood.

Flat hog-hair brushes, of various sizes, from six, or even twelve inches, to one and a half inches wide; these are used chiefly for graining wainscot in distemper. Flat hog-hair brushes, but of a much thinner description than the last-mentioned, are used for putting on the second grain, and for other purposes.

Badger-hair tools, or softeners, of several sizes; this tool is one of the most necessary kind, and it is employed to soften the work put in with the other tools.

Cross-banders, of several sizes, from one and a half inch wide and upwards; they are flat hoghair brushes, having their ends cut off to within about an inch of the ferrule; they should be very carefully made, and of the best hair; every bristle should lay straight and even, and, when cut, should have a straight, unbroken edge, similar to the cutter. We shall describe the use of this tool when speaking of the particular woods in which it is employed. These, with camel and hog-hair pencils, sponges, and pieces of wash-leather, are sufficient to imitate any of the woods except wainscot in oil, which requires a particular tool, which will be noticed presently. The woods generally imitated are the following: — oak, (dark oak,) wainscot, or light oak, pollard oak, mahogany, rose-wood, maplewood, satin-wood, amhoyna, zebra-wood, and yew. The general instructions given for imitating these will suffice for any other fancy woods. Wainscot, or fight oak, although the most common, is perhaps the most difficult to produce a good imitation of: it is done either in oil or distemper. The manner of proceeding in oil will be first described.


Wainscot in oil.

The effect of the grain in this wood is produced by the horn graining-tool, which very much resembles a comb, but the teeth are not pointed. The teeth of the graining-tool are of equal dimensions from the root to the extremity, which is square, and the interstices between them are as small as they can be cut. The principal colour used is burnt umber; this, with a little touch of black and purple brown, makes an excellent wainscot colour, — or a little raw sienna may be used with it. This colour must be tempered with a peculiar vehicle called graining oil, which is made by dissolving two ounces of bees-wax in as much turpentine as will just cover it, and make it easy to dissolve, and by adding one pint of boiled oil, stirring it well while mixing. When it is cold it will be of the consistence of soft honey, and will, when to be used, require the addition of a little boiled oil and turpentine: a small quantity of colour is sufficient to stain a large quantity of oil. The graining colour is to be kid on very evenly and very bare. The brush marks, if not pounced out with the end of the brush or duster, must lie in the direction of the grain of the wood. The horn graining-tool is then to be passed over it, to imitate the grain; it should be held in a slightly inclined position, and drawn along with a small waving motion, with a little pressure, passing twice over every part of the work. The veins are then to be put in, or rather wiped off, which is best done with a piece of cotton stocking, or wash leather, wrapped over the thumb nail. The veining is the most difficult part of it; and any directions that might be given, other than to observe nature closely, would be quite unavailing; nothing but a close observation of the peculiar character of the veins displayed in nature, with considerable practice, will enable any person to do it, even tolerably. As soon as it is dry, the dark shades observed in the wood are to be put in: for this purpose a little turpentine, stained with burnt umber, ground in oil, is suf ficient; also the dark veins are sometimes put in with a hair pencil, and a little burnt umber and burnt ochre, diluted with turpentine. When quite dry, it may be varnished, and is then finished.


Wainscot in distemper.
Raw umber alone is a very good colour for this, or a little burnt umber may be added to it, to make a warmer tint. The fluid used for this and all other distemper graining must be such as will so bind on the colour, that the varnishing may not bring it off; small beer is the best, or, if it cannot be conveniently procured, stronger beer diluted with water may do, but there is nothing so good as stale, common table-beer. It is only necessary to mix the beer with the colour after it has been carefully ground in water, and it is then fit for use. Sometimes the colour will not lay on the ground; it is then said to ciss: this may be remedied by wetting the work all over with a sponge and water, and drying it with a wash-leather. Only so much should be begun at one time as can be finished before it gets dry, which it will do in a few minutes, according to the weather. The colour should be laid on as evenly and as quickly as possible, with a suitable brush, and then the flat hog's-hair brush must be drawn over it, in a straight line, and in the direction of the intended grain; this will leave it streaky: it is then to be carefully pounced or patted with the flat side of the same brush, making the head of the brush advance before the hand, and in the direction of the grain. This will make a very excellent imitation of the grain of oak, if it be well managed. The veins are to be wiped out with a piece of wet wash-leather, wrapped over the thumb nail. When this is dry, the shades may be strengthened by passing very lightly over it with weaker colour. Great care should be taken that it is quite dry before the varnish is laid on: it is not safe to varnish it in damp weather without fire being near it; but if it will bear the finger passing over it, it is dry enough.

