to the colors that are used in doing graining, the student can paint a
ground color upon any convenient board or old door and practice upon it.
He had better have several; at least, he should have two--one for
practicing graining in oil and another for graining in distemper. With
plenty of rags and turpentine or benzine he can wipe out his work as
easily as upon a blackboard, and he can recommence it again and again
until he is ready to quit and then he can wipe it off, and it will be
ready for the next time. This advice is good, for it will not do for the
beginner to try his hand upon actual work until he is sufficiently sure
of his skill that he will not make a botch of it. He can try all the
various general operations mentioned above, and apply them as nearly as
he can to the particular needs of the wood he wishes to imitate,
referring first to the special details that are given under each of the
woods in subsequent chapters.
[Illustration: grained door]
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XIV.
68. How may all the various woods be classed?
69. What is said of woods of gnarled growths?
70. When do the wood imitations need stippling?
71. What is said regarding the preparation of various samples of veneers
for study?
72. What advice is given about preparing practice boards for graining
study?
LESSON XV.
GRAINING OAK.
73. Oak graining has always been in the lead in the quantity of it that
is done, and it is no wonder. It offers so many variations, and in
either in its heart growths or in its quarter sawed condition an endless
number of forms can be indulged in which are all pleasing to look at. It
can be grained in oil or in distemper in both of its forms and in
combinations of the two.
HEART GROWTH IN OIL.
74. _The ground_ for all oaks is _buff_. Light oak requires a cream tone
of it which can be deepened for the darker shades. For red and black oak
a trifle of red can be added to the buff, which is made from some good
ocher added to white lead. (See paragraphs 26 to 30 about preparing
grounds under various conditions.)
75. _The graining colors_ proper are prepared to suit the shade of wood
desired from raw sienna, raw umber and for very dark antique oak with a
little ivory black added. The color should be megilped in order to make
it comb and wipe clean. (See paragraphs 33 to 36.)
The wiping should be done as advised in paragraphs 48 and 49. Then
combed as stated in paragraphs 50 to 52.
76. The graining will be improved if the same is overgrained after the
wiping out and combing coat has become hardened. This must not be
overdone to look well. It consists simply in using some of the graining
color used before, and in touching up a few places on the grained work.
This darkens them some and these variations of color enriches it. The
student will notice it upon natural wood usually where the veining makes
a turn, etc. Study nature, but do not _overdo it_.
77. When the overgraining is dry the job is ready for varnishing. In
varnishing use an elastic varnish as much as possible, as both the
ground coats and the graining colors contain oil and a hard,
quick-drying varnish will not be so likely to give and accommodate
itself to these as an elastic one will. As the varnishing coats which
follow graining of all kinds are about the same for all woods it will
not be necessary to repeat each time what is said here.
78. In varnishing over distempered work a quicker and harder varnish
can be used than that named above. As many prefer a wax finish to
varnishing, this can be applied over the work. The ready prepared wax
finishes are best to use; they are easily applied with a brush or even a
rag and afterward polished over with a cloth or a hand polishing glove
made of lamb skin with the wool left on. It will soon polish up into a
soft-toned subdued gloss which is pleasing and imitates "rubbed work" in
hardwood finishing.
GRAINING OAK HEART GROWTH IN DISTEMPER.
78. It will be well not to have the ground coats too oily for graining
in distemper, as it may be difficult to spread the distemper color over
it, especially in cool weather. On the other hand again, it must not be
too flat, as then the colors will sink into it and if from any cause one
desires to wash them off they will be indelibly marked out upon the
ground, and will at the least look dirty.
The check roller can be used to good advantage in putting in a few
checks here and there, and a little fine stippling on the side away from
where the main heart growth is to be pencilled in with the camel's hair
brush will help the looks of it. When dry proceed to put in the heart
growth, using the overgrainer wherever possible in doing the fine line
work over the stippling. It goes without the saying that all the
veining, both heart growth and fine lines, must be well blended with the
badger hair brush.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XV.
