books 
 
 ND 
 
 1510 
 S782 
 1892 
 
THE USE AND ABUSE 
 
 OF 
 
 COLOURS AND MEDIUMS 
 
 OIL PAINTING. 
 
 A HANDBOOK FOR ARTISTS AND ART 
 STUDENTS. 
 
 H. C. STANDAGE, 
 
 Author of the " Artist's Manual of Pigments ," " Water-Colour 
 
 Pigments" &C. 
 
 REEVES & SONS, Limited, 
 
 Manufacturers of Artists' Colours, 
 
 London. 
 
 1892. 
 
CO /Uf 
 
 IS 
 S7fX 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SONS, 
 
 ST. martin's LANE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ii. 
 
 in. 
 
 IV. 
 
 v. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 On ancient and modern methods of preparing 
 
 colours 
 
 On the chemical composition, physical qualities 
 and artistic merits of pigments 
 
 White Pigments 
 
 Red Pigments 
 
 Browns and Ochres 
 
 Yellows 
 
 Greens 
 
 Blues 
 
 Greys and Blacks ... 
 
 Modern methods of painting, and palettes of modern 
 
 painters, with deductions therefrom, and an ideal 
 
 palette 
 
 Combinations of colours for producing various hues 
 
 Colours and their combinations for flesh painting, 
 
 backgrounds, landscapes, &c. 
 
 Painting grounds 
 
 Observations on the behaviour of oil paints and 
 
 their mediums 
 
 Some terms used in painting defined and practically 
 
 considered ... 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 29 
 
 34 
 38 
 41 
 4.3 
 45 
 
 47 
 64 
 
 68 
 73 
 
 80 
 90 
 
 A 2 
 
" In the exercises of artists, oil should be the vehicle of colour 
 ' employed from the first. The extended practice of water-colour 
 painting, as a separate skill, is in every -way harmful to the arts ; 
 ' its pleasant slightness and plausible dexterity divert the genius of 
 : the painter from its proper aims, and withdraw the attention of 
 
 the public from excellence of higher claim ; nor ought any man, 
 • who has the consciousness of ability for good work, to be ignorant 
 : of, or indolent in employing, the methods of making its results 
 '' permanent as long as the laws of Nature allow. It is surely a 
 ' severe lesson to us in this matter, that the best works of Turner 
 '■ could not be shown to the public for six months without being 
 ' destroyed — and that his most ambitious ones for the most part 
 '•perished, even before they could be shown." — Ruskin. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the first section of this little book we have 
 endeavoured, as far as compatible with the space 
 at disposal, to explode the prevalent fallacy that 
 the old masters had better prepared and purer 
 colours than are now obtainable. 
 
 Section II contains a brief but succinct descrip- 
 tion of the chemical composition of colours. 
 
 In the third section, an endeavour has been 
 made, by critically examining the method pursued 
 and materials made use of by several eminent 
 artists, to point a moral to painters. The lesson 
 this section teaches is that the materials used by 
 the fine art painter do not permit him to carry out 
 his own free will as to the mixtures of pigments 
 and vehicles he wishes to unite. Permanency in 
 the painting demands that some attention, at least, 
 must be paid to the chemical composition of 
 colours and mediums. As a help to guide in the 
 selection of colours that are safe to commingle we 
 offer an " ideal palette of permanent colours." 
 
 The " combination of colours for producing 
 
VI 
 
 various hues " will, the writer hopes, prove of 
 service ; they are such as can be made without 
 fear of active chemical action being set up. 
 
 The subject matter of the next section will 
 doubtless be appreciated by those to whom it 
 especially appeals, the student in oil. 
 
 The subject on painting grounds is briefer than 
 the subject demands, but space forbids greater 
 elaboration. In the observations on the behaviour 
 of oil paints and their mediums, the endeavour is 
 made to awaken artists to the fact that the vehicles 
 they use require as careful a selection as the pig- 
 ments compounded therewith. 
 
 Section VIII is intended for the student in oil 
 painting. 
 
 That the efforts of the writer to set before his 
 readers as complete a risume of the chemistry of 
 painting in oil, in as few words as possible, will be 
 appreciated is his sincere hope. 
 
 H. C. S. 
 
 Gravelly Hill, Birmingham, 
 April 2,01/i, 1892. 
 
SECTION I. 
 
 ON ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS 
 OF PREPARING COLOURS. 
 
 Introductory. 
 
 Necessity for permanence in pictures. — Within 
 recent years the question of the nature of artists' 
 colours and vehicles has received attention from 
 several authors, but not in the form of a handbook 
 specially devoted to the subject included in the 
 title of this little book. 
 
 The art student cannot be expected to include 
 a thorough knowledge of chemistry in his course 
 of study, yet the reasonable demand on the part 
 of the picture buyer for permanency in pictures 
 necessitates a certain amount of chemical know- 
 ledge on the part of the artist concerning the 
 materials he employs. 
 
 It is this information that we propose to set 
 forth in the following pages. 
 
 Although the matter in this book will supply 
 much information conducive to this end, any 
 amount of theoretical knowledge will avail the 
 artist nothing unless he is assured that the colours 
 which he uses are manufactured from pure pig- 
 
merits and properly prepared to endure the 
 vicissitudes to which a painting is subjected. 
 At the present day these matters are so well 
 understood by the colourmen with established 
 reputations that the artist may feel safe on this 
 score if he only employs the best qualities and 
 entirely discards all pigments of a doubtful 
 nature. 
 
 Duty of the Artist. — A painting that is intended 
 to be a permanent monument of the artist's powers 
 should have the best possible work and materials 
 put into it. The painter owes this to his patron 
 as much as to his own reputation. 
 
 With pure materials and a theoretical knowledge 
 of their nature, properties, and uses, the painter 
 even then is not equipped to produce a work 
 faultless in regard to permanency. It is this 
 missing something which these pages endeavour 
 to supply. 
 
 Mixtures of Pigments. — The details concern- 
 ing the colours recommended and what to avoid, 
 should guide the brush and keep the painter from 
 making false mixtures. 
 
 The blending of colours on the palette is 
 fascinating to the artist ; so many new mixtures 
 are revealed while thus playing with his colours 
 that the artist cannot resist the temptation to 
 make use of the hues he accidentally produces 
 
totally oblivious of the fact that mixtures so made 
 may be pernicious. 
 
 Old Masters v. Modern Artists. — It is a 
 standing reproach to the more modern painters 
 that their pictures do not bear the wear and tear 
 of a few years without showing signs of internal 
 decay, while we have pictures done by Venetian, 
 Dutch, and Flemish painters of several centuries 
 ago, that seem as fresh and bright to the eye as 
 they probably were on the day they were painted. 
 
