Paint

“ I've a very charming dwelling, You know where without the telling, Decorated in a style that's rather quaint, Smart and quaint, When you pay my house a visit, You may scutinize or quizit, But, you must not touch the paint, Brand new paint. [Refrain]
Mind the paint, Be careful, Mind the paint. Fingerprints will always show however faint. Once you smear it, or you scratch it, It's impossible to match it, Take care Do be careful! ”

“ Everywhere they give a free rein to fancy. They are perfectly unconscious of anomaly, or incongruity in, for instance, painting a stag yellow or a horse green. They paint birds, butterflies, flowers, in hues which nature never wore. Their taste for that harmony of tints which is the perfection of surface decoration demands the abnormal colors, and they never hesitate about using them. ”

“ Methods of handling oil color may be reduced to two general classes: (a) the paint is used thin, as a wash, on a prepared canvas, or (b) it is put on in thick opaque touches. In either case the aim is the same—to paint for depth, vibration, illusion of light and color. If brush strokes are to be left intact, each of them must have shape and meaning,—that is, line; if color is put on in a thin wash, then its value, gradation, hue and texture are the main points,—and these belong to structural harmony. Mural painting is the highest form of the art, demanding perfect mastery of Composition. ”

“ Without attempting to give a hard and fast definition, it may be said that a paint consists of any pigment, such as white lead, mixed with linseed oil, and thinned by means of turpentine to render it in such a condition that it may be readily applied to the surface of wood, iron and other work by means of a brush. Paint serves the purpose first of preserving the material to which it is applied, and secondly, but not always, a decorative object where the colour is of importance. ”

“ As the face of the paint must be as smooth as the polished surface to which it clings, texture, for the representation of the surfaces of objects, can only be obtained by means less direct, for the most part, than those available for other applications of oil-painting. ”

“ Look at the high lights on the bosom, and see how by touch on touch, thickly laid on, I have raised the surface so that it catches the light itself and blends it with the lustrous whiteness of the high lights, and how by an opposite process, by flattening the surface of the paint, and leaving no trace of the passage of the brush, I have succeeded in softening the contours of my figures and enveloping them in half-tints until the very idea of drawing, of the means by which the effect is produced, fades away, and the picture has the roundness and relief of nature. ”

“ The colors which the artists here use are formed upon the same model as those they have been in the habit of using on earth. They are more brilliant pigments, but color has always the same origin. Some paint with the brush and some paint with their fingers.
I had heard it remarked that the spirit had only to breathe on the canvas, and his thought would be represented, painted, and shaded in a second of time. ”

“ “Paint the leaves as they grow!” If you can paint one leaf, you can paint the world. ”

“ To say what he has to say as clearly and briefly as may be is his aim, and when he has achieved the effect he desires, the method of his doing so is of no further moment. In the use of paint as paint, in the intrinsic beauties of surface and handling, he would seem in his later years to take no delight. ”

“ The best painting has form and character in every brush-touch.
OIL COLOR. Instruction in oil painting is usually limited to what might be called drawing in paint. Of course the student must know his pigments, how to obtain hues and values by mixing, how to use brushes, how to sketch in, and all the elementary details,—but this is but a beginning. Expression of an idea or emotion depends upon appreciation of art structure; the point is not so much [pg 128] how to paint, as how to paint well. Artists often say that it matters not how you get an effect, if you only get it. ”

“ So in the pigments, the vehicles, the tools, and even the canvas if you can, as well as in the handling of the paint and the processes used, follow absolutely and humbly, but intelligently, the workmanship of the picture you copy, if it is worth your while to do it at all. ”

“ You must carry them all in your mind, and you do not so soon get to thinking of the color in nature and taking up the paint from different parts of your palette instinctively—which means that you are gaining command of it. ”

“ The artist has laid one pigment on his palette, and he is criticised before it is known what others he intends to mix with it, to procure what shade, to produce what effect. Wait until all the paint is on the canvas, and the artist has washed his brushes and drawn the curtain from his picture ”