73. What is said of oak graining in general?
74. How are oak ground tints to be made?
75. How are the colors to be applied?
76. How is the graining overgrained?
77. How is the varnishing to be done?
78. How is wax polish finish applied?
LESSON XVI.
OAK GRAINING--CONTINUED.
QUARTERED OAK GRAINING IN OIL.
79. There are a great number of ways of graining quartered oak and when
one says that it is imitated in oil graining, but very little more
information is conveyed than that the work is executed in that medium
instead of in distemper color. The manner of doing it may vary greatly,
as well as the growth itself, which is infinite almost. It is,
therefore, a matter upon which little more information can be given
without the actual showing than the rehearsing over of general
principles. If the student has provided himself with a number of samples
of quartered oak veneers and has practiced their reproduction in oil and
in distemper, he will have gained an experience that type and printing
ink cannot possibly teach him.
80. The grounds are to be the same as described in the heart growth
graining of oak. The graining color should be "rubbed in" very evenly,
but neither too thick nor too thin. In most of the work, and that is
naturally _that_ which one tries to describe in giving general
directions in graining a certain wood, the surface should be combed over
with rubber combs and afterward split up with a fine steel comb to break
up the vein lines. Some skill may be shown in this, for if done properly
and at the right angle the lines will appear as thickly studded pores,
but if not, anything but that.
81. The method of "wiping out" is described in paragraphs 48 and 49.
Remove all the flakes of the larger sorts first, which usually are to be
found in the center of the wood samples, keeping in mind a definite idea
of what the work is to represent; this lays out the general character of
the wood.
82. The subsequent wiping out is to be done in accordance with the main
flaking, gradually lessening the size of the secondary flakings to the
outer edge, where usually they are found much more numerous.
83. The graining may be much improved by softening the edges by using a
very soft clean cotton cloth very lightly upon their lower edge. The
proper doing of this requires some skill and usually is shunned by the
cheap fellow, as it takes some little time as well as skill.
84. Overgraining quartered oak may be the means of greatly improving its
looks, especially where a gnarly and knotty specimen is attempted. As
stated before, this is done by the application of the color in oil used
in the "rubbed in" coat to such parts which it is desired should look
darker than the rest.
85. Sometimes the graining is finished up in water colors. The graining
must, of course, be thoroughly dry in order that the distemper colors
may take hold over it. Most beautiful effects can be obtained by this
dual method of graining quartered oak. It requires skill in the
operator, but good judgment and experience the more, as it is an easy
matter to overdo it, when instead of a thing of beauty it becomes an eye
sore.
86. Varnishing is the final operation in all kinds of graining, but the
graining may also be waxed polished as noted in the preceding lesson.
Much more could be written as to the many various methods that are being
used in the graining of oak, especially of quartered oak, but the space
limit of this manual is too confined to attempt it. The directions given
will suffice to indicate to the student how to proceed and as he
progresses along, the variations in the manner of doing the work will
suggest themselves to him and he will grow into them naturally.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XVI.
79. What is said in a general way on the graining of quarter sawed oak?
80. What is said of the rubbing in coat and combing?
81. How are the flakes and champs put in?
82. What is said of the wiping out?
83. How are the edges to be softened?
84. How is the overgraining done?
85. What is said of combination oil and distemper work?
86. How is the work finished?
LESSON XVII.
GRAINING QUARTERED OAK IN DISTEMPER.
87. There is a great deal of quartered oak graining that is done in
distemper in certain localities, especially where the grainers have come
into the knack of it. When it is well done it is fully as good as when
done in oil. The quality of the work is what counts, and it is just as
easy to produce an eye sore in the one as it is in the other.
