An Old Hand

“ Nothing destroys the effect of a room so much as a handsome but staring wall paper, or a wall so profusely ornamented as to strike upon the eye to the exclusion of the rest of the decorations, thus bringing forward what should be the background into the most conspicuous place. ”

“ No matter what the finish is to be, the first coat should always be darker than the one which succeeds it; and the darker the shade of the finishing coat, the more important it is that this rule should be observed. If the work is to be finished with black, prime with black. If with green, let that be the color of all the preceding coats. If with blue, let that color be the ground work. What can be more stupid than applying to work which is to be finished in imitation of black walnut a priming coat of white? All work should be primed especially with regard to the finishing color. ”

“ The color is lasting, and is unaffected by light when it is pure and used alone, but any preparation containing lead or acids mixed with it deprive it of color, and impure air makes it black. It may be used for a drier, as it possesses many of the properties of litharge; it is also often employed in painting wrought iron work, to which it adheres with a tenacity not equalled by any other paints; it is sometimes objected to for this purpose, on the ground that galvanic action is set up between the lead and the iron. ”

“ Persons are generally so anxious to have their buildings finished, that they disregard the future appearance of the work, and within a few weeks after the application of the stucco, cover it with paint. But it would, in all cases, be sufficient to wash the surface with distemper, as it would give a finished appearance to the building, and make it less necessary to hurry the work. When the work is sufficiently dry to receive the oil-colors the distemper color should be removed by washing, and when the stucco is dry apply the oil-color. ”

“ Real woods are always beautiful. Plain painting may be darker or lighter than the general wall surfaces; both will look well. The doors may have stencilled decorations in angles of panels; birds or butterflies, or plants, or any beautiful natural objects will supply motives. The ceilings should rarely be wholly white, except of halls or where the light is defective. Papered ceilings look well. The use of gold is generally satisfactory; it reflects a warm tone on everything below. Put a good amount of color on a ceiling—not, however, making it so dark as to bring it too close to the eye. ”

“ Massicot is a superior kind of litharge, being produced by heating lead to an extent insufficient to fuse the oxide. Sugar of lead, or, as it is more frequently called, acetate of lead, ground in oil, and copperas and white vitriol (sulphate of zinc) , are also used as driers, especially for light tints. Oxide of manganese is quicker in its effects, but is of a very dark color, and seldom used except for deep tints. Japanners’ gold size and verdigris (acetate of copper) are also much used for dark colors. Care must be taken not to apply too much of the size, or it will make the paint brittle. ”

“ Too frequently the imitation is overdone, the shading too deep and obtrusive, and the work made too glaring with figure and varnish, has an unnatural appearance; a grainer should always avoid attempting to over-do nature. The following is an approved method:—The surface on new wood should be prepared with three coats of oil paints for the ground color, and regulated in shade by the color of the wood to be imitated, making due allowance for the graining tint that is to cover it. The ground colors should always be perfectly dry before the graining is commenced. ”

“ Never allow paint to accumulate on the clothing or finger nails. Never wash the hands in turpentine, as it relaxes the muscles and injures the joints; any animal oil or even linseed oil is better. Never drink water that has stood any length of time in a paint shop or newly painted room. Never use spirituous liquors as it unites with the mineral salts and tends to harden them and causes inflammation of the parts where they concrete. Milk, sweet oil and the like should be used freely, as they tend to soften the accumulated poisons and carry them off. ”

“ The skill of the painter also affects the composition; a good workman can lay on even coats with a smaller quantity of oil and turps than a man who is unskilful; extra turps, especially, are often added to save labor. The quality of the materials makes an important difference in the proportions used. Thus more oil and turps will combine with pure than with impure white lead; thick oil must be used in greater quantity than thin oil. When paint is purchased ready ground in oil, a soft paste will require less turps and oil for thinning than a thick paste. ”

“ Every painter has seen (the result too of unpardonable negligence) plates of glass so covered with spatters, that to remove them would require more time than would serve to paint the woodwork of a “full-trimmed” window.
In priming work which is to be finished in oak, finely-ground French ochre is recommended. The objection to this pigment, that it does not work smoothly and easily under the brush, has arisen from its coarseness. Finely ground in boiled oil, it works as smoothly as white lead, and makes an excellent foundation for the succeeding coats. ”

“ Many painters have a method of their own, which from long practice produce excellent results. In some cases, graining in distemper may be adopted with great success for indoor work, and if the colors are put on thin, so that the varnish will penetrate through into the ground color, this kind of graining is as durable as oil-color, and is susceptible of being made far more beautiful, and soft looking in the imitation of mottled woods. For blending distemper colors, a badger’s hair blender should be frequently used to soften down and blend the tints where necessary ”

“ In priming the paint should flow easily, and the brush should be pressed on to the wood so that the paint will be forced into the pores. In all cases it is a great saving of time to cover as large a surface as convenient before smoothing or finishing off. All work on the same surface should be finished at the one application, if possible, for “laps”—which form the junctions of work done at different times—should be avoided wherever they can, as [Pg 25] they are sure to disfigure the work where they exist. ”

