Practical Graining Part 3

This wood is a great favorite with British grainers, and is often splendidly imitated by them. The wood itself is from old gnarled trees or stumps and has a variety of grain almost equal to French walnut. It may be represented in either oil or water color, or may be done partially in both distemper and oil, which I think is the better way; the best job I have ever seen was executed in this manner. It is first done in oil; the colors necessary are raw and burnt sienna, burnt umber, Vand.y.k.e brown, and sometimes a little ivory black or ultramarine blue. The wood varies from pieces comparatively free from knots to others almost filled with them, like the root of walnut, etc. The grains are first done in oil, the knots, etc., being somewhat subdued; and when this is dry, the whole is gone over in water color and left in the color it is intended to have it remain. The knots and shadows are touched up, etc. After the water color is dry the fine champs may be put in by using a slice of raw potato in the same manner as that in which the thumb-nail is used on larger work. A camel's-hair pencil is needed properly to finish the work. A great deal of time may be spent in representing this wood, and yet but few may succeed in faithfully imitating it. Since the fas.h.i.+on has changed in Boston and its vicinity from walnut and cherry front-doors to oak doors, we begin to see panels of pollard oak; sometimes whole doors are veneered with it, and the effect is superb.

CHERRY.

This wood is naturally but little darker than ash, yet the popular idea of what its hue should be is of a color nearly as dark as that of mahogany. Cherry is frequently misrepresented by staining whitewood or pine with burnt sienna, etc., but, it being impossible to conceal the _grain_ of the whitewood or the pine, the deception is easily discoverable by any one at all familiar with the grains of different woods. For this reason a much better imitation can be obtained by graining to imitate cherry (or any other wood), rather than by staining, as the grainer, if competent, can represent both the color and the grain of the desired wood.

Cherry may be imitated in either oil color or water color, and an excellent job can be done either way. My preference is for oil color.

The natural wood may be matched by employing raw and burnt sienna and raw umber, but the stained cherry requires the use of burnt sienna, burnt umber and Vand.y.k.e brown for the very dark veins, also, in some cases, crimson lake, to be used as a glazing or shading-color. The tools needed for oil color are the flat brush, combs, fitch tool or fresco-liner, sash tool and a piped bristle overgrainer. When a piece of work is rubbed in, it may lightly be stippled with the dry brush (or the stippling may first be done in distemper before the oil color is applied). It may be mottled by wiping off the color with a rag, or by applying a little color with the sash tool and lifting the color with the flat brush. The growth may then be put in with the fitch tool, the flat brush being used as a blender. The growths are put in across the mottled work previously done. The growths or hearts can also be wiped out with the rag in the same manner as in imitating ash, and the fitch used to interline the points of the hearts; but the growth of cherry is seldom as bold as that of ash, and, to my mind, it can best be imitated by the use of the fitch tool. Where the hearts have been wiped out with the rag they should always be gone over with the fitch tool and blended, as the effect is decidedly better than if they are left without pencilling.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 30.

CHERRY MOTTLED IN OIL BEFORE BEING OVERGRAINED.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 31.

CHERRY MOTTLED AND PENCILLED IN OIL.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 32.

CHERRY MOTTLED AND PENCILLED IN OIL.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 33.

CHERRY MOTTLED AND PENCILLED IN OIL AS FINISHED.]

Some grainers prefer to imitate cherry wholly in distemper, in which case the tools used are much the same as those for oil, subst.i.tuting the badger blender for the flat brush in finis.h.i.+ng the work. First dampen the work with a sponge and rub in the color with a flat brush; the mottled parts may be done light, with the sponge, or dark by using the mottler or the sash tool. The hearts are put in with the fitch after the mottling is dry, the overgrainer being used in same manner as that in which the combs are used in oil color. The best vehicle for the distemper color is stale beer; it may be diluted with one-half water, and in cold weather a little alcohol may be added. The work may be shaded or overgrained when dry, whether the graining has been done in oil or in distemper. If done in oil, the shading color may be applied in either oil or distemper; but if the work has been grained in distemper, the shading color (if applied immediately to the work before varnis.h.i.+ng) must be in oil. In some cases the distemper color is varnished before being overgrained; this, of course, necessitates revarnis.h.i.+ng.

The grains of cherry are apparently simple, but they will stand a large amount of study, and good work is seldom done without taking pains to represent the various characteristics of this at present fas.h.i.+onable wood.

Sometimes glue size is used in the color for a distemper binder, but, being of animal matter, it is seldom used by grainers. With the addition of alcohol enough to make it smell strong, it pa.s.ses for white sh.e.l.lac among some cheap painters, and is used for first coats or stain work. It will be found that the mottlings of cherry invariably run across the grain, and this is the chief reason that stained whitewood makes such a poor imitation, the reverse being the rule for whitewood.

One thing I wish to impress upon beginners: that is to keep the color as nearly as possible like that of the natural wood, and to cater as little as possible to the prevailing fas.h.i.+on of making the color of cherry as dark as that of mahogany. If people want a mahogany color, try and induce them to have also a mahogany grain. I know that frequently some article of furniture made of stained cherry has to be matched in color in graining a room, and in such cases there is no resource but to imitate it. I once went to grain a chamber in imitation of cherry, and the lady of the house requested me to observe the color of her mahogany chamber-set, which color she desired to have on the woodwork of the room. I found the "mahogany" to be cherry and whitewood stained very deep, and so informed her. It was a perfectly new set, and had been sold to her for mahogany by a respectable firm. I should judge it to be worth one hundred dollars, so there is evidently "cheating in all trades but ours."

The piped overgrainer for use in oil color will be found an excellent help, both for continuing the lines of the pencilled work, and for doing the straight or mottled combing so often observed in the natural wood.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 34.