 Ancient recipes. — That brilliancy and per- 
 manency of such paintings is not due to superior 
 pigments will be admitted by reading the following 
 recipes extracted from an old Bolognese manu- 
 script treatise on the making of colours : — 
 
 " To make verdigris. — Take very thin copper 
 " and cut it into pieces of half an ounce or one 
 " ounce each, arrange them in a glazed vase with 
 " common salt, that is to say, one stratum of 
 " copper and another of salt ; then fill the vase 
 " with strong vinegar and cover it with lutum 
 " sapientise,* put it underground in a damp, warm 
 " place for a month, and you will have good 
 " verdigris." 
 
 In the above mixture we have the formation of 
 
 * Lutum sapientiae consisted of white of egg beaten to a froth and 
 mixed with iron filings. This mixture was used as a cement for 
 luting vessels. 
 
10 
 
 chloride of copper, acetate of copper, acetate of 
 iron, sulphur from the egg, and a variety of 
 unknown substances. 
 
 " To make good green, take honey and strong 
 " vinegar, of each as much as you like, and in- 
 " corporate them very well together, then put the 
 " mixture into a well luted copper vase, place the 
 " jar a foot deep in every direction in warm dung 
 " in a place where the sun shines plainly, and let it 
 " remain so for a fortnight, then take it out and 
 " you will find all the matter converted into full 
 " verdigris of a perfect kind." 
 
 In this mixture the fermentation set up between 
 the honey and vinegar actively reacts on the copper 
 and acetate of copper is formed. 
 
 " To make green. — Take as much as you like of 
 " white vinegar and add to it some verdigris re- 
 " duced to a fine powder, a little powdered roche 
 " alum, a little saffron, a small quantity of the 
 " juice of rue, and a little powdered gum arabic ; 
 " let it stand over the vinegar for five days, then 
 " mix a little ceruse with it, and it will become of 
 " a fine green colour." 
 
 " To make green, take indigo and grind it with 
 " plenty of saffron and mix a little white lead and 
 " gum water, and it will become green." 
 
 " To make aznre. — Take I oz. of sal ammoniac 
 " and 6 ozs. of verdigris and grind these powders 
 
II 
 
 " very fine with oil of tartar upon a marble, then 
 " put them into a glazed vase and let them stand 
 " some days, and you will find the verdigris con- 
 " verted into a very beautiful azure." 
 
 Many more similar crude recipes could be 
 quoted showing how little was known about 
 chemical science, but these are sufficient to 
 demonstrate that the colours used by the brilliant 
 colourists of the sixteenth century were certainly 
 not equal in any respect (brilliancy of hue perhaps 
 excepted) to those obtainable at the present day. 
 
 A primitive mode of producing a golden 
 yellow. — The following extract shows so very 
 forcibly to what expedients the colourmakers 
 resorted for the production of pigments, that we 
 are tempted to give it. 
 
 " To make a good and fine gold colour. — Take a 
 " hen's egg, make a small hole in it, take out the 
 " white and leave the yolk in the shell, then fill it 
 " with quicksilver and stop up the hole securely and 
 " put it under a sitting hen for the space of thirty 
 " natural days, and you will have a golden colour, 
 " which you must distemper with gum water." 
 
 The rationale of this process for obtaining a 
 "golden yellow," is that sulphuretted hydrogen 
 gas is generated during the decomposition of the 
 yolk of the egg and the mercury forms a sulphide 
 of mercury of a yellow tone. 
 
12 
 
 When we contrast a few modern methods of 
 making pigments with those quoted, artists will see 
 at once that they are no longer justified in speaking 
 of the superiority of the colours used by the old 
 masters. 
 
 Dutch process for making Vermilion. — The 
 old Dutch method of making vermilion, or cinnabar, 
 was as follows : a mixture of mercury and sulphur 
 was made by gradually adding 170 lbs. of metallic 
 mercury to 50 lbs. of melted sulphur, the latter 
 body is cast into an iron pot and the materials are 
 stirred up with an iron spatula, but not so rapidly 
 as to give rise to active combustion. After the 
 above proportion of ingredients are thoroughly 
 mixed it is poured out on to iron plates and broken 
 into pieces ; after cooling, the fragments are then 
 put into hand-jars capable of holding one and a 
 half pints of water, previous to sublimation. The 
 vessels in which the compound is sublimed are of 
 earthenware, cylindrical, 4 feet high, glazed within 
 and closed at the bottom ; these vessels are sunk 
 two-thirds of their depth in a furnace, in which 
 their lower part is heated to redness. A few hand- 
 jars full of the mixture are thrown into each of the 
 subliming vessels and the contents left to crackle 
 and burn until the greater part of the excess of 
 sulphur volatilises and the flame diminishes. The 
 smooth level tops of the jars are then covered with 
 
13 
 
 flat plates of cast iron ; as soon as a sufficient 
 quantity of cinnabar has collected on these plates 
 they are removed and others substituted, the 
 cinnabar which has collected on the upper parts of 
 the vessels being first put back. That which has 
 been collected on the plates is detached and ground 
 as finely as possible with rain water. 
 
 Chinese process for Vermilion. — In the Chinese 
 method of making vermilion, one part of sulphur 
 and four parts of mercury are sublimed in an 
 earthen vessel to which an iron cover, kept 
 constantly moist, is luted ; the fire is kept up for a 
 day and a night, when the vessel is taken away, 
 allowed to cool, and the compound broken up. The 
 sublimate is then separated into two qualities, the 
 purest and impure vermilion, the latter is re- 
 sublimed and the powder is sifted into a large 
 vessel filled with water, which with the scum float- 
 ing on it is poured off after awhile ; the process is 
 twice repeated, and lastly the sediment at the 
 bottom is dried. The Chinese vermilion, which is 
 about six times as dear as the European variety, 
 possesses a carmine cast, whereas that prepared by 
 the European methods incline to a yellow tinge. 
 Although the Chinese samples exhibit no foreign 
 matter except a little glue, the chief point to be 
 attended to in the production of vermilion is that 
 no black amorphous sulphide of mercury should 
 
14 
 
 become mixed with it. There are several other 
 methods of producing this beautiful red pigment, 
 but the above examples are sufficient to show the 
 great care and attention bestowed in every detail 
 in the fabrication of modern pigments. To empha- 
 size these facts we give the general details of the 
 manufacture of artificial ultramarine — the two 
 substances — native and artificial — being identical 
 in chemical constitution. 
 
