William E. Wall

“ If people want a mahogany color, try and induce them to have also a mahogany grain. I know that frequently some article of furniture made of stained cherry has to be matched in color in graining a room, and in such cases there is no resource but to imitate it. I once went to grain a chamber in imitation of cherry, and the lady of the house requested me to observe the color of her mahogany chamber-set, which color she desired to have on the woodwork of the room. ”

“ Now, any large city can boast of twenty to thirty artists—landscape, marine, portrait, etc.—whose work is praised and is accepted at art-galleries, and in some cases brings enormous prices at sales; but why is it that their work is lauded to the skies; when at best it is but an imitation of nature, and when an equally good imitation in another form is (as a rule) condemned by architects and critics as unworthy a place in artistic residences or in the more prominent rooms of such houses? ”

“ The ground-color should be quite hard, and not tacky, before the graining-color is applied, and two or three days is none too long a time to stand before being grained. Where a good job is to be done and finished at one impression, as we might call it, the manner of working can be reversed—that is, the work can be shaded or over-grained, as it were, on the ground-color in distemper before being rubbed in oil. The check roller can be used to good advantage, and the panels and stiles of doors streaked or mottled. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A very good imitation of a dark piece of heart-work may be done with a small fitch tool when the color is partially set. Sometimes the work is outlined roughly by lightly wiping off some of the color with a folded rag and describing the general direction of the grain to be followed by the fitch. The work is then put in with the fitch tool, and the edge of the color so put in is lifted with the blender, showing one edge light, and if carefully done, it looks well. The fitch tool is also employed to brighten the effects of the wiped-out hearts and to blend slightly. ”

“ Various devices other than those usually employed—brushes, combs, etc.—have been invented for representing the grains of wood, and some of these machines are excellent, and are so constructed that by properly using them a very good imitation of wood may be obtained. The majority of them, however, seem to have been invented for the express purpose of being sold to gullible painters. The work done by such machines bears but little resemblance to the grain of any wood, and the only merit they possess is their boasted "ease of manipulation." ”

“ A roll of oil-putty is sometimes used to take off the color in making the high lights; the putty should be rolled along the panel lengthwise of the grain, and then the panel blended crosswise. Care should be taken to have the graining-color light, as the effect is lost if the color be too dark. The lights are quite prominent, and it requires no little skill successfully to imitate them. When the mottling or lights and shadows are dry, they may be very lightly over-grained with a fine bristle overgrainer, the bristles being separated by a comb and the color used very thin. ”

“ In shading the champs the brush may be drawn through the shading-color, leaving the work streaked; then wipe off where the color covers the champs too deep. A similar effect is obtained by using a medium fine comb covered with a rag, the color being taken off in this way; this is for oil color. The blender drawn through water color, or a common oak overgrainer, gives the same effect for water color. It is better to go all over the work with a thin coat of color, as it looks raw without, and shading it in this way gives the depth that is otherwise unobtainable. ”

“ Cherry in its natural color is but little darker than ash, and the ground-work may be made in the same way or by adding raw sienna to the lead instead of yellow ochre and umber. The cherry that grainers have to match is often finished by furniture-makers, and is as dark as mahogany; in such cases the ground-work must be made with yellow ochre for the basis of the color and darkened by Venetian red. It will want little if any lead for the darker kinds of stained cherry, but will stand some for the lighter shades. In priming new work add considerable lead for first coat, as it gives more body. ”

“ In imitating quartered oak, or any other wood, it should always be borne in mind that it is the wood that we wish to imitate, and not somebody's idea of what it should be—for if we copy others, we become, as Byron says, "degenerate copyists of copies"—and the best thing that any beginner can do is to procure pieces of the real wood, study the various changes of grain and get the general character of the grains of each wood impressed upon his mind, then endeavor to reproduce them in his work ”

“ Almost every master painter has his favorite kind of varnish and is slow to accept anything contrary to his own idea of what should be used; and right here I will say that if you have something that, like the joke of the clown in the circus, has withstood the test of time, do not look farther, but "hold fast to that which is good." ”