CHERRY WIPED OUT AND PENCILLED IN OIL.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 35.

WALNUT STIPPLE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 36.

BLACK WALNUT PENCILLED.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 37.

WALNUT WIPED OUT AND PENCILLED.]

CHAPTER IX.

BLACK WALNUT.

This wood was very fas.h.i.+onable as an interior finish not very long ago, but its place is now largely occupied by cherry, mahogany and oak, and I think the change is for the better; for unless a room is well lighted, the effect of the deep color of walnut is rather sombre and the grains have less light and shade and less variety than those of oak or cherry. It can be imitated in either oil or distemper. The same tools are used as for ash. The piped bristle overgrainer is an excellent help for both oil and water color. The graining color is composed mostly of burnt umber, Vand.y.k.e brown being added for the darker portions of the work.

In my opinion, the best way to imitate walnut is first to stipple it with a thin mixture of Vand.y.k.e brown in distemper, using nothing but beer for thinner. When this is dry, rub in the oil color and wipe out the hearts with the rag in the same way as for oak and ash. Care must be taken not to add much water to the stippling color, or the stippling will be wiped off when the rag is used over it. When the hearts have been wiped out, the fitch tool may be used to sharpen up the edges of the growths and the whole lightly blended with the dry flat brush. The hearts can also be put in by using the fitch tool, or by mottling or wiping off the color slightly with the rag and then using the fitch tool as directed, the edges of the color being slightly lifted with the dry flat brush.

Some grainers prefer to use water color rather than oil, and do their work wholly in distemper. The same kit of tools is used as for cherry in distemper--viz., sponge, flat brush, sash tool, fitch tool, blender and overgrainer, either piped or plain. First stipple in the work slightly darker than if it were to be gone over in oil, and then put in the grains with a fitch tool and the overgrainer. Care must be taken in blending the hearts after pencilling, or the graining-color will lift off and show the ground-color. Oil color is sometimes used to pencil in the hearts, as it will not lift the stippling, no matter how much it is blended. A camel's-hair pencil is sometimes used to finish the points of the hearts. Care should be taken to have all the mitres and joints cleanly cut, and slightly to vary the color of the different portions of the work, so as to avoid sameness. The work may be shaded or overgrained after it is dry, but it is generally finished at once. For a quick job, done wholly in oil, rub in the work rather dry and stipple with the flat brush; then put in the hearts with the fitch tool and blend. Use the bristle piped overgrainer for portions of the work. By using the finer steel combs covered with cotton rag and stippling the work, when combed, with the dry brush, a very fair imitation is obtained.

CHAPTER X.

FRENCH WALNUT BURL.

This variety of walnut comes from France, although fair burls come from Spain and Italy. A large portion of the alleged French walnut is merely the root of the American walnut, but the best specimens of burl come from France and have not as yet been grown in this country. The finest burl is cut from the excrescences or bunches which appear on the trunk of the tree, and is quite expensive. It is most frequently used for small panels on furniture, and is not generally used for house-work.

Gunstocks are sometimes made from it, and such are very beautiful.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 38.

CURLY WALNUT.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 39.

FRENCH WALNUT BURL.]

French walnut is probably imitated in a different manner in every State in the Union; hence the manner herein described may appear wholly wrong to some grainers. But if we succeed in matching the wood, the manner of doing the work is seldom called in question. There are several "patent"

processes for imitating this wood, exclusive of the transfer roller.

I was informed some years ago by an agent who possessed the secret of the _best_ way in which to grain French walnut that after two lessons in his process anybody could perfectly match the wood; he did not succeed in selling me the great (?) secret. Yet there are processes other than the ones here given which for certain kinds of work are excellent, but they are seldom used by grainers to the trade. In England the burl is seldom imitated, English imitations being mostly confined to the curly or wavy portions of the grain.

French walnut may be represented in either oil or distemper by being partially done in oil and finished in distemper, or _vice versa_. The tools are the same as those used for black walnut, as are also the colors--burnt umber and Vand.y.k.e brown. For the very light portions a little burnt sienna may be added to the color. When the work is to be done in oil, rub in the color rather dry, and with the sash tool dipped in some dark color cover such portions of the work as you wish to appear dark; then take a piece of soft cotton rag and remove the color where the light places are to appear, and work up the dark places with the rag until the desired effect is obtained; then blend lightly with the dry brush, and with the fitch tool add lines and curves, or knots if desired, constantly keeping the grain of the wood in mind and striving to represent it. Blend lightly with the dry brush and stipple the light places with the flat brush (or the stippling may be done in distemper on the ground-work before the oil color is applied). When the oil color is dry, the work may be shaded or overgrained in either oil or water color.

The other method in ordinary use among grainers is to do the work wholly in distemper, and for work that is not too complicated this method is undoubtedly the best. The mode of procedure is much the same as for oil color, using the sponge to make the lighter parts, and darkening the work with the sash tool, making the settled places preparatory to overgraining. If done in this manner, the work will be gone over two or three times in an hour, which is quite an advantage, as, if the work is first done in oil, it must be allowed time to dry before being shaded; but for intricate work the grain may be done equally well in oil color if it is overgrained when dry.

This wood is not of sufficient size to be used on large surfaces without being jointed; hence it is not in good taste to imitate it on a very large scale. Its use is more properly confined to small panels and to interior rather than to exterior work. It is a very rare occurrence to find a specimen of the real wood exposed to the weather as, being but a thin veneer, it would be quickly affected by the extreme changes of temperature to which it would be subjected.

In conclusion, the only way to become expert in imitating French walnut is to strive to copy the grains of the real wood; and no wood is more often misrepresented than is French walnut.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate 40.