 A modern method of making artificial Ultra- 
 marine. — Gmelin's method of manufacture is as 
 follows : — Soda-lye saturated with precipitated 
 silica is mixed with aluminium hydrate (containing 
 20 per cent, of water and obtained by precipitation 
 from alum not containing iron) in such proportion 
 that the mixture shall contain 31 parts of dry silica 
 and 26 parts of dry alumina ; the liquid is then 
 evaporated to dryness, and the pulverised residue is 
 mixed with flowers of sulphur. In the next place, 
 the same quantity of a mixture of dry sodium 
 sulphate and flowers of sulphur in equal parts by 
 weight is added and, after being carefully mixed, the 
 whole is stamped into a crucible so as to completely 
 fill it. The crucible tightly closed is quickly heated 
 to redness, so that the sulphur may not volatilise 
 before the sulphide of sodium can be formed, and 
 the mass is kept at a red heat for two hours. The 
 crucible is then left to cool with the cover on and 
 
the greenish-yellow product (green ultramarine) is 
 gently heated in a porous crucible in which narrow 
 channels have been bored to increase the draught. 
 The blue mass thus obtained is finely pulverised, 
 levigated and washed. 
 
 This process includes all the conditions essential 
 to the production of a good ultramarine. There 
 are various other methods of making this beautiful 
 blue pigment, but all of them depend upon extreme 
 care in the manipulation in order to produce a fine 
 blue tone. 
 
 Adulterated Pigments. — Artists' colourmen 
 are often blamed for selling adulterated pig- 
 ments : the remedy lies with the artists them- 
 selves. But even on that point, present day 
 pigments cannot be condemned in favour of those 
 of the old masters' days. Cennino Cennini advises 
 the painter to purchase cinnabar " unbroken and 
 " unground ; the reason for this is because it is 
 " often adulterated with minium (red lead), and 
 "with pounded brick dust." It should be under- 
 stood that this caution is not directed against 
 colourmen — that trade is a comparatively modern 
 invention — but such colours as the artist could not 
 well prepare himself, of which vermilion is one, he 
 was directed to purchase from the apothecary ; it 
 was this worthy who did not scruple to increase 
 his profit by adulterating his goods. 
 
i6 
 
 The superior permanence of ancient paintings 
 compared with modern. — Thus far the superi- 
 ority of make and freedom from adulteration of 
 fair-priced colours should increase the permanence 
 of modern paintings. The fact is, however, quite 
 the other way, and we are forced to the conclusion 
 that the greater permanence of those paintings 
 that have survived the ravages of centuries is due 
 to the care and skill of the painter in his tech- 
 nique. 
 
 Even attention to these points alone, however, 
 would not suffice to guard many of these crudely 
 made pigments from decomposition. The per- 
 manence of such dangerous pigments is un- 
 doubtedly due to the employment of a medium 
 that partook largely of the nature of a varnish 
 which securely locked up the pigments before their 
 chemical activities could bring about destructive 
 changes. 
 
 Grinding colours, ancient and modern 
 methods. — As regards the method of preparing 
 the colours for the palette these ancient painters 
 were far behind our present methods. One thing 
 of great importance to the purity of the colour was 
 that the colour was usually well ground under 
 water, and bringing it into as impalpable powder 
 as possible by hand labour, but for grinding up the 
 colour in the vehicle their only resource was a 
 
17 
 
 porphyry slab and a stone muller. There is some- 
 thing to be said in favour of this simple means of 
 grinding, for only a small portion of pigment 
 could be operated upon at a time, and therefore 
 this small quantity was more likely to be better 
 ground than if a large quantity were attempted. 
 The modern method of grinding pigments with 
 the vehicle consists of passing the mixture between 
 a series of three or five granite rollers which are 
 made to revolve by steam power. It is in this 
 operation that a saving in cost of manufacture can 
 be made in a prepared colour. 
 
 Reason for cost of good colours.— Many 
 pigments require several hours' grinding before they 
 are brought to the consistence which gives them 
 their best working qualities ; but this long time 
 means a heavy item for labour and power, there- 
 fore if the colour be sold cheaply the requisite 
 number of hours in the mill cannot be afforded. 
 Besides this, many pigments, such as the oxides of 
 iron, " burn " the oil whilst being ground, that is, 
 they so enter into combination with it as to alter 
 its physical nature, and their change is greatly de- 
 pendent upon the rate at which the rollers revolve. 
 There are many other details requiring constant 
 attention on the part of the grinder, and it is on the 
 due performance of these details that a pigment will 
 show itself to best advantage as an artist's colour. 
 
Early history of Oil Painting.— It is a disputed 
 point as to who actually invented oil painting. 
 Walpole offers good evidence that it was practised 
 in England long before we have proof of its exis- 
 tence on the Continent, where the brothers Hubert 
 and Jan Van Eyck divide the honours with another 
 painter who lived in the same era. 
 
 Whether the Van Eycks were really the inventors 
 of this style of painting or not, it is certain that to 
 them is due the honour of leading the fashion in this 
 then new departure in painting. What, however, 
 we call oil painting as it was practised by these 
 and the Dutch, Flemish, and Venetian painters, 
 is really distinct from the oil painting of the 
 present day. What was then practised, was more 
 approaching varnish painting, for all their vehicles 
 were prepared more or less with a resin of some 
 sort, usually sandarac. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds was the first prominent 
 painter who introduced this mode of painting 
 into England. Of his numerous mixtures and 
 formulae for compounding colours we have abun- 
 dant evidence in his biographies by Northcote and 
 Malone. In Sir Joshua's day there was no artists' 
 colourmen like those of to-day. 
 
 Rise of Colour Manufacturing - . — It was during 
 his lifetime, about 1768, that Thomas Reeves (the 
 founder of the present firm of Reeves and Sons) 
 
19 
 
 may be said to have inaugurated a new era in fine 
 art colour production. In those days it was cus- 
 tomary for the artist to keep his colours in a 
 gallipot covered with water to prevent the colours 
 drying on the surface. This mode of storing the 
 colours was improved upon afterwards by keeping 
 them in skins, the colours being squeezed through 
 a hole pricked in the side. It was only within 
 more recent years that the well-known, convenient, 
 and cleanly collapsible tube was invented. PVom 
 this time downwards, improvements of various 
 kinds have been introduced. 
 
 Having touched upon a few points in connection 
 with the art of painting in oils from its origin until 
 the present day, we will now enter more fully into 
 the composition and characteristics of the prepared 
 pigments used by artists. 
 
 F. 2 
 
20 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, PHY 
 
 SICAL QUALITIES, AND ARTISTIC 
 
 MERITS OF PIGMENTS. 
 
 
 Origin of Pigments.— Some pigments are found 
 naturally as earths ; for example, the ochres, brown, 
 red, and yellow ; the silicates, as terre verte ; and 
 carbonates, as of copper. Other pigments are 
 produced artificially by chemical means, for in- 
 stance, sulphides of mercury (vermilion) and 
 cadmium (yellow), the chromates of lead and 
 barium (chrome and lemon yellows), the lakes 
 being a combination of a vegetable or animal 
 colouring matter with a metallic base. 
 