“ White lead may be obtained either pure or mixed with various substances, such as sulphate of baryta, sulphate of lead, whiting, chalk, zinc white, etc. These substances do not combine with oil as well as does white lead, nor do they so well protect any surface to which they are applied. Sulphate of baryta, the most common adulterant, is a dense, heavy, white substance, very like white lead in appearance. It absorbs very little oil, and may frequently be detected by the gritty feeling it produces when the paint is rubbed between the finger and thumb. ”

“ It is superior in drying powers, tenacity, and body to any other fixed oil. The best oil comes from the Black Sea and the Baltic; that from the East Indian seed is inferior, as the seed is less carefully cleaned, and contains too much stearine. Raw linseed oil is clear and light in color, works smoothly, and is used for internal works, for delicate tints, and for grinding up colors. Boiled oil is much thicker, darker, and more apt to clog. It is used for outside work, as its greater body and rapidity in drying make it a quicker and more efficient protection. ”

“ As a general thing it is better to buy putty already made at a regular paint store, where you may depend upon its being made of good whiting and linseed oil than to make it. Putty should not be used until the work has been primed, for new paint holds the putty very firmly.
White lead is to be judged of by being well ground and possessing the mellowness given to it by age. ”

“ Vegetable black is a better kind of lampblack made from oil. It is very light, free from grit, and of a good color. It should be used with boiled oil, driers, and a little varnish. Raw linseed oil or spirits of turpentine keeps it from drying.
Ivory-black is obtained by calcining waste ivory in close vessels and then grinding. It is intensely black when properly burned. Bone-black is inferior to ivory-black, and prepared in a similar manner from bones. Blue-black and Frankfort black of the best quality are made from vine twigs ”

“ Common Brunswick green is made by mixing chromate of lead and Prussian blue with sulphate of baryta. It is not as durable as real Brunswick green. Mineral green is made from bi-basic carbonate of copper; it weathers well. Verdigris is acetate of copper. It furnishes a bluish-green color, durable in oil or varnish, but not in water; it dries rapidly, but requires great care in using owing to its poisonous qualities. Green verditer is a carbonate of copper and lime; is not very durable. Prussian green is made by mixing different substances with Prussian blue. ”

“ There is a general belief abroad that anybody can execute all that is required of a house-painter. This is a very popular error; it is not so easy to prepare and apply a coat of paint in a thorough workmanlike manner as some may imagine. It is still less easy to paint in parti colors; and very few can produce a good piece of graining.
The painter should not only be acquainted with the method of applying paint when it is provided for him, and the brush placed in his hand, but he should know the composition of the colors ”

“ The best driers to employ with it are sulphate of manganese and sulphate of zinc. This white is recommended as being preferable to white lead for painting on a dark ground. The reason of this is that the soap formed by the combination of the lead and oil in lead paints is semi-transparent, and the dark ground shows through it. The want of density, however, in zinc paints, is a great drawback to their use, and the purest zinc oxide is not always the best for paint on account of its low specific gravity ”

“ A modern drawing room is always difficult to decorate artistically, because of the taste of its builders for heavy cornices, prominent mantelpieces, and rooms too lofty for their size; and as all these misnamed “embellishments” are too costly to remove by tenants, the only plan to pursue is to destroy their effect by exercising both taste and ingenuity. ”

“ The best driers are those which contain a large proportion of oxygen, such as litharge, acetate of lead, red lead, sulphate of zinc, verdigris, etc. They are sometimes used to improve the drying qualities of the oil with which the paint is mixed, or they may themselves be ground up with a small quantity of oil, and added to the paint just before it is used. ”

“ When slightly adulterated with a very white sulphate of baryta, like that of the Tyrol, the mixture is considered preferable for certain [Pg 11] kinds of work, as the barytes communicates opacity to the color and protects the lead from being speedily darkened by sulphurous smoke or vapors. White lead improves by keeping, and when of good quality, will go much further and last much better than when employed fresh; moreover, paint made with new lead has a tendency to become yellow. It should not be exposed to the air or it will turn grey. ”

“ When nearly dry, take a graining comb that is used for oak, and draw down the grain. This will give it the appearance of nature. Then varnish. This makes an excellent and durable imitation.
Another for Rosewood.—This ground is prepared with vermilion and small quantities of white lead and crimson lake. When the ground is dry, and made very smooth, take vandyke brown, ground in oil, and with a very soft tool spread the color over the surface in different directions, forming a kind of knots. Before the work is dry take a piece of leather, and with great freedom strike out the light veins ”

“ Fixed oils are extracted by pressure from vegetable substances, they are of a fatty nature, do not evaporate in drying, and will bear a temperature short of 500° Fahr., without decomposing. They are subdivided into drying oils, which become thick upon exposure to air. Of these, linseed oil is most commonly used as an ingredient for paint. Its qualities when pure are excellent, and it may be considered the best of all oils for use in paint, putty, and other similar substances. It oxidizes and becomes thick upon exposure to the air. ”