CHAPTER V.
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.
CHAPTER VI.
CHESTNUT.
This wood is not frequently used as an interior finish, but sixteen years ago it was almost the only hardwood used for interior finish in the New England States; and any grainer who succeeded in matching it was considered very skilful. It is a highly-porous wood, and on that account is undesirable, as, if not entirely protected from the changes in temperature by being thoroughly filled, it will warp or swell; and I have seen doors concave or convex as much as three inches in a two foot eight inch door. It also turns very dark with age, and its hearts or prominent grains are very coarse. I have seen specimens which measured eighteen inches from point to point at the heart. The colors used are raw sienna, burnt umber, Vandyke brown and a little burnt sienna. There is some resemblance to ash in the finer growth of chestnut, but its general characteristics are more angular—that is, the hearts run more to points than those of ash—and in most of the hearts a faint outline appears between the points. The combing also is much coarser than that meant for ash. Chestnut can be done in either oil or water color. I think it can be done best in oil, using the rag to wipe out the color and combing in the edges of the hearts with a rubber comb covered with a thin piece of rag. This comb should not be over two inches in width, and the teeth should be about five to the inch. When the hearts are wiped out and lightly-blended, the fine outline may be put in between the points in the hearts by using a sharp-pointed stick or the round corner of a steel comb. The work, when dry, may be lightly stippled in distemper, or a thin glaze of color without stippling may be applied to bring the work to the desired depth of color; this shading-color may be mixed in oil or water color.
In imitating this wood in water color the work should first be stippled in very fine and allowed to dry; then put in the growths with the small fitch tool, and use the overgrainer for the same purpose as that for which the comb is used in oil color to follow the edges of the hearts, and to produce the "combed" work; a piped bristle over-grainer will be found useful for this purpose.
BIRD'S-EYE MAPLE.
To my mind, this is the most beautiful of our native woods, and it is a shame that it is often cut down for firewood; however, it seems to be growing in favor among the furniture-makers, and is far more generally used in the interior of horse-cars and railway-cars than it was ten years ago. The colors used in representing maple are raw sienna, raw umber, a little Vandyke brown or ivory black and a little burnt sienna, to be added to the color when over-graining or putting in the pencil-work and the eyes.
This wood is almost invariably imitated in water color, as oil is too slow in drying to be used with any success. Stale beer is the best vehicle with which to apply the color. The implements needed are a good sponge, a piece of soft cotton rag or chamois leather, a brush to apply the color, a large and a small mottler or cut tool, a badger blender, an overgrainer and fitch tool, and a camel's-hair pencil. First dampen the ground-work over with the sponge, which has been wrung out of clean water, or of beer and water; then rub in the color, doing a panel or a small piece at a time, and while wet wipe out the high lights and put in the shadows with the sponge or the mottler or the backs of the fingers, or draw the color up into small bunches or clusters with the blender or mottler and blend lightly crosswise. When the lights and the shadows are dry, the eyes are put in. By observing the real wood it will be found that the eyes invariably appear in the darker portions of the grain, and that the shadows seem to slope away from them. Very often the shadows all slant one way and the eyes in the same way; this must be taken into consideration in imitating maple. Do not have all the eyes and all the shadows slanting the same way in different panels, as is often seen in the interior of cars, but reverse the style, bringing the opposite panels to balance with each other.
The best manner of imitating the eyes is a matter of doubt among practical workmen. The amateur grainer will tell you that he can put them in by striking the ends of his fingers against the color while wet; this is the way the wood is most frequently misrepresented, and such work looks feeble compared with that done by either of the following methods: After the lights and shadows are dry take some of the dark color from the bottom of your pot and add to it a little burnt sienna; the color should be put in a shallow vessel, such as a saucer. Thin the color, so that it works freely; then take a medium sized camel's-hair pencil which has been "docked" by cutting off the hair about one-quarter of an inch from the quill with a sharp knife, leaving the ends of the hair perfectly square. Then burn out the centre of the brush with a red-hot wire, leaving the hair round the circumference with which to represent the "eyes." The pencil is then dipped in the darker color, and the eyes are put in where desired.