 Composition of Pigments. — As regards the 
 composition of pigments, the natural earths are 
 generally oxides of iron, chemically united with 
 water and mixed with earthy substances, such as 
 silica, flint, or clay, &c, while those produced 
 artificially, being either oxides of metals, as red 
 lead, Venetian and light red, &c. ; or carbonates, as 
 
21 
 
 white lead, mountain blue (carbonate of copper), 
 or sulphides or chromates. Others, again, are 
 obtained by extracting the colouring matter from 
 flowers or seeds {e.g., iris blue and bistre), or of 
 insects, as carmine ; and some others are procured 
 from the animal kingdom, such as ivory and bone 
 black. 
 
 Complexity of Composition. — From this brief 
 summary of the nature of pigments we see that 
 not only are they very diverse — oxides, sulphides, 
 and carbonates, &c. — in their composition, but 
 also very complex, since some consist simply of 
 oxygen united with the metallic base, and others 
 are a mixture of oxygen, sulphur, silica, potassium, 
 &c, while some are extracts of vegetable products 
 and insects. 
 
 WHITE PIGMENTS. 
 
 Flake White. — The most extensively used 
 white pigment in oils is a mixture of carbonate 
 and hydrate of lead, commonly known by the 
 above name. It takes this name because in the 
 process of manufacture the white pigment falls in 
 flakes from the corroded metallic lead. This white 
 is very solid and dense, or opaque, which gives it 
 
22 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 more covering power than any other white oil 
 pigment. The extent to which this white is used 
 by painters in oils almost precludes the hope that 
 it will ever be dispensed with. Artists like it 
 because it is so unctuous and nice to use, but it 
 has many serious drawbacks that should condemn 
 it for all fine and important works. 
 
 These drawbacks are, firstly, the tendency that 
 it has to become yellow and brown with age, and 
 on exposure to gases containing sulphur ; secondly, 
 is its gradual loss of opacity, that is, if flake white 
 were solidly painted over a dark ground, the white 
 will in time become less opaque or semi-transparent 
 enough to allow this dark ground to appear through. 
 
 As this white is so frequently used in all kinds 
 of painting, particularly for flesh or figure painting 
 it is not necessary to excuse a somewhat scientific 
 explanation of the chemical reactions producing 
 the above change. 
 
 Flake white, or white lead, as it is commonly 
 known to house painters, is a mixture of car- 
 bonate of lead and hydrate of lead ; chemically the 
 formula is expressed thus : 2PbCO s (carbonate 
 of lead) and PbH,Q, (hydrate of lead). This 
 means that two equivalents of lead are united to 
 two equivalents of carbon dioxide, and there is 
 also present two additional equivalents of oxygen, 
 or in other words one equivalent of oxide of lead is 
 
united with one equivalent of carbon dioxide 
 multiplied by two. The second formula represents 
 one equivalent of oxide of lead is united to one 
 equivalent of water, and the two formulae taken 
 together represent that two equivalents of oxide 
 of lead are mechanically mixed (not chemically 
 united) with one equivalent of hydrate of lead. 
 
 Ordinary flake white and white lead consist of 
 this mixture of carbonate and hydrate of lead in 
 variable proportions ; this mixture is not made 
 intentionally but in the process of converting 
 metallic lead into white lead. Thus when this 
 white is made by the old Dutch process, metal- 
 lic lead is submitted to the fumes of acetic 
 acid or wood vinegar, which converts the metal 
 into acetate {i.e., sugar) of lead. The fumes of 
 acetic acid are generated from wood shavings, and 
 as they are decomposed carbonic acid gas is also 
 disengaged ; this carbonic acid acts on the acetate 
 of lead which is first formed, and converts it into 
 carbonate of lead. The acetic acid that is now set 
 free from the acetate of lead again acts on the 
 undecomposed portion of the metal to convert it 
 into acetate, which in its turn is also converted into 
 carbonate of lead, and so the process proceeds 
 until the whole of the metal is converted into the 
 white carbonate and hydrate. Besides the con- 
 version of the lead into acetate and the subsequent 
 
24 
 
 reconversion of this into carbonate, a part is con- 
 verted into hydrate. When the greater part of the 
 metallic lead has become corroded (converted) into 
 white lead {i.e., flake white, because the corrosive 
 form of the salt takes the appearance of flakes or 
 thin liminae) it is scraped off. This operation is 
 conducted with the material steeped in water to 
 prevent the workmen being poisoned by the 
 particles of lead carbonate that would otherwise 
 float in the air. It is then otherwise treated to 
 fit it for the purpose of the painter, but no attempt 
 is made to separate the carbonate from the hydrate 
 of lead that has been formed simultaneously. The 
 fact is that it would be impossible to do so by 
 mechanical means. As a result white lead made 
 by this means consists of an intimate mixture of 
 about one-fourth to one-third of hydrate and three- 
 quarters to two-thirds of carbonate of lead. 
 
 Now some authorities maintain that the mixture 
 of hydrate and carbonate of lead is the best form 
 of white lead for painters' purposes ; but such is 
 not the case, since the hydrate of lead is more 
 readily acted upon by foul gases than carbonate of 
 lead alone. In proof of this assertion I would 
 refer my readers to an article from my pen on the 
 " Chemistry of the Painters' Art," that appeared in 
 a trade journal a few years ago,* wherein I give in 
 
 * The Plumber and Decorator, for August, 1 889. 
 
25 
 
 detail the experiments I made, by which I prove 
 that the hydrate of lead is a cause of quicker dis- 
 integration of white lead than when the white lead 
 is pure carbonate of lead. To give in brief the cause 
 of the disintegration of white lead ground in linseed 
 oil, I should state that when a lead pigment — ■ 
 oxide, carbonate, or acetate — is added to a fixed 
 oil, such as linseed, the mixture saponifies ; in this 
 manner, the metallic oxide combines with the fatty 
 acids, the olein and stearin of the oil, to the ex- 
 clusion of their base, glycerin, setting it free ; the 
 union of the lead salt with these acids produces a 
 kind of soap or " linoleate " of lead. 
 
