Arthur Seymour Jennings

“ Many painters look upon paint as necessarily consisting of white lead to which has been added sufficient colouring matter to give the desired tint. As a matter of fact, white lead may be wholly absent from a paint. For example, yellow ochre may be used by itself; iron oxide in the shape of Indian red, purple brown, Venetian red, or Tuscan red forms in itself a good paint if the colour is not objectionable. Again, in the lighter paints we sometimes have white lead replaced by an admixture of zinc white, barytes and other materials of the kind. ”

“ Now a Prussian blue can be bought for, say, 1s. 3d. a pound, but it would probably consist of at least one half of barytes or some other adulterant, which is of no value whatever as a tinter. If this colour is half strength it is obvious that two pounds of it would be required to tint the white for the work in hand, and this would cost 2s. 6d., against 2s. for the better class colour. This homely example should be taken to heart by every painter. He has only to experiment to find out that it never pays to use inferior tinting colours. ”

“ There is not much doubt that the best pigments may be replaced with others somewhat inferior without so much detriment to the quality of the paint as if linseed oil is replaced by some other oil. It is quite necessary that pure linseed oil be used in the manufacture of all paints, and although there are one or two substitutes on the market which may be employed in very cheap work, no attempt should be made to execute a really good job unless pure linseed oil is used. The purpose of the oil in giving a gloss is sometimes assisted by the addition of a small quantity of oak varnish. ”

“ For instance, Siberian Okatka, and perhaps most important to my readers because they make the best paint brushes, having an excellent spring and being stiff. They are very costly and are rarely used by themselves, nor is it necessary, because other varieties of bristles may be mixed in, and it is this mixing or blending that constitutes so important a part in the brush manufacturer’s art. Indeed, the purchase and blending takes years of careful study to learn. ”

“ If half a dozen practical painters, experienced in colour mixing, were asked separately to mix a given colour, say a sea green, it is almost certain that when the six colours were compared there would not be two alike. ”

“ Cleanliness should be the first and foremost rule for every painter. It has been said that if it were not for the flies and the smoke the principal part of the painters’ occupation would be gone. It may be taken as a safe rule that all old work should be thoroughly washed down with clean water before repainting. This pays even with stucco or outside cement work.
A good priming coat for work that is to be finished in vermilion is made by mixing bright Venetian red and white lead with boiled linseed oil. ”

“ The test for a chrome is tinting strength, taking care to make a comparison with the same grade of colours, that is, light, medium or orange chrome. Fineness is another important test. Placing a small quantity on glass and passing a palette knife over it and pressing firmly will detect grit if present. In the lighter chromes it is well to look for the greyness of tone which is objectionable. Chromes mix well with white lead and are strong in body.
Ochres. —Analysis is of no value in determining the value of an ochre. Sometimes chrome yellow is used to tone it up. ”

“ While the manner of mixing small quantities of paint is thoroughly practical and sensible, yet some painters, even when they have larger quantities of the same paint to mix, adopt exactly the same means without thinking it necessary to take advantage of special machinery which is made for the purpose. ”

“ A practical method of testing covering power is to mix a small quantity of a standard paint and an exactly similar quantity of the pigment to be tested, taking care to use precisely the same amount of oil and thinners in each case. Then, taking a clean brush for each of the paints, paint a door, or other surface that has been primed, on two panels side by side, continuing to paint till all the pigment has been in each case used up. The one that goes farthest has the greater covering power. ”

“ Some colours are very much stronger for tinting purposes than others. For example, a Prussian blue will go a long way and a very little is sufficient to colour a considerable quantity of white lead. In the plates we show pure Turkey umber, French ochre, raw Italian sienna, orange chrome yellow, Prussian blue, medium chrome yellow, etc. Each of these is also shown when mixed with twenty-five parts of zinc and one hundred parts of zinc respectively. The object of using the zinc instead of white lead is to obtain a purer tint, the white being much whiter than white lead. ”

“ Again, a door that has been exposed to the weather for some years, and from which the paint has, perhaps, almost wholly departed, will require a different mixture to a front door from which the accumulation of old paint, extending, perhaps, to over one hundred years, has been burnt off. Precisely in the same way as patent medicines cannot be safely used for any and every complaint, so it is impossible to have paints that will suit any and every purpose. ”

“ The tests for the permanence of a colour when exposed to light are simple enough and are to mix a little of the colours to be tested in oil and to spread them on different slips of paper, cut the paper in half, number each half with corresponding figures or letters, expose one half to a strong light for as long as may be deemed desirable and put the other half away into a safe place where the light does not penetrate. Waxed paper is the best, as it will not absorb the thinners or, better still, glass may be used, this being cut across with a diamond after the paint has been applied. ”

“ Sometimes a green is obtained simply by lightening up, with white, a stock commercial green, for example, pea green may easily be obtained by lightening pale Brunswick green. In some cases greens are produced by an admixture of two or more colours, such, for instance, as Willow Green, which is made from ochre and indigo, and Olive Green from ochre and French ultramarine. Others have the addition of white, such as Grass Green, which is white ochre [45] and cobalt, and Spring Green, which is white, middle chrome and black. ”

“ Probably there is not a reader who does not fully understand that it is far better in the end to buy the best quality brushes, that is, that it is cheaper to pay a higher price, because the work with such brushes can be done quicker and better than it can by the inferior ones, and also because the superior quality lasts much longer. Those things are well understood among most painters, and even if some of them will use cheap stainers and lose money in consequence, they have, at least, learned the lesson of the necessity of using only best quality tools. ”

