Mustard seed pounded with linseed oil.
634.
... outside the bowl 2 fingers lower than the level of the oil, and
pass it into the neck of a bottle and let it stand and thus all the
oil will separate from this milky liquid; it will enter the bottle
and be as clear as crystal; and grind your colours with this, and
every coarse or viscid part will remain in the liquid. You must know
that all the oils that have been created in seads or fruits are
quite clear by nature, and the yellow colour you see in them only
comes of your not knowing how to draw it out. Fire or heat by its
nature has the power to make them acquire colour. See for example
the exudation or gums of trees which partake of the nature of rosin;
in a short time they harden because there is more heat in them than
in oil; and after some time they acquire a certain yellow hue
tending to black. But oil, not having so much heat does not do so;
although it hardens to some extent into sediment it becomes finer.
The change in oil which occurs in painting proceeds from a certain
fungus of the nature of a husk which exists in the skin which covers
the nut, and this being crushed along with the nuts and being of a
nature much resembling oil mixes with it; it is of so subtle a
nature that it combines with all colours and then comes to the
surface, and this it is which makes them change. And if you want the
oil to be good and not to thicken, put into it a little camphor
melted over a slow fire and mix it well with the oil and it will
never harden.
[Footnote: The same remark applies to these sections as to No. 618
and 619.]
On varnishes [or powders] (635-637).
635.