 Now hydrate of lead much more readily saponi- 
 fies because the elements of water are more easily 
 eliminated, and the lead and hydrate that remains 
 combine very quickly with the fatty acids in the 
 linseed oil. The glycerin set free from the oil and 
 the equivalent of water (hydrogen and oxygen) 
 eliminated from the lead hydrate that is formed is 
 still more soluble in water than it would be were 
 this glycerin not set free. Now with the pure 
 carbonate of lead, this soluble linoleate of lead is 
 not so readily formed, because the carbonic dioxide 
 (C0 2 ) present does not so easily forsake the 
 plumbic oxide (PbO) to which it is chemically 
 united, and as a consequence the linseed oil, by 
 imbibing oxygen from the air, becomes quickly 
 
26 
 
 converted into tough impermeable linoxide of lead. 
 But in the case of a mixture of carbonate and 
 linoleate of lead the proportion of linoleate of lead 
 formed increases in proportion to the hydrate of 
 lead present in the white lead — thus — 
 
 PbOHO and fatty acids = H 2 and linoleate oflead. 
 Hydrate Oleic and Water. 
 
 of lead. Stearic 
 
 acids. 
 
 A somewhat analogous reaction takes place 
 between the hydrate of lead and sulphur fumes, 
 the elements of water in the hydrate quickly 
 forsake the lead oxide (PbO), sulphur having a 
 greater affinity for the lead than the water has. 
 
 Thus — 
 
 I'bOHoO and HoS = PbS and 2H,0 
 Hydrate Sulphuretted Sulphide Water, 
 of lead. hydrogen. of lead 
 
 (black or 
 brown). 
 
 The hydrate of lead becomes browner or blacker 
 than the pure carbonate of lead or mixture of the 
 two, under the action of sulphuretted hydrogen, 
 because a larger proportion of lead is seized upon 
 by the sulphur and converted into black sulphide 
 of lead. It is for this reason that the white lead 
 containing most carbonate does not turn so dark 
 on exposure to foul gases, for there is a large pro- 
 portion of white carbonate unacted upon by the 
 sulphur. 
 
27 
 
 There are many other chemical changes that 
 occur in the mixture of white lead with other 
 pigments, these, however, the limits of this book do 
 not permit us to discuss. In such reactions the 
 carbonate of lead plays a part quite as important 
 as the elements of water do in the hydrate, as the 
 carbonic acid has under certain circumstances less 
 affinity for the lead oxide with which it is com- 
 bined than the other elements that produce the 
 chemical reactions in the mixture. 
 
 Kremnitz White is a similar pigment to the 
 above, but inferior to it in body although superior 
 in whiteness. It takes its name from Kremnitz in 
 Hungary, where it is manufactured. 
 
 Dutch White contains 25 percent, of white lead 
 and 75 per cent, of barium sulphate. 
 
 Hamburg White is a mixture of two-thirds 
 barium sulphate and one-third white lead. 
 
 Venetian White is compounded of equal parts 
 of barium sulphate and carbonate of lead, as white 
 lead destroys the tints formed by it with the lakes 
 (madder lakes excepted), probably by oxygenating 
 them and so bleaching their colours. 
 
 Foundation White is essentially an oil colour, 
 it is compounded for the most part of flake white 
 and zinc white. It dries quickly, and is used for 
 priming the canvas or painting ground previous to 
 painting on it. 
 
28 
 
 New White is a mixture of zinc white and 
 Kremnitz white ; all these mixtures of lead and zinc 
 whites are more permanent than the lead whites 
 alone. 
 
 Silver White, French White or Blanc d'Argent 
 is a carbonate of lead produced by precipitation, it 
 has less body than flake white, but is otherwise 
 similar to it in characteristics. 
 
 Zinc White is oxide of zinc ; it is slightly bluish, 
 and somewhat destitute of body compared with flake 
 white. It is rather slow to dry, but is perfectly 
 permanent under all conditions. 
 
 Chinese White is also another white obtained 
 from zinc, but is only useful in water colour. 
 
 Permanent White, or Baryta White, is precipi- 
 tated sulphate of barium. It is perfectly innocuous, 
 but it has no body in oil and therefore only suited 
 for water-colour, but even then it is objectionable, 
 since when wet it is denser than when dry. 
 
 Permanent Flake White is Messrs. Freeman's 
 " non-poisonous white lead," introduced to artists 
 under the above name. It is essentially sulphate 
 of lead which is unaffected in mixtures, &c. It is 
 prepared by a special process in conjunction with 
 oxide of zinc which gives it great body, although 
 sulphate of lead by itself has no body. 
 
2 9 
 
 RED PIGMENTS. 
 
 In the reds there are a great variety of hues, 
 some of the most brilliant and transparent of colours, 
 as the madder lakes, and some of the most sombre, 
 as light red, whilst the brightest, vermilion, stands 
 unrivalled. 
 
 Vermilion. — This pigment is one of the ancient 
 colours, it was known in very early times as cinnabar, 
 and is pure sulphide of mercury. Sulphide of mer- 
 cury is of two kinds, the black, amorphous variety, 
 known in pharmacy as cetliiops mineralis, and the 
 crystalline variety which we know as vermilion. 
 This name is generally given to the factitious or 
 artificial variety, whereas the native red pigment is 
 commonly called cinnabar. Messrs. Russell and 
 Abney have established the fact that the modern 
 vermilion (in water-colour) darkens and even blackens 
 on exposure in air to sunlight, &c, but we have 
 examples of paintings in the National Gallery, 
 which were painted some hundreds of years ago, 
 wherein the vermilion is as bright as any freshly 
 ground modern pigment. The cause of this is 
 perhaps due to the use of native cinnabar by the 
 old painters. 
 
 The artificial vermilions are usually produced by 
 sublimation known as the dry way, although much 
 of this pigment is produced by precipitation or the 
 
wet way ; the former method, however, produces the 
 most permanent colour. The vermilion made in 
 China, or by the Chinese method, is usually the best 
 in all respects, its hue being more of a crimson, 
 whereas the European made vermilion has a tinge 
 of orange; these variations afford several well 
 marked tones of this colour. 
 
 This pigment is useful in oil, water, or fresco, but 
 since it is volatile at a fierce heat it is inadmissible 
 in enamel. It has great body, opacity, and weight, 
 the latter quality renders it very liable to sink away 
 from the vehicle incorporated with it. It dries 
 somewhat slowly. In brilliancy of colour vermilion 
 is equalled only by the fugitive iodide of mercury, 
 &c, " pure scarlet." 
 
 Extract of Vermilion and Scarlet Vermilion 
 are synonymous terms for a vermilion possessing 
 a scarlet hue, but 
 
 Orange Vermilion inclines to a bright red 
 orange. 
 
 Field's Orange Vermilion is not so opaque as 
 the last mentioned and is purer in tone. 
 
 On Vermilions in General. — In water-colour the 
 vermilions arc liable to wash up, but in oils they 
 cannot do this, and therefore are serviceable in 
 scumbling and for being glazed over with lakes 
 in the production of rich crimson draperies, &c. 
 Vermilion with whites gives very charming flesh 
 
3* 
 
 carnations. Chinese vermilion will be found the 
 safest for use. In glazing of the lakes the madders 
 only should be used, as the cochineal lakes over this 
 pigment are changed in hue. 
 
