HUNGARIAN ASH.
This wood may be imitated in oil or water color, but the imitation is
commonly done in oil. The colors used are raw sienna and raw and burnt
umber; a little burnt sienna may be added to the shading color. In oil
color the outline of the work is wiped out with a soft cotton rag and
softened lightly, or even stippled with the dry brush, and after the
color is nearly dry the lines between those wiped out with the rag are
gone over with the fitch tool, the color being darkened with umber. The
idea is to bring the wiped work into sharper relief. When dry, the
shadows may be put in by using either oil or water color and blending
softly. A little Vandyke brown will deepen the color, or thin asphaltum
may be used in shading or overgraining. Where circumstances require the
work to be finished without overgraining, the work may be mottled or
shaded in water color on the ground-work before the oil color is
applied, and in that case the work must be put in to suit the shadows
and the lights that appear through the oil color.
Hungarian ash varies from very bold to very fine grains, and the finer
varieties may successfully be done in oil color, using the fitch tool
to put in the grains and wiping out simply the lights and the shadows
with the rag. The work looks better when lightly stippled in water
color with the blender. In doing the work wholly in water colors, the
lights and the shadows are first put in, and after these are dry the
grains are introduced with the small fitch tool, lifting the edge of
the color lightly with the blender. An ash door with the panels done in
Hungarian ash make a very neat job if nicely performed.
BURL ASH.
Burl ash, or root of ash, is often used in panels, and can be imitated
in either oil color or water color, but water color will be found the
best. The colors used are raw sienna, burnt umber and Vandyke brown; a
sponge with rather small holes is requisite for use in representing the
minute clusters of knots. After the work is rubbed in, the sponge
(which has previously been faced square on one side) is dipped in some
of the darker color and lightly pressed against the work. It is better
to use the color a little darker than that with which the work has been
rubbed in, and to put it where you wish the darker portions of the wood
to appear. After this is dry go over the whole panel with the sponge
and some of the darkest color, lightly pressing the sponge against the
work wherever you desire the knots to appear. A little growth is
sometimes put in by the use of the fitch tool, and tends to relieve the
sameness of the work; it must be done carefully and on a small scale.
When the work is dry, carefully pass the hand over it and remove the
superfluous color which adheres, and the job is then ready to be
varnished. It is sometimes shaded after having one coat of varnish, in
which case it is necessary to revarnish it; it will require little or
no stippling.
In imitating this wood in oil color, the work is first rubbed in and
but little color is put on--merely enough to cover the ground-work with
a very thin coat; a sponge may then be used to apply the darker color.
The sponge should first be thoroughly wet in clean water and wrung out
dry before the oil color is applied by it. Have some of the dark color
in a shallow vessel and use the sponge as directed in water color,
dipping the faced side of the sponge in the color and representing the
clusters of knots in this manner. When dry, it may be overgrained or
not, according to the shade desired or to the wood to be matched.
[Illustration: Plate 15.
HUNGARIAN ASH, WIPED OUT AND PENCILLED.]
[Illustration: Plate 16.
BURL ASH, IN WATER COLOR.]
[Illustration: Plate 17.
DARK ASH, PENCILLED AND COMBED.]
[Illustration: Plate 18.
HUNGARIAN ASH, WIPED OUT.]