[Illustration: grained door]
88. It is true that the operator has no time to take a nap and hardly to
bat his eyes, and that no doubt is the reason why so few grainers
attempt quartered oak in distemper. The colors do dry very quickly, so
the graining must be done without hesitation or waste of time. If it has
been practiced on the lesson boards mentioned in paragraph 72 no one who
has succeeded on them need be afraid of tackling it on door panels, etc.
89. Everything in the way of colors, sponges, rags, overgrainers,
blenders and tools being ready and within reach, the woodwork to be
grained should be washed over with water into which vinegar has been
poured. When it has become nearly but not quite dry, proceed to lay on
the color in streaks with the overgrainers, then with the rubber or fine
steel combs run through the lines in order to break them up and to
serrate them, and immediately proceed with the rag and thumb or the
rubber substitute for it to wipe out the champs and flakes in the way
and manner described in the wiping out of oak in oil graining; soften
the edges by using the soft cotton rag in the same way also. It is
needless to say that one panel at a time is all that should be colored
up, and even this will be found too much by many, but it can be done and
it is not so difficult as it looks to be; only, as said before, there is
no time to think of the "girl you left behind you" or anything else but
doing the work.
90. For a change dark flakings and other flaked veinings may be put in
instead of light ones. In this sort of quartered oak graining the whole
thing is reversed. The color is applied evenly but solidly over the
panel and immediately combed with rubber combs and split as related in
the preceding paragraph; then with the camel hair pencil brush proceed
to pencil on the flakes and champs as desired, slightly blending them
with the badger blender. This is not so difficult to execute as by
wiping out, because it does not matter about hurrying.
91. In either method the use of the check roller can be resorted to to
improve the looks of the graining, it is best to delay it until the
graining has been completed, as then it can be put only in such parts as
really require it, while if put on beforehand it may be that they may be
placed where they should not. They are not essential and, as stated
before, really a detriment when not used rightly. The expert who knows
where to use them, however, obtains a more natural finish by their use.
92. The overgraining ought to be done in oil colors and put on very
thinly, then with clean cotton rags wipe it off from such parts that are
required to be light, which will give the shading as if it had been done
in oil over oil graining with the difference that in shading the latter
the overgraining color is applied only where it is wanted and requires
no wiping out.
93. Where distemper graining is overgrained with oil colors it
practically becomes the same as oil graining and that alone will
usually protect it against accidents caused by water washing it off, but
as the finish does not look even, that must be supplied as in the
previous graining described, by either waxing or varnishing, or a
combination of the two as related in paragraph 77.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XVII.
87. What is said of quartered oak graining in distemper?
88. Why are some grainers afraid to undertake graining it in distemper?
89. How is the wiping out done?
90. How is dark flake graining done?
91. How may the check roller be used?
92. How should distemper graining be overgrained?
93. How is distemper graining to be finished?
LESSON XVIII.
GRAINING ASH.
94. Ash graining is very similar to oak graining, and but that the
growth is somewhat coarser than that of oak, and that it is usually more
evenly veined, at least in the American species, the student would find
no need of further directions. It is somewhat more open, too, showing
considerable porousness in some of its growth, so much so that some
grainers stipple it as for walnut, but flog it finer and the color used
being more subdued these pores do not show up so prominently. This, of
course, relates to the graining it in water colors mainly, although it
works nicely in oil for wiping out also, especially when the color used
is for dark ash.
95. The ground should be very nearly that required for oak graining,
just a trifle darker than is required for light oak. This, as in oak, is
variable, and one must be guided by what finish is intended to be
given. Even the natural specimens vary greatly, and with the present
fashion of staining woods into all sorts of outlandish hues one must
take the cue as to what the ground shall be from the color used on the
finish as stated before.
If it is finished in the natural color belonging to ash, the color of
the ground can be made from ochre added to white lead as the base color,
using more or less of it as a lighter or darker shade is desired.