 Pure Scarlet, or iodide of mercury, is so fugitive 
 that ordinary candle light will cause it to alter its 
 hue. It is therefore useless to the artist. 
 
 Light Red is an ochre, i.e., oxide of iron on an 
 earthy base of silica and alumina. It is of an 
 orange-russet red and perfectly permanent, useful 
 in landscape painting and in mixtures. Being an 
 oxide of iron it dries well in oil. It is prepared 
 artificially by calcining yellow ochre. 
 
 Venetian Red is also an oxide of iron but of a 
 brighter red hue than the above. It is usually pre- 
 pared artificially for commercial use by fusing 
 ferrous sulphate and plaster of Paris together, but 
 the finest hues are produced without an admixture 
 of lime salts. It is permanent, of good body and 
 drying power, and is useful in tints, and with blues 
 to form greys. 
 
 Indian Red is another oxide of iron, but of a 
 purplish-red tone ; this tone is due to the presence 
 of a lower oxide of iron combined mechanically 
 with the sesqui-oxide of iron, which is of a brighter 
 red hue. This pigment is permanent in oils, but 
 it has been found in mixtures with the vegetable 
 indigo blue to stand alone after some time, the blue 
 
32 
 
 having disappeared. This may be accounted for 
 in two ways ; either by the action of light and air 
 on the indigo, causing it to be converted into the 
 white variety of indigo, or even by the tendency of 
 the lower (purple) oxide of iron, present in the 
 Indian red, to absorb oxygen, indirectly bringing 
 about the oxidation of the indigo, when the same 
 white product is the result, and as a consequence 
 only the red hue of the iron pigment remains visible 
 of the mixture. 
 
 Mars Red is an artificial iron ochre more 
 chemically active than the native ochres. 
 
 Red Ochre is a very ancient pigment ; it is a 
 native red earth, and possesses a more ochreous or 
 sombre hue than light red. 
 
 Red Chrome is a basic chromate of lead, and 
 being particularly rich in the metal, it is not 
 permanent under the action of sulphurous fumes 
 or deoxidizing agents. 
 
 The Cochineal Lakes are the product from 
 precipitating the colouring matter inherent in the 
 coccus cacti insect on a base of clay or alumina. 
 
 Experiments have proved these colours to be 
 fugitive in water and oil, Sir J. Reynolds' paintings 
 sufficiently confirm their want of durability in oil. 
 
 Carmine is the most permanent of the cochineal 
 lakes. It is a colour of wonderful richness and 
 brilliancy. 
 
33 
 
 Crimson Lake is a similar colour, with a slight 
 inclination to violet in tint. 
 
 Scarlet Lake is crimson lake and vermilion ; it 
 is less permanent than the other two. 
 
 These two colours have hitherto been used in oil 
 for glazing, they are pleasant to use, they will not 
 stand the action of light, and are not permanent 
 in combination with white lead. 
 
 Permanent Crimson. — This is a colour of recent 
 introduction ; it is a preparation of alizarin, and 
 partakes of the nature of the cochineal lakes in 
 point of hue, but differs from them in its character of 
 permanency. It is impervious to the action of light 
 and other agencies, and may be used in mixtures. 
 This colour is considered to be one of the greatest 
 acquisitions to the modern painter's palette. 
 
 The Madder Lakes are the most permanent of 
 the rich red lakes. These pigments are obtained 
 by precipitating colouring matter extracted from 
 the root of the rubia tinctorum plant on an 
 aluminium or tin base ; usually the former. 
 
 Madder Carmine is the richest of the lakes, and 
 is the only durable carmine (comparatively) on the 
 palette of the aquarellist or painter in oils. It 
 gives splendid washes. 
 
 Rose Madder is not so intense as the above, 
 and washes, if anything, better ; it gives the most 
 perfect carnation tints. 
 
 C 
 
34 
 
 Pink Madder and Madder Lake are other 
 names for varieties of the above lakes. 
 
 All the madder lakes dry slowly in oil ; it is 
 probable that the aluminium base does not take 
 kindly to the oil. 
 
 Indian Lake is obtained from a resinous secre- 
 tion found in certain plants in India. It is a deep, 
 transparent, rich lake, but unfortunately is not 
 permanent for any length of time. 
 
 BROWNS AND OCHRES. 
 
 Yellow Ochre is the first, because it is so per- 
 manent and extensively used. The ochres are 
 found native, although many are artificially pre- 
 pared for the artist's use. Chemically considered, 
 the ochre is a mixture of silica, alumina, and 
 oxide of iron ; and the tones given to the ochres 
 depend on the amount of iron oxide present. In 
 many cases the iron is not a pure oxide (i.e., a 
 simple combination of iron and oxygen), but an 
 iron hydrated oxide, that is, containing a certain 
 proportion of water, and as such it is a mixture 
 of iron, oxygen, and hydrogen. The water, 
 however, can be expelled by heat, leaving the 
 oxide pure. In the case of a darker red ochre, 
 the oxide of iron is sometimes as much as yo 
 parts by weight in ioo of the ochre, and the water 
 
35 
 
 varies from 10 to 30 parts in the 100 of ochre. 
 Yellow ochre, to be used as an oil colour, should 
 have the water expelled, because, as the paint 
 dries, the oxygen in the ochre helps to harden 
 the oil by parting with oxygen thereto in a 
 manner which the limits of our space do not 
 permit us to discuss ; this is the reason why 
 ochres and oxides are such good drying paints. 
 Now if the water were not previously expelled, 
 during this passage of oxygen to the oil, some 
 of the contained water in the ochre would be set 
 free, and so hinder the drying process of the oil. 
 The experiences of painters and chemists 'prove 
 that yellow ochre is permanent under all condi- 
 tions. It is useful in mixtures for all kinds of 
 painting, flesh, landscape, &c. 
 
 Native and Roman Ochres, Burnt and Brown 
 Ochres, Transparent Golden Ochre, are only 
 fanciful names for diverse varieties of yellow ochre, 
 the tints and methods of production varying. 
 They are all permanent oxides of iron. 
 
 Raw Sienna is also a pigment that owes its 
 colour chiefly to oxide of iron, it is a native earth. 
 
 Burnt Sienna is the same pigment calcined, 
 which process converts the hue into a reddish 
 brown of a transparent nature. 
 
 Vandyke Brown is another brown earth of a 
 fine, bright, brown hue. 
 
 C 2 
 
& 
 
 Cassel Brown and Earths differ from it only 
 in the differences of tint and name. 
 