“ Very large rollers have to be used in order to grain a panel four feet long, as the work will seldom join without showing the joints; and while a door was being grained in this manner (with joints in the panels) , a skilful workman could do one by hand and in a much better manner.
The best work that I have ever seen, not done by hand, was by means of a composition roller with a smooth surface; it can be used only for the imitation of porous woods, as chestnut, ash and walnut, and is useless for oak, cherry or any of the close-grained woods. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Where both means are used—that is, the fitch tool and the rag—in doing hearts of ash, the work presents a very woody appearance, and looks much better, if carefully done, than either method of doing heart-work does without the other.
Ash is greatly improved by being overgrained, but a great many of the dark streaks can be put in while the color is wet. Allowance can be made when it is intended to [Pg 18] overgrain the work, and the dark places can be done more successfully when the color is dry by overgraining. ”

“ In matching the wood get the ground-work as near the lightest color on the wood as possible, and you cannot go astray. For satin-wood the ground-work is similar to maple, but deeper in color. For burl ash use the same color as for ash, or slightly deeper.
The ground-work for cherry is probably mixed differently by every painter—at least, that is my experience—and it is hard work to make any workman believe that his is not the right way. In different parts of the country the popular idea of what "cherry color" is, varies greatly. ”

“ Of course all painters or grainers may not agree with me in using the colors named for preparing the ground-work, but good work can be done on such grounds. One thing I wish to say is, Never use Indian red in a ground-color, as it is not transparent and makes the work look muddy. In grounding work for cherry or walnut, where the old paint is not removed, it is well to add some red lead to the color, which should be frequently stirred, or the red lead will deposit on the bottom of the pot. ”

“ Graining is often overlooked in the rage for stained white wood or olive greens in interior work, but it will always find favor with those who have experienced its wearing qualities as compared with plain painted work; for should the varnish be of good quality and not crack, the work, if properly done, will stand for years and will not fade in the manner that paint does, and where the work is properly done on new wood it cannot be chipped off unless the wood is taken off with it. ”

“ THE following remarks, while not claiming to be anything new or startling, will perhaps be of interest to those who seek to improve themselves in the modern style of imitating the grain of wood. The ideas set forth in these pages are founded on the observation and every-day experience of a grainer to the trade who does not claim to be the best in the world, but who offers his suggestions for the good of the craft. ”

“ In mixing the graining-color for any wood just as much difference of opinion exists among grainers as to the proper way of mixing the color as there is among painters as to the proper way of mixing the ground-color, and although different grainers have their own method of preparing and mixing their graining-color, and often use different materials and colors, still, good workmen will often obtain the same effects, but by a different process. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ In mixing the ground-color for graining never use dry colors where it can be avoided, as the work will be more or less gritty, and there is really no saving in their use. A pound of color ground in oil will go much further than one of dry color, is more easily applied and is much better to grain over. ”

“ This wood is almost invariably imitated in water color, as oil is too slow in drying to be used with any success. Stale beer is the best vehicle with which to apply the color. The implements needed are a good sponge, a piece of soft cotton rag or chamois leather, a brush to apply the color, a large and a small mottler or cut tool, a badger blender, an overgrainer and fitch tool, and a camel's-hair pencil. ”

“ Shellac finish is less glaring than varnish, and has the advantage of drying quickly; so that it escapes the dust which is invariably present in new buildings. It can be rubbed down, if necessary, in the same manner as hardwood, and where graining is done to match wood finished in shellac it makes the work look uniform. I have yet to see a job of new work that has cracked after being shellacked if properly grounded. There are some of the old-fashioned varnishes that stand without cracking on inside work. ”

“ In matching very light oak chrome yellow may be substituted for ochre. For dark oak use the same colors as for light and add Venetian red and burnt umber; the same color will do for pollard oak. For green oak (á la furniture) do the same as for ordinary work, and when grained shade it over with a thin wash of chrome green or add a little black to the ground color. ”

“ The wood exhibits a variety of grain second only to oak, and I think that, after oak, it is the most difficult wood to imitate, as to do it justice requires the free treatment which can be given only by a trained hand and a correct eye. The average veins are free and graceful without being set or constrained, and the grains are constantly interlocking and branching off from the main hearts. ”