96. The graining of ash in oil is done in much the same manner as that
which is related for oil grain of oak in paragraphs 75 and 76. As the
growth in the American varieties is straighter grained than that of oak,
there will be no difficulty in wiping it out, only that the coarser
growth must be reproduced as naturally as possible. The colors and
megilp will be also about the same as for oak in the natural tone, and
such other coloring matter must be added as found necessary to produce
any of the stained effects wanted in others. If the ground is stippled
before the wiping out, it should be done with raw umber and raw sienna
in distemper; it will be well to reduce their strength by the addition
of whiting in order that the stippling may not appear too prominent.
97. The graining of ash in distemper is very easily acquired and
presents but little difficulty to one who has his mind imbued with the
main characteristics of its growth. The graining may be done with or
without stippling, but if the stippling is well done it will improve it.
The veining is done with the camel's hair brush, and the blending should
follow it up quickly so as to divide up the veining before it has had
time to set. This will enable the washing up of the stippling by the
pressure of the blender, and will leave a paler base for the veining,
which by the stronger contrast will appear more natural.
98. Ash is overgrained for the same purpose as related of oak. It shows
up the darker parts, or if they may be so called, the nerves of the
wood. This should not be overdone, however, as it will defeat the very
purpose for which it is done at all. It is better not to overgrain at
all than to overgrain too much, and the student had much better do too
little of it than to err upon the opposite side. The color used for
overgraining is oil colors, as related for oak graining in paragraph 92.
99. Hungarian ash is so very much different from the American species in
its growth that it might be well to cut it loose altogether from the ash
group and to give it a place by itself. It resembles somewhat the growth
sometimes seen in some yellow pine specimens. It is very wavy and the
saw cutting across them the veins appear contorted into all kinds of
circling growths, but with all this widening out suddenly of two lines
which nearly meet together, there is a system in it and none ever cross
over each other. The student must study a natural specimen of it in
order to understand this spiral and twisting system of growths, and when
he sees through it he will find no difficulty in reproducing it in water
colors, which is the only manner Hungarian ash is ever grained. It is
possible to grain it in oil, but the time required to wipe it out will
prevent grainers from ever attempting it the second time.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XVIII.
94. What is said about the graining of ash?
95. What is a proper ground for the graining of ash?
96. How is ash grained in oil?
97. How is ash grained in water colors?
98. How should ash be overgrained?
99. How is Hungarian ash grained?
LESSON XIX.
GRAINING CHESTNUT AND MAPLE.
100. The graining of chestnut presents no difficulty either to one who
has a good knowledge of the handling of graining tools. Its general
character is much the same as that of oak and ash. It differs from
either, however, and has a growth entirely its own. Its principal points
are: Coarseness of veining; its fibres being thick and when cut across
by the saw present numerous coarse pores which must be represented by
stippling coarsely and somewhat irregularly flogged on, as it shows only
a few in parts where the saw has not cut the fibres across either
squarely or slanting.
101. The graining of chestnut may be done in either oil by wiping or in
distemper. By either method it will be best to stipple it in the manner
stated in the previous paragraph--rather coarsely. The ground is a light
buff, just about such as described for oak or ash, and may vary to suit
the graining and grainer. It can be wiped out easily in oil, but much
the best way is to grain it in distemper, as it is easier and more
quickly done. The veining is put on with a camel's hair brush and
blended with the badger hair blender before the color sets. The veining
being coarse is easily put on. Its growth is not nearly as regular as
that of ash and presents much variation in its forms. The color used for
the stippling should be the same as given for ash stippling, but should
have but little whiting added to it, as the pores must appear coarse and
prominent. The colors used in either oil or distemper graining are raw
sienna deepened with raw and burnt umber to suit.
MAPLE.
102. The graining of maple differs materially from that of the woods
described heretofore. In color it is on the same order, however, of a
light buff tone. It should be given a ground color just off the white by
the addition of a trifle of ochre to the white lead base. There is
considerable variation in this and if one is required to match or
imitate some aged maple the general tone will need to be much deeper,
and may require a ground as deep toned as that of oak or ash, as maple
darkens considerably by age.