 Indian Brown and Cologne Earth are also 
 brown, earthy oxides useful in some cases. 
 
 Manganese Brown is a hydrated oxide of 
 manganese prepared artificially. It is a rich, dark, 
 permanent brown. 
 
 Cappah Brown is a combination of oxides of 
 iron and manganese ; it is a dark brown of the 
 umber class with good body, and is fairly per- 
 manent. 
 
 Verona Brown is obtained by calcining the 
 native earth — terre verte ; it consists chiefly of mag- 
 nesium silicate coloured with oxide of iron. It is 
 fairly permanent in oil colour. 
 
 Raw Umber is a compound of iron and man- 
 ganese silicate, and 
 
 Burnt Umber is the same variety calcined. The 
 first is a brown, and the latter has a ruddier tinge. 
 Both are practically permanent in oils. 
 
 Caledonian Brown is a useful colour made by 
 mixing two brown earths and is therefore reliable. 
 
 Bone Brown and Mummy are of organic origin. 
 The first being produced by the calcination of 
 bones by a particular process, so as not to char them, 
 while the latter pigment is actually the ground-up 
 body of a mummy, it is best avoided. Both are 
 bad driers in oil. 
 
37 
 
 Brown Madder has been proved to be imper- 
 manent by the official trials. It is a rich, reddish 
 brown of a transparent colour and very useful, 
 having good body and working well. The artist 
 can, however, dispense with its use, as a similar 
 colour can be made with a mixture of permanent 
 crimson, burnt sienna, and a little French ultra- 
 marine. 
 
 Brown Pink and Italian Pink are pigments of 
 an entirely different hue, being obtained from the 
 quercus nigra (quercitron) bark. They are trans- 
 parent lakes and lack permanence. 
 
 Yellow Lake is another colour of vegetable ex- 
 traction possessing a slightly greenish tone. It 
 has no permanence. 
 
 Asphaltum and Bitumen are also pigments — 
 natural pitches— that while unchangeable as regards 
 their hue, possess physical drawbacks, being affected 
 by increase of temperature, so much so as to cause 
 the colour to move on the canvas, which renders 
 them very undesirable pigments to use. We have, 
 in the National Gallery, examples of the use of 
 this colour in paintings executed by Sir David 
 Wilkic and Sir William Boxall, which should be 
 sufficient warning against the employment of these 
 pigments. 
 
38 
 
 From the above it will be seen that the palette 
 is rich in browns, but some of the most pleasing 
 are of organic origin and not permanent ; these 
 should be avoided. 
 
 YELLOWS. 
 
 Lemon Yellow is a pale yellow approaching to 
 that of the primrose. It has a slight greenish 
 tinge, and forms excellent greens with Prussian 
 blue. The chromates of lead, zinc, strontium, and 
 barium, are all sold under the name of lemon 
 yellow, but the true pigment should be compounded 
 of the barium salt as it is the only one really per- 
 manent. 
 
 Strontium Yellow is a chromate of strontium, 
 it has less body and is more brilliant than lemon 
 yellow, but inferior in permanency. 
 
 King's Yellow or Orpiment is one of the most 
 ancient pigments. It is a sulphide of arsenic and 
 a deadly poison, most^ attractive in hue but very 
 treacherous as regards permanency. It only finds 
 a place here as a pigment to be rigorously 
 banished from the artist's palette. 
 
 Platinum Yellow more often than not is a 
 compounded yellow containing no platinum what- 
 ever. It blackens on exposure. 
 
39 
 
 Cadmium Yellow (Pale) is a sulphide of cad- 
 mium, and, on account of the sulphur in its com- 
 position it is not permanent in mixtures that are 
 affected by sulphur (lead chromes, white lead, &c). 
 It is of rich primrose hue and good body, but not 
 reliable in water or oil. 
 
 Cadmium Yellow (Middle) is a deeper variety — 
 also a sulphide of this metal — of a rich yellow and 
 more permanent than the paler tones. 
 
 Cadmium Orange (Deep) is of an orange hue 
 of the same composition. It is of greater per- 
 manence, but not thoroughly so. 
 
 Radiant Yellow is a speciality of Messrs. Reeves 
 and Sons. It is a cadmium sulphide free from all 
 traces of impurity. The colour is a rich, luminous 
 yellow, so little liable to change as to be practically 
 permanent. The body and working qualities are 
 excellent. 
 
 Chrome Yellow (Pale) is a chromate of lead 
 and other lead salts of a lemon hue, with good 
 covering power but not permanent. 
 
 Chrome Yellows, Middle and Deep, and Orange 
 are similar gradations to the cadmium yellow ; these 
 chromates of lead are liable to be decomposed by 
 chemical reactions occuring in mixtures, but when 
 locked up in an oleoresinous vehicle the writer 
 believes they would be thoroughly permanent 
 under all conditions. Experiments have estab- 
 
40 
 
 lished the fact that these lead chromes are 
 permanent and suffer no change when used as 
 water-colours, if used as an oil colour they should 
 be still more permanent, and no doubt would be, 
 were it not for the process of saponification that 
 takes place between the oil vehicle and the lead 
 base. A quick drying oleoresinous medium would 
 prevent this saponification, and so render these 
 splendid and useful yellows permanent. They pos- 
 sess excellent body, work well, but are somewhat 
 lacking in the softness of hue of the cadmium 
 yellows. 
 
 Aureolin is a yellow of a golden hue ; it is a com- 
 plex composition of the nitrites of cobalt and 
 potassium, it may be considered permanent, and 
 is generally useful in oils, being a very trans- 
 parent pigment and safer than gamboge or Indian 
 yellow. 
 
 Gamboge is a species of resinous matter, more 
 useful in water than oils, and permanent in washes. 
 
 Indian Yellow is purely an organic pigment, 
 and although a rich, transparent yellow, is not 
 permanent. 
 
 Naples Yellows are yellows of a peculiar tone, 
 varying in intensity. They are very useful in flesh 
 painting, and for skies, and their body or opacity 
 render them otherwise of great service to the artist. 
 The true Naples yellows are composed of lead 
 
41 
 
 antimoniate, but as this salt is so easily blackened 
 by impure air, a mixture of cadmium yellow and 
 zinc white is now almost invariably substituted. 
 This latter combination is practically permanent. 
 
 GREENS. 
 
 There are a large number of greens, some of 
 very beautiful tones, but for the most part they 
 are unstable. 
 
 Emerald Green is the lightest and most brilliant, 
 but it is not permanent in mixtures, and is too 
 vivid for extensive use : chemically it is com- 
 pounded of arsenic, copper, and acetic acid ; it has 
 very little density or covering power. 
 
