Tinsel

“ Miss Terry stooped to poke over the contents of the box with lean, long fingers. In one corner thrust up a doll's arm; in another, an animal's tail pointed heavenward. She caught glimpses of glitter and tinsel, wheels and fragments of unidentifiable toys.
"What rubbish!" she said. "Yes, I'll burn them all. They are good for nothing else. I suppose some folks would try to give them away, and bore a lot of people to death. They seem to think they are saving something, that way. Nonsense! I know better. It is all foolishness, this craze for giving. ”

“ Many tinsellers employ regular print-colourers to shade their silks and satins, but we strongly advise the reader to trust to his own abilities, and boldly set work to indicate the folds of the drapery by proper shadows. The pieces cut out of the engraving will show him where the different shadows ought to fall, and as for the colours to be used, we may state as a general rule that silk, satin, or velvet of a certain colour ought to be shaded with darker tints of the same colour. ”

“ The sun's own light shows under this method of spectroscopic analysis millions of tints, in fact I might say millions of red tints, and so forth, right through the spectral list of colours. But also many thousands of tints are wanting. Imagine a rainbow-coloured ribbon, the colours ranged along its length, so that the ribbon is black at both ends, and that from the black of one end the colour merges into very deep red, and thence by insensible gradations through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, into the black of the other end. ”

“ Beauty consists in a certain variety which some tints possess in a higher degree than others. The yellow, for example, and the red of the spectrum have a tone peculiar to themselves: the golden contains the essence of the red and the yellow, and is more agreeable to the eye than either.
The most beautiful tints in the scale commence at the orange colours 22 and 23, and continue to the end. ”

“ Pass a black ribbon through the colours of the spectrum; it quenches all of them. The meaning of blackness is thus revealed—it is the result of the absorption of all the constituents of solar light. Pass a red ribbon through the spectrum. In the red light the ribbon is a vivid red. Why? Because the light that enters the ribbon is not quenched or absorbed, but in great part sent back to the eye. Place the same ribbon in the green of the spectrum; it is black as jet. It absorbs the green light, and renders the space on which that light falls a space of intense darkness. ”

“ Now, the half A C being fixed, will shew you at one glance what strength every tint will acquire; and if you moisten again the other half B D, or paint the same tints upon a fresh piece of cloth, you will see which are the colours that grow deeper still, fixed with [Pg 58] wax than they appear when only moistened with water, and the references 1 2 3 4 5 &c. telling you what each tint is composed of, you will be enabled to amend any one that might be amiss. ”

“ Tin in fire departeth metals of divers kind, and it departeth lead and brass from gold and silver, and defendeth other metals in hot fire. And though brass and iron be most hard in kind, yet if they be in strong fire without tin, they burn and waste away. If brazen vessels be tinned, the tin abateth the venom of rust, and amendeth the savour. Also mirrors be tempered with tin, and white colour that is called Ceruse is made of tin, as it is made of lead. Aristotle saith that tin is compounded of good quicksilver and of evil brimstone. ”

“ TIN (Etain, Fr.; Zinn, Germ.) ; in its pure state, has nearly the colour and lustre of silver. In hardness it is intermediate between gold and lead; it is very malleable, and may be laminated into foil less than the thousandth of an inch in thickness; it has an unpleasant taste, and exhales on friction a peculiar odour; it is flexible in rods or straps of considerable strength, and emits in the act of bending a crackling sound, as if sandy particles were intermixed, called the creaking of tin. A small quantity of lead, or other metal, deprives it of this characteristic quality. ”

“ Again, the mere contrast of dark or dull tints enhances the color and luminosity of those that are bright, and the observer receives the impression that he is gazing at a mass of gay and beautiful coloring, scarcely noticing the presence of the much larger quantity of tints that are darkened by being in deep shade. ”

“ As shown in our samples of paint, one part in a hundred of good Prussian blue gives a distinct sky blue.
Ultramarine. —As explained elsewhere, this colour cannot be mixed with white lead. Where it is necessary to make a tint, zinc white should be employed in preference.
Umbers and Siennas.
The colour should be a rich brown rather than a red cast. In siennas prepared for grainers’ use, it is important that they be transparent rather than opaque. Richness and quality of tint should be considered rather than the body. ”

“ Sometimes, instead of these brilliant hues, there is the most delicate shading of pearly greys and nameless silver tints, such tints as might be imagined were the clouds like feathers, the art of which is to let the under hue shine through the upper layer of the plumage. ”

“ Of the process employed in tinning in ancient times, we have no account; but the words of Pliny incoquere and incoctilia seem almost to denote that it was performed, as in tinning our iron wares, by immersing the vessels in melted tin. It appears also to have been done at an early period in a very perfect manner, both because the tinned articles, as Pliny says, could scarcely be distinguished from silver, and because the tinning, as he adds, with an expression of wonder, did not increase the weight of the vessels. ”

“ The introduction of an opposing or contrasting tint, like pale blue in small masses as compared with the general tint, even if it is in so small a space as that of a water-colour on the wall, adds the necessary contrast, and enlivens and invigorates a harmony. ”

“ The Saracens were probably acquainted with it; Agricola mentions the ritzle, the ‘aurum quo tingitur vitrum rubro colore,’ and Neri refers to the red tint derived from gold. [220]
Not a little of the mystery that so long surrounded this ruby colour had its origin, no doubt, in the following facts:—1. The full tint is only to be got when an extremely minute quantity of gold is present. 2. The colour is not developed until the glass is reheated; on first cooling the metal is nearly colourless. ”