Pollard oak.
Either burnt umber or Vandyke brown makes an excellent pollard oak colour. The colour, in this case, unlike wainscot, should be laid on unevenly, or darker in some places than in others, after the character of the wood; a coarse sponge, moistened, and assisted by the cutter, produces the effect very well. When the masses of colour are properly disposed with the sponge and cutter, it must be softened off with the badger-hair tool, and the knots put in with the end of a hog-hair fitch, by holding the handle between the thumb and fore-finger, and twisting it round; these knots may afterwards be assisted with a camel-hair pencil. A few small veins are frequently found in pollard oak; these may be wiped off in the same manner as for wainscot. When this is dry, the second or upper grain may be put on: this grain occurs in almost all the woods except oak and rose-wood; indeed, it is the proper grain of the wood, with the above exceptions. Some of the first colour diluted will do for this second grain. To put on this grain, the thin, flat hog-hair brush should be dipped into the colour, and the hairs must be combed out to straighten and separate them. As soon as the grain is put on, the softener should be passed lightly across the grain, in one direction only; this will make one edge of the grain soft and the other sharp, as it occursi in the wood. When the second grain is dry, it may be varnished.

All the other woods are done in a similar manner. The particular character and colour of the shades and grain of the wood must be carefully noticed, and those tools which will produce the effect most conveniently must be selected: for example, the thinnest flat hog's-hair brush will best produce the effect of the grain in rose-wood; the cutter will best produce the effect of the shades in mahogany and satin-wood; the sponge and cutter In pollard oak. Plain mahogany may be very well imitated by properly disposing the shades with the common round tool, with which the colour is laid on, and then passing the badger-hair softener over it in a direction across the stripes. When this is dry, the second grain may be put on, as directed for pollard oak. Burnt umber and burnt sienna make a good mahogany colour.


Marbling.

Marbles are generally imitated with oil colours, and those colours are mostly opaque, as for this purpose it is not at all necessary that they be transparent. The manner of proceeding with the different marbles will not be detailed, but a few general instructions applicable to all of them will be given. The tools for imitating marble are less varied than those for imitating wood. A palette and palette knife, with numerous small sized hog-hair brushes and camel-hair pencils, and a duster, or worn badger-hair softener, are all that is necessary for imitating any of the marbles. The ground is to be chosen of that colour which is most predominant in the marble to be imitated; for example, in black and gold marble, the ground is black; in veined, it is white; in sienna, it is cream colour; and in dove marble, the ground is of a dark pearl colour. In proceeding to the imitation, the necessary colours are to be taken on the palette, and mixed up to match the tints in the marble to be imitated. In mixing, they must be slightly tempered with oil, and further tempered with tur pentine for use; and they should not be laid on thicker than is necessary to produce the proper effect. The softer shades are first to be put in, blending the different colours, as may be, in the marble. As soon as they are put in a proper form, they are to be softened by brushing lightly over with a clean duster, or old badger-hair softener; but in some marbles there requires to be no softening: of course, when the shades or veins are sharp and hard, they must not be softened. The softer veins may be next put in, while the soft shades or ground-work is yet wet. As soon as this ground-work is dry, the shades may be heightened, and the strong and sharp vems put in. In putting in the soft shades or ground-work, care must be taken not to mix the colours together, so as to give the work a muddy appearance; and the colours should be used as thin as will make the work sufficiently solid, or it will look uneven when varnished.


Ornamental Painting.

This chiefly consists in painting scrolls, figures, or other enrichments on plain work, so as to give them the appearance of relief or projection; it is most commonly done in the corners and margins of panels. The ornaments or enrichments to be painted are usually sketched on paper, and the outlines are then pricked through with a needle point. This paper is to be laid on the wall or work on which the ornament is to be painted, and pounced over with a charcoal pounce-bag; the charcoal dust, passing through the small holes in the paper, will leave a faint tracing of the outline of the ornament on the work, and serves as a guide to paint it by. The brushes used are camel or sable-hair pencils, with long hair; and a rest-stick is held in the left hand, to steady the right hand by; also a palette, to work the colour from, the same as is used by artists generally. If the colour of the ornament is to differ from that of the ground on which it is painted, the pounced outline should first be filled up, and, when that is dry, the shades put in; but when the orna ment is to be of the same colour as the ground, it will only he necessary to put in the shades, by the assistance of the pounced outline. As soon as the first shades are dry they may be heightened, and a stronger relief given to the ornament.