“ When work is painted one or both of two distinct ends is achieved, namely the preservation and the coloration of the material painted. The compounds used for painting—taking the word as meaning a thin protective or decorative coat—are very numerous, including oil-paint of many kinds, distemper, whitewash, tar; but the word “paint” is usually confined to a mixture of oil and pigment, together with other materials which possess properties necessary to enable the paint to dry hard and opaque. ”

“ Try to get the rich tints glowing and bright, then the colour of the leaves, allowing for their transparency by laying the paint freshly and broadly, and, when dry, adding some of the deep greens and browns of the background. ”

“ If you are painting a red man’s face, you must add more red and a bit of blue. For the face of an Oriental, add yellow to your white paint and the least bit of red and blue. For the black man’s face, use black paint instead of white paint and into it mix a very small amount of orange and blue. Use a palette knife for mixing oil paints and turpentine for thinning them. Do not be timid when you begin to paint. Strong and vigorous painting is as important and necessary as strong and vigorous modeling in bringing out the features and expression. ”

“ The beauty of any scheme of values and colors depends, not only upon the pigment-materials used, upon the sequence of values and colors chosen and upon the particular tones produced, but quite as much upon the relative positions and juxtapositions given to the tones, the quantities or measures in which they are used, and, lastly, the way in which the paint is handled. ”

“ It must be obvious to everyone that a somber painting in a six or eight inch glaringly brilliant yellow gold frame, destroys the value of the painting, for the eye, at all times, lights on the brilliant frame first. ”

“ In proceeding to paint the letters, squeeze out a small quantity of the colour on to the wooden palette, and with the flexible palette-knife mix it with a little of the pale drying oil, and a very little spirits of turpentine. The latter can be dispensed with, if the smell of it be found injurious; otherwise it contributes to brighten the colours, and makes them dry more quickly. In painting keep the brush full, laying on the colour in long steady sweeps, not in short, hasty touches, which would leave irregularities of surface. ”

“ When your picture is entirely finished, and you should want [Pg 70] to give the canvas more solidity, you may paint it over on the back with any colour or tint, and bring it again and for the last time to the fire, to fix that colour; if you apprehend there is not wax enough, apply a little dissolved in spirit of turpentine, as mentioned in the foregoing observations on Art. ”

“ If, during the progress of the drawing, any portions of color appear to stand out too distinctly or prominently, they may be taken out with the paint rag, so that they might not obtrude or detach themselves too much from objects in the same plane. ”

“ HOW TO PAINT. "EVERY MAN HIS OWN PAINTER."
How to Paint.—A complete Compendium of the Art. Designed for the use of Tradesmen, Mechanics, Merchants, Farmers, and a Guide to the Professional Painter. Containing a plain Common-sense statement of the Methods employed by Painters to produce satisfactory results in Plain and Fancy Painting of every Description, including Gilding, Bronzing, Staining, Graining, Marbling, Varnishing, Polishing, Kalsomining, Paper Hanging, Striping, Lettering, Copying and Ornamenting, with Formulas for Mixing Paint in Oil or Water. ”

“ Let us suppose that the artist wishes to paint a vase. A certain tint being selected for the ground, the color, or colors, which are to produce it are mixed in their relative proportions, according to the hints given above. A sufficient quantity should be prepared to paint the whole ground, especially if a mixed tint, which it would be difficult to reproduce in its exact proportions. ”

“ The colored formulas in every case showed a great superiority over the same paints in white untinted, and demonstrated that a percentage of color has a wonderful influence on the preservation of the paint coating, reducing chalking, checking, and general disintegration. ”

“ Moreover, painting, itself the product of a much greater interest in colour than Antiquity had known, forced upon men's attention the important influence of colour upon form. For, although the human being, if we abstract the element of colour, if we do it over with white paint, has indeed the broad, somewhat vague form, the indecision of lines which characterises antique sculpture ”