“ Oxide paints are usually sold as such in three shades. A Venetian red is lighter than an Indian red, which, in comparison, should have a purplish tint. It must be remembered in this class of colours that a comparison of the same shades must be made if any useful result is to be obtained.
Tuscan Red is a mixture of Indian red with some sort of lake colour in order to secure brilliancy. This brilliancy forms an important feature of the test; body should also be ascertained, and fineness of grinding is also important. Tuscan red, which is coarse, may lose its richness when ground fine. ”

“ There are on the market two sorts of mixing machine for paints that would prove of great service to the painter who has to produce large quantities of paint. But, as a rule, they are only used by paint manufacturers. ”

“ One part of barytes to six parts of white lead ground in oil makes a good white for outside use.
A permanent white which is not affected by gases, sulphuretted hydrogen, etc., is made by mixing two parts of oxide of zinc with one part of barytes. A warm white is made by mixing a small quantity of oxide of ochre, say one part to one hundred of white lead. Sometimes a little ivory black, say one part to three hundred, is added to the white.
White lead being sometimes a little “off” in colour, that is a little yellow in its cast, some blue is added to counteract this imperfection. ”

“ If two different white leads ground in oil to an equal consistency are applied to different panels of a door, primed in the same manner, the one of the two leads that possesses the better body will be shown by it hiding the grain of the wood better. Some white leads, especially those that are manufactured by the new processes, lack this important quality of body, and three coats will only cover the work as well as about two of old process white lead. ”

“ In preparing plaster figures for showing samples of gold paint it is necessary first to give a heavy coat of shellac to prevent absorption.
Perhaps not one painter in a thousand knows that water glass (silicate of soda) makes an excellent size for wall paper. It will not wash up the pattern, and it forms a foundation for the paper varnish that makes it stand out admirably.
The priming coat for new pine may be made by mixing a stone of white lead in oil with an equal quantity of patent driers. About one pound of turpentine and a pound and a half of raw linseed oil will be required. ”

“ The black is softened with turpentine and removed by means of an old chisel.
A priming coat can never prove satisfactory unless it is composed of very fine materials. White lead, red lead, or white lead and ochre are among the best primers.
The best tests of linseed oil for the practical man are the senses of smell and taste. The analysis of linseed oil is a very difficult process, and every oil dealer should educate his senses by constant practice and recognise the pure oil immediately when he smells or tastes it. Adulteration in boiled oil is more difficult to detect than it is in raw oil. ”

“ Briefly, white lead is valuable because it possesses better “body”—i.e., the property of covering or hiding the surface to which it is applied—than any other pigment. Its poisonous character is against it, as is also the fact that it is affected by certain gases. Zinc is an excellent pigment; it is whiter than white lead, but is somewhat deficient in body. Lithopone and Charlton white are both excellent substitutes for lead, and are non-poisonous.
[22]
CHAPTER IV.
Grays and Greys. ”

“ The usual manner of painting iron, etc., in red lead is to first give a priming coat of pure lead and then a second coat of any colour desired. An excellent second coat is formed of equal parts by weight of red lead and good iron oxide. Any finishing coat may be applied.
Indian Red. —This is shown by analysis to consist almost wholly of oxide of iron. The paler Indian red is, the greater is its tinting strength and the rosier is the tint obtained from it by mixing it with white. Indian red should be always tested for fineness and tint. ”

“ The test of painting over squares of black and white may be varied by using stripes instead. The test answers equally well for white lead, zinc, lithopone, or any colour of which the quality of body is of importance. In some colours it is of little moment.
Tinting or Staining Strength. —We have already explained at length how greatly the tinting strength of different colours or stains varies. Any painter can test the tinting strength of any [65] colour himself in a very simple manner. ”

“ A yellow that is too bright can be reduced, or made less staring, a painter might say, by adding a little blue and red. If a blue is too bright a little red and yellow should be added; or if a red is too bright it may be toned down by the addition of a very little blue and yellow. ”

“ It may be taken as a safe rule for the painter to follow that where a good job is required the best materials only should be employed, but the reader may answer to this that the price paid to him for his work will frequently not permit of his doing this. We may then leave the subject an open one which has really no place in these pages, except in so far as it relates to tinting colours, and here we can definitely and positively assert that it pays the painter best to use the best qualities of colour, quite irrespective of whether he gets a high price or a low price for his work. ”

“ The first thing to be done in testing any paint material is to have a standard. There must be no doubt about this. Unless we have in each case something with which to compare the particular sample of colour that is being examined, we shall have no useful information concerning it. Take, therefore, good decorators’ colours of well known make. If necessary purchase small tubes of the best colours, such as are put up for artists. ”

“ Yet it is of such great importance that every house painter worthy of the name should make himself acquainted with it, and, unless he be colour blind, he can do so without difficulty if he will only take the trouble to make a number of tests and experiments. ”

“ Speaking generally, the scarlet colours are more permanent than those having a crimson tinge. It is important to know that the tinting strength for many vermilionettes is no indication of their quality or rather, perhaps it should be said that within reasonable limits the better stainers they are, the worse colours they will prove to be. This is because barytes or some other mineral may be substituted for the orange red and then the eosine will go farther in staining.
Red Lead. —Every painter knows that the great objection to the use of red lead is that it will harden quickly. ”