 Mineral Green is also another compound of 
 copper and arsenic, it differs in hue, however, in 
 being a dark bluish tone. It is probably imper- 
 manent. 
 
 Malachite Green is obtained from a copper 
 mineral — malachite — it is of a bluish green colour, 
 liable to change on exposure to light, air, and on 
 admixture with cadmium yellow, &c, whether 
 used in oil or water. If very carefully prepared ex- 
 perience has proved it to be permanent in oil. 
 
 Verdigris is a compound of acetic acid and 
 copper, and is still more fugitive and liable to 
 change than those greens first mentioned. 
 
42 
 
 Olive Green is a mixture of yellow and blue 
 pigments, and hence not to be depended on. 
 
 Olive Lake is another similar mixture, and has 
 the same defects. 
 
 Sap Green is now compounded of yellow and 
 blue pigments, but was originally of organic origin. 
 It is not to be depended on for permanence. 
 
 Chrome Greens are mixtures of chromate of 
 lead and Prussian blue. The greens are of good 
 colour, but the mixture of these two pigments is 
 one not conducive to stability. 
 
 Cobalt Green is a compound of oxides of cobalt 
 and zinc. In colour it ranges from a yellowish to 
 a bluish green, the latter variety being the most 
 permanent. It works well and is a particularly 
 useful colour in oil. 
 
 Green Oxide of Chromium is of a sage green 
 hue, it is practically unalterable under all condi- 
 tions, being produced by the fusing of its compo- 
 nents it will stand the fiercest heat unchanged. 
 Possessing a good body and working well, it makes 
 agreeable tints with white. 
 
 Veronese Green or Viridian is a brilliant 
 hydrated oxide of chromium of an emerald hue, 
 and very transparent, but inclining rather to blue. 
 It is perfectly permanent and particularly com- 
 mended for use, it is known in France as Vert 
 Emeraude. 
 
43 
 
 Terre Verte is a sober green earth or ochre, 
 thoroughly permanent and very useful. 
 
 The only really permanent greens are the last 
 three. Blue and yellow pigments form good green 
 hues, but such mixtures cannot be depended on 
 for remaining unchanged, since the chemical re- 
 action that is set up engenders change sooner or 
 later. 
 
 BLUES. 
 
 Prussian Blue, Chinese Blue, and Antwerp 
 Blue are cyanides of iron chiefly. The first when 
 well made (and the writer has produced this colour 
 by thirty-nine different processes) is safe to use 
 alone in oil. It has a very powerful tinging colour, 
 appearing almost black in a deep layer. The 
 second of these blues differs only in name from the 
 first and in mode of preparation ; while the last of 
 the three is distinguished by having a greenish 
 tinge, which the writer considers an accidental 
 property due to the superabundance of ferro-cyanide 
 of potassium, or to the presence of bichromate of 
 potash as an oxidizing agent in the process of 
 manufacture. 
 
 Indigo is a vegetable blue, being obtained by 
 macerating the Indigofera plant in water. It is a 
 deep, dark, blackish-toned blue, but fades under 
 
44 
 
 exposure to light, and in conjunction with many of 
 the chemical pigments. It gives very good greys 
 with red, and is otherwise a useful colour. 
 
 Intense Blue is a deeper toned variety of the 
 last mentioned pigment, but like that one it is not 
 permanent. 
 
 Cobalt Blue is a combination of a salt of the 
 metal cobalt with alumina. It is a light blue, 
 totally unlike the other blues of the palette ; it 
 works somewhat unevenly, but is thoroughly 
 reliable, and is most useful for skies and greys. 
 
 Azure Blue is a lighter variety of the cobalt 
 blue. 
 
 Smalt also owes its colour to cobalt ; but 
 although it is a vitreous compound it is hardly 
 considered permanent, and is unpleasant to work. 
 
 Cyanine, or Leitch's Blue, is a mixture of 
 cobalt and Prussian blues partaking of the hues 
 of each ; it is only permanent in respect of the 
 cobalt colour of the mixture. 
 
 Ultramarine Blue is most permanent under 
 all conditions to which a painting is submitted. 
 It is the most beautiful and brilliant blue, but 
 somewhat uneven in its working qualities. The 
 genuine variety is made from a rare mineral 
 called lapis lazuli, and is obtained only after 
 an elaborate operation ; consequently, its price 
 is almost prohibitory. 
 
45 
 
 French Ultramarine is factitious, or artificial 
 ultramarine, made by chemical means, and pos- 
 sessing all the good qualities of the genuine 
 pigment ; both native and artificial products are 
 permanent alone, and in mixtures, but only the 
 best of the artificial varieties should be used, as 
 inferior specimens are liable to contain superfluous 
 sulphur, which would react chemically on many 
 other pigments. 
 
 Permanent Blue, New Blue, French Blue, 
 are only varieties of the last-mentioned. 
 
 Ultramarine Ash is a useful pigment ; made 
 from the refuse after making the genuine blue 
 pigment. 
 
 Permanent Mauve is a violet toned variety of 
 French ultramarine, it is believed to be equally 
 stable. 
 
 Coelin Blue, or Coeruleum, is a combination 
 of the oxides of cobalt and tin with silica. It is 
 a semi-opaque, greenish-blue, and is practically 
 permanent 
 
 GRAYS AND BLACKS. 
 
 Neutral Tint is a compound colour of no per- 
 manence. 
 Payne's Grey is also a mixture which suffers 
 
4 6 
 
 under the same disadvantage of instability under 
 exposure. 
 
 Mineral Grey is extracted from lapis lazuli, 
 being the residue of the colouring matter obtained 
 in the preparation of ultramarine ash, and is equally 
 permanent. It is particularly useful in oil. 
 
 Lamp Black is the soot of resinous matters, 
 and consists chiefly of carbon ; it is, of course, 
 permanent, but dries badly in oil. 
 
 Ivory Black is calcined ivory, ground, and 
 mixed as a paint ; it is a bad drier. Its com- 
 position being mostly carbon it is perfectly 
 permanent, and is indispensible in oil painting. 
 
 Blue Black, prepared from wood charcoal, is 
 also a bad drier, but otherwise a good pigment 
 to use. 
 
 Black Lead is a permanent pigment, of a dull 
 black hue ; it is prepared from carbon in the form 
 of graphite, and therefore absolutely permanent. 
 
47 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 MODERN METHODS OF PAINTING; AND 
 
 PALETTES OF REPRESENTATIVE 
 
 PAINTERS, WITH DEDUCTIONS 
 
 THEREFROM, AND AN 
 
 IDEAL PALETTE. 
 
 The use of a varnish vehicle by the old masters 
 in painting, produced a compound that did not 
 become decomposed, whereas modern painters, 
 instead of keeping to such simple vehicles