“ Certain it is that no other medium than the one used could give any idea of its charm. Neither oil, water-color, nor pastel will transmit it—no, nor the dry-point or bitten plate. The soot of centuries, the fogs of countless Novembers, the smoke of a thousand firesides were the pigments which the Master Painter set upon his palette in the task of giving us one exquisitely beautiful interior wholly in black-and-white. ”

“ Work out the painting as directed under "Colors," beginning with the gold where it is in masses, burnishing it level when dry, as before explained: smaller portions can more readily be done afterwards. Paint each color the full strength at once, keeping in mind that it becomes lighter when dry, and finishing each color up to the last stage before beginning another. ”

“ The brilliance of the mural paintings and richly coloured sculpture and mouldings was in harmony with the splendour of the oak-work—screens, stalls, and roofs—all decorated with gilding and painting, while the light, passing through stained glass, softened and helped to combine the whole into one mass of decorative effect. Colour was boldly applied everywhere, and thus the patchy effect was avoided which is so often the result of the modern timid and partial use of painted ornament. ”

“ Where a lot of color is required, as for skies, the colors are mixed in pots, and to get the various tints the painter dips his brush first in one pot and then in another, and in this way puts in a sky of perhaps a dozen different hues. ”

“ Wipe the dirty oil off your palette and then rub it with a little clean oil. Put brushes and palette safely away from the dust.
If possible, paint from nature; take simple objects at first which will await your time, as flowers and landscapes will not. A bit of drapery is excellent practice. If you are at fault in drawing get a good copy of a flower, and by it learn how to draw the real flower, but copy the color from the natural object. ”

“ You may work into your frottée, then, more or less solidly as you feel will give you the best representation of the color you see.
Solid Painting.—Don't paint always in the same way. It is a mistake to get too accustomed to one manner of procedure. Different things require different handling. Let the thing suggest how you shall paint it. If you want to paint directly, paint solidly from first to last instead of rubbing in thinly first. But always have an accurate drawing underneath. ”

“ The paint with which the face is covered appears to have been a subsequent embellishment, for long-continued exposure to the action of the elements would have removed the oil or other substance which serves to give body to the color, and the paint would have remained as a dry powder liable to be brushed off with the slightest touch. ”

“ The uprights can be painted red and the foot rests green, or the whole can be left plain, according to the desires of the maker. A touch of paint, however, not only adds to the appearance of any article, but also preserves it and lengthens its life. ”

“ To destroy paint, apply it to the whole body which is required to be cleaned; use an old brush, as it will spoil a new one; let it remain about twelve or fourteen hours, and then the paint may be easily scraped off.
2. To remove paint from old doors, etc., and to soften putty in window frames, so that the glass may be taken out without breakage or cutting, take one pound of pearlash and three pounds of quicklime, slake the lime in water and then add the pearlash, and make the whole about the consistency of paint. ”

“ The safer plan is to mix a small quantity of the tint in a jar or on a piece of glass, and, having spread this on a piece of paper, the painter will be able, when it is dry, to judge of the shade, and to form an idea as to the relative qualities of the different colors required. ”

“ During an experience of more than thirty years in the manufacture of pigments and mediums for all types of painting, I have investigated the methods, analyzed the material and demonstrated the folly of most of the procedures in common use to-day, and feel that there is a demand for a little book of this kind, which painters can use, and from which art students can acquire a sane method of producing permanent results. ”

“ Provided with these pigments, with a palette upon which to put them, with brushes and other materials necessary for painting, we are prepared to take up the study of tones and tone-relations.
THE SCALE OF VALUES 128. It is evident that we have in black paint the least quantity of light which we can produce. Black is the lowest of all values. It is equally evident that in white paint we have the greatest possible quantity of light. White is the highest of all values. Mixing Black and White in different proportions we can produce an indefinite number of [Pg 134] intermediates. ”