“ As to coloured glasses, their action is more feeble in proportion as their tint is less vivid. In short the greatest decrease in the absorption of the white surface is produced by the interposition of a yellow glass, and the least by the interposition of the red and the violet, and, as to each pair of plates of the same tint, the less effect is invariably derived from that in which the tint is deeper. ”

“ Some all but inevitable uncertainty as to its tint, renders this peculiar yellow more suitable for use where absolute certainty of tint is not essential. Nevertheless, the skilled glass painter makes no difficulty of doubling the process, and staining a dark yellow upon a lighter, with very beautiful results. Occasionally a master of his craft has gone so far as literally to paint in stain, scraping out his high lights in white, and giving, for example, the very picture of embossed goldsmith’s work. ”

“ If you look at those reproductions of some of the most valuable fresco paintings of the old masters, you will see the method adopted by them depended upon the juxtaposition of tints, not upon covering over, and over, and over again. That juxtaposition of tints produces roundness, transparency, and has a very pleasing effect upon the eye. If two tints are put against one another, they do not appear to us as if they were single, but each adds something to the effect of the other, and together they produce a pleasurable and agreeable effect, if they have been properly selected. ”

“ In these papers the colour is produced by a mixture in the mass of paper pulp of atoms of varying tint, which are combined in the substance and make one general tint resulting from the mixture of several. In canvases and textiles, which are a more expensive method of producing almost the same mixed effect, the minute points of brilliance of threads in light and darkness of threads in shadow, combine to produce softness of tone, impossible to pigment because it has but one plain surface, unrelieved by breaking up into light and shadow. ”

“ Persons seeing this illusion for the first time are always much astonished. Here we have an experiment showing that the contrast produced by strong saturated tints is much feebler than with tints which are pale or mixed with white light, for, by placing tissue-paper over the green sheet, the color of the latter is extraordinarily weakened and mixed with a large quantity of white light. In this experiment it often happens that the red, which is due to contrast alone, seems actually stronger than the green ground itself. ”

“ The solid moist colours are apt to get dirtied in rapid working, and occasionally mislead an eye which is not quick at detecting a lowered tint. Mr. Barbe's body-colours, which are of very good quality, are prepared in powder, combined with a glutinous substance, on moistening which with water, the tints are fit for application. Messrs. Winsor & Newton's body-colours are also very excellent. Flatness of tint is best secured by using the first colour well mixed with body, and put on boldly; this forms the brightest tint ”

“ When, therefore, the main relations of colour have been all set out and decided for your window, turn your attention to small differences, to harmonies round the harmonies. Make each note into a chord, each tint into a group of tints, not only the strong and bold, but also the subtle and tender; do not miss the value of small modifications of tint that soften brilliance into glow. Study how Nature does it on the petals of the pansy or sweet-pea. You think a pansy is purple, and there an end? ”

“ If, in applying a color or a tint, the color dries before the whole surface is colored, the color will not be of an equal shade; hence it is necessary before applying the color to dampen the surface, if it is a large one, so that the color at one part shall not get dry before there has been time to go over the whole surface; a more even depth of color is attained by the application of several coats of a light tint, than with one coat, giving the full depth of color. ”

“ In spite of this the tints may not match, one of them being much brighter than the other, containing, say, twice as much red light and twice as much white light; having, in other words, twice as great brightness or luminosity. The only mode of causing the tints to match will be to expose the darker-colored surface to a stronger light, or the brighter surface to one that is feebler. It is evident, then, that brightness or luminosity is one of the properties by which we can* define color; it is our second color-constant. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Soot scraped from the bottoms of kettles, the juices of herbs having a green, yellow, and above all, a vermilion tint, rendered adhesive by combination with oil and grease, are lavishly employed to adorn his person—or, according to our idea, to render it hideous. Black and red, alternating with stripes, are the favourite tints. Some blacken the face, leaving in the middle a red circle, including the upper lip and tip of the nose; others have a red spot on each ear, or one eye black and the other of a red colour. ”

“ The liquid colors are mostly used, and consist of twelve one ounce bottles, and are very powerful. Therefore, make your application very weak, a mere tint only is required. Repeat the washing or tinting until the desired shade is produced. The colors used are as follows: Black, Red, Blue, Green, Carmine, Gold, Brown, Violet, Orange, Purple and Lemon, all of which are transparent, soluble in water, and used as tinting colors. White is a surface color, and opaque. ”

“ Experience here is the only guide, as the light varies as well as the density of the negative and the sensitiveness of the tissue. If one does not have an actinometer, a slip of albumen paper may be used; as soon as the paper has reached the darkest point, which is then called one tint, extend it so that a fresh portion comes out to the light, and so on for the different tints. ”

“ Thousands of greenish tints are distinguishable, shading from a light yellowish tinge to a deep prismatic blue, while occasionally a streak of bright red or a touch of pure white lends a striking contrast. ”

“ Observe also that there are very few things which are totally without luster; you will frequently find a light which puzzles you, on some apparently dull surface, to be the dim image of another object.
63. And now, as soon as you can conscientiously assure me that with the point of the pen or pencil you can lay on any form and shade you like, I give you leave to use the brush with one color,—sepia, or blue black, or mixed cobalt and blue black, or neutral tint; and this will much facilitate your study, and refresh you. But, preliminary, you must do one or two more exercises in tinting. ”