Another way is to cut a piece from a block of soft rubber, make a hole through it and with a sharp knife trim the edges of the rubber till it can be used to take up the dark color. Make the eyes in the same manner as with the pencil brush. The eyes can be put in with a small pencil by describing circles, but care must be taken to have them of uniform size, or nearly so. Another—and probably the best—way is to take a thin piece of chamois leather or a soft piece of cotton rag and wet it in the graining-color; then take a piece of wood four or five inches long and not over half an inch thick; whittle it round and taper it to a point at one end; then wrap the rag or the leather around the stick, keeping a folded edge at the sharp end of the stick; and when the cloth or leather has made one circuit around the stick at the sharp end, wind it farther up the stick, so that only one circle of the folded rag or leather is at the sharp end of the stick. Some of the thick color may then be placed in about the middle of the rag, and by keeping the rag or the leather well wet above the thick color and squeezing the rag as often as necessary, so that the color descends toward the point of the stick, the eyes may be rapidly and accurately put in by striking the end of the folded rag or leather against the work; and a pair of panels may easily be done by once filling the rag with color. This method has the advantage of making any sized "eye," from the largest to the smallest, by simply altering the thickness of the folds; or the eyes may be made in any shape desired, from a circle to an oval. After the eyes are put in the work is over-grained, the color mostly being burnt sienna. The heart grains are put in with a camel's-hair pencil. Some grainers use a crayon pencil for this purpose, which should be soaked in beer or vinegar and used moist; the various over-grainers are also used in putting in the heart grains. The "eyes" should always be noticed—that is, the over-grainer should describe some part of a circle in passing the "eyes," so as to have them in harmony with the general features of the wood. All water-color work should be lightly gone over when dry with the hand, to remove any roughness in the graining-color. Some grainers prefer to touch up the high lights around the "eyes" with some of the ground color after the graining is dry, but it must be done very carefully or it shows badly.
CURLY OR ROCK MAPLE.
This wood somewhat resembles bird's-eye maple, and is often used in the same piece of furniture. It differs from bird's-eye in having but few, if any, "eyes" in it, and is mostly mottled and over-grained. A five-inch mottler that will cover the stiles of an ordinary door is a very necessary tool, as one that is not wide enough necessitates going over the work twice, and then it will not look so well as if done with a brush of sufficient width to cover the whole stile. The colors used for bird's-eye maple will answer for this wood, but the general tone is darker.
SILVER MAPLE.
This wood is represented by using ivory black for the graining-color; the groundwork should be almost white. The work is mostly mottled and very lightly over-grained. Eyes are sometimes put in, and the effect of the work is very showy when carefully done.
CHAPTER VII.
SATINWOOD.
This is a very delicate wood, of the maple family; it probably derives its name from its resemblance to folds of satin. It is seldom represented in America, but is frequently imitated in England, being used in connection with maple in some of the principal rooms, such as drawing-rooms, parlors, etc. The panels of the room are done as satinwood, the stiles as maple, and sometimes the mouldings as a darker wood, such as dark oak, walnut or rosewood.
The same groundwork and the same graining-colors may be used as in representing maple, but a little ivory black may be added. The tools are similar, but a piece of buckskin or chamois leather is substituted for the bristle mottlers used for maple. A roll of oil-putty is sometimes used to take off the color in making the high lights; the putty should be rolled along the panel lengthwise of the grain, and then the panel blended crosswise. Care should be taken to have the graining-color light, as the effect is lost if the color be too dark. The lights are quite prominent, and it requires no little skill successfully to imitate them. When the mottling or lights and shadows are dry, they may be very lightly over-grained with a fine bristle overgrainer, the bristles being separated by a comb and the color used very thin. The over-graining should not be blended, as it will look too prominent and spoil the effect of the lights and the shadows. A piece of soft cotton rag will answer the same purpose as the buckskin or chamois leather. When using either of them with the intention of making the mottled effect of the wood, first wet them in clean water or in beer and wring them out nearly dry; then, after the color is rubbed on the work, roll them over them over the surface as directed. The result will be that the leather or the rag will take off the patches of the wet graining-color. Then blend softly, and when dry overgrain.
CHAPTER VIII.
POLLARD OAK.
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, Vandyke 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 fashion 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 Vandyke 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.
Some grainers prefer to imitate cherry wholly in distemper, in which case the tools used are much the same as those for oil, substituting the badger blender for the flat brush in finishing 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 varnishing) must be in oil. In some cases the distemper color is varnished before being overgrained; this, of course, necessitates revarnishing.
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 fashionable 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 passes for white shellac 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 fashion 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.
CHAPTER IX.
BLACK WALNUT.
This wood was very fashionable 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, Vandyke 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 Vandyke 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.
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 versâ. The tools are the same as those used for black walnut, as are also the colors—burnt umber and Vandyke 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.
CHAPTER XI.
MAHOGANY.
This wood was a great favorite with the grainers of the last generation, and it is at present coming back to old-time popularity. The old Honduras "feathered" mahogany is rarely seen except in old furniture, and this kind of graining is seldom called for nowadays. The modern mahogany is more straight-grained, and is generally much lighter in color, but the furniture manufacturers do not hesitate to stain the wood to any depth of color, and thus they set the pattern which the grainer must follow as regards the color. It is represented in both oil and water color, or by being partly done both ways, as in the case of walnut. The colors used are burnt sienna, burnt umber and Vandyke brown, with crimson lake for overgraining on particularly bright work. The tools used are the same as those for walnut. No better way to imitate it will be found than first to stipple it with a thin wash of Vandyke brown in beer, much the same as for walnut, but using the flat side of the stippler or blender more than the tip, as the pores of the wood are generally longer than those of walnut. After the stippling is dry rub in the oil color, which is composed of about three-fourths burnt sienna to one-fourth burnt umber, or a little Vandyke brown may be added to the color. The dark veins are put in with the sash tool dipped in a little clear Vandyke brown, which should be mixed in a separate vessel and thinned mostly with driers, as Vandyke brown is a very slow drier. The work is then gone over with a soft cotton rag, and the color is removed where the lighter grains are to appear; the rag is also used to soften the edges of the darker streaks and to blend them into the lighter grains. The lights and shadows are made, and the whole is then lightly blended crosswise. The bristle overgrainer of the fitch tool is used to put in the finer grains, or this may be done when the oil color is dry. This is the manner in which the modern straight mahogany is most frequently imitated, but it can wholly be done in water color, using the sponge for the same purpose as the rag is used in oil.