103. Again as fashion has decreed that maple should be stained a light
gray one has to grain it in imitation of that and the ground must then
be made by the addition of lamp black to the white base sufficiently to
make a faint pearl gray. The veining proper is not very prominent in
maple. This consists of very fine lines with little if any feathering.
Maple is a very close wood and shows but little if any porousness,
therefore should never be stippled. The chief beauty of ordinary maple
lays in its mottlings and not in its veinings. Plain maple being what is
now under consideration, curled and bird's eye maple will be taken up in
a separate lesson.
104. Plain maple is never grained in oil as it would be too tedious to
imitate it by wiping. Therefore its graining by distemper work is the
only method worth the while to describe. To be able to grain it well the
student must have its character well made out--in his head at least. The
color if the wood is grained in its natural color is made from raw
sienna weakened down to suit by the addition of whiting. The character
of the wood is best produced by the application of the color with a
sponge. This should be blended at once and if the color has been
properly applied with the sponge, the mottlings produced by the blending
of the color will usually suffice and a few more of a deeper tone may be
added in the overgraining. As soon as dry, which requires but a few
minutes, the veining proper may be put in with the same color with a
camel's hair pencil, but should not be blended. This should be done with
a fine pointed brush as it should not be prominent. The better way to
vein maple is to use a light raw sienna toned crayon pencil and to draw
them out where desired. These produce an even stroked vein much easier
to obtain by their use than with a brush.
105. The overgraining of plain maple is done in oil and consists of a
few darker mottles made with a brush specially made for this purpose,
but which in reality is little better than a plain double thick varnish
flat brush, and the latter will be found good enough for this purpose.
If the color happens to be too thickly put on, it can be wiped out with
a clean rag and left only where it is desired. It should be made of raw
sienna darkened with raw and burnt umber and thinned with raw linseed
oil and turpentine, half and half. It has been supposed all along that
the maple graining was done in its natural color. If gray maple is to be
imitated the distemper color should be made from ivory black toned down
with whiting and the overgraining color from ivory black thinned
sufficiently to produce the tint wanted.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XIX.
100. What is said in general of chestnut graining?
101. How should chestnut be grained?
102. What is said of maple graining in general?
103. How should gray maple ground be prepared?
104. How should plain maple be grained?
105. How should maple be overgrained?
LESSON XX.
GRAINING BIRD'S EYE MAPLE.
106. This is the most elegant form of wood known and good specimens of
the wood are a sight that well repay for the trouble of looking them up,
as they will make a glad heart to the man who loves beautiful forms. To
imitate it well by graining requires some practice and a good knowledge
of what is required to produce the innumerable variations seen in it.
When its growth is well understood it is not so difficult to imitate it.
It may as well be stated here at the beginning that more bird's eye
maple graining is spoiled by overdoing than by not doing enough work
upon it. The beginner had better confine his efforts to but a very few
of the "_bird's eyes_" at first. The few will look well and modestly
nestled among their surrounding mottlings, but when this is overdone,
which at the beginning especially is a synonym for badly done--whew!
Better wash it off and try it over, with less of it next time, and the
chances are that it will bear looking at it.
107. The graining of bird's eye maple is always done in distemper, for
the same reasons that were given in describing the graining of plain
maple, and for a few additional ones of its own besides, so that all
that will be said in connection with it must be understood as
appertaining to distemper work.
108. The ground when the graining is done in imitation of the natural
color of the wood must be of a very light tone of cream color, or the
finished work will be too yellow. If it is to be finished in imitation
of the gray stained variety the ground must be made to correspond to
that shade and a faint pearl-gray ground must be put on as noted in
paragraph 103. The ground should not be too glossy, nor too flat,
either, for the distemper colors will not work at their best on either
extremes, but one should strive for an egg-shell gloss as near as
possible.