The "feather" mahogany is best represented in water color. The centre of the feather is darkened with Vandyke brown, and the mottler or sponge is used to make the darker curves which radiate from the centre of the "feather;" then with a thin piece of stick or a piece of cardboard make the bright blaze marks that are usually seen through the centre of the feather. A small mottler or cut tool may be used for this purpose. The markings radiate from the centre outward in a curved line and across the darker veins; allow this to dry, and then lightly overgrain to bring out the effect, touching up the parts that are to appear very dark. After this is dry the hand should lightly be passed over the work to remove any surplus color, as one coat of varnish sometimes fails to lay out on water-color work where the graining-color has freely been used. This applies to walnut and rosewood in distemper as well as to mahogany. The wood is sometimes represented in oil without first stippling, but it never looks so well. Of course the stippling may be done after the work is dry, but it makes a better appearance if done before the rubbing with oil. If it is desired to overgrain, the work, if done in oil, should be shaded in distemper, and vice versâ. For depth and brightness, add crimson lake with a little Vandyke brown.
CHAPTER XII.
ROSEWOOD.
This wood is seldom imitated in this country except on piano-legs and caskets or coffins, and then it is done in stain on the wood without first being painted. Whitewood is given two coats of logwood stain, and after that is dry the grains are put in with a bamboo brush, which is made by beating the pulp out of the ends of short strips of bamboo, leaving the harder portions of the wood, which act as bristles for applying the graining-color. Four or five strips of bamboo an inch or more wide are fastened together with wire, so that their edges interlock at the point of the brush; the brush is then dipped in the graining color, which consists of iron-filings dissolved in vinegar. The surplus color is shaken out of the brush, and the grains are put in in the same manner as that in which an overgrainer is used in water-color. The darker veins are added with a sponge after the finer grains are put in, and the work after being grained is generally filled with rose-pink. This process can be used only on new surfaces, and is of little value to the grainer to the trade.
The ordinary way of imitating rosewood is to do it in water color, although it may be done in oil. I prefer to do it in distemper, as the work can more quickly be finished in this way. The colors used are Vandyke brown, ivory black and rose pink. The basis of the color is Vandyke brown and a little black added to it. The ivory black and the rose pink are mixed separately, and applied to the work as desired while the color is wet, carefully blending where necessary. The rose-pink is first streaked through the color and blended; then the sponge is used to remove the color and make the lighter shades. The black veins are then put in, and after the whole is dry the overgrainer and the fitch tool are used to put in the fine grains. Last of all, the edges of the dark veins are sharpened with the fitch tool, using thin black for this purpose; this final application of black may be done in oil. Care must be taken not to take too much black, or the effect will be too sombre. The natural wood is almost invariably darkened by being stained as we see it on pianos, and its beauties are obscured by so doing. When the water color is finished and dry, the hand should be lightly passed across the work to remove any surplus color that may not thoroughly adhere, as, if not removed, it works up into the varnish, or the varnish strikes in where the graining-color is thick; and for this reason two coats of varnish are better than one coat on any dark wood that has been done wholly in water color.
In operating entirely with oil the tools are much the same as those used for water color; the bristle piped overgrainer is best for oil color. The work is done in much the same manner as with water color, using the rag where the color is to be lightened, with a little more spirits of turpentine and japan in the color than ordinarily.
The grains of rosewood are not easily copied. The wood exhibits a variety of grain second only to oak, and I think that, after oak, it is the most difficult wood to imitate, as to do it justice requires the free treatment which can be given only by a trained hand and a correct eye. The average veins are free and graceful without being set or constrained, and the grains are constantly interlocking and branching off from the main hearts.
CYPRESS-WOOD
has but recently appeared in this country as an interior finish. It is a very soft and porous wood, and is a good kind to keep out of a house, owing to its liability to shrink and swell, but occasionally we find rooms finished with it, with the exception of the doors, which the grainer is called upon to match. I am informed that cypress trees have to be girdled in the spring and killed, so that they contain but little sap when cut in the fall, as, if cut green, they would sink in the water before they could be floated to the mill. This shows how ill suited this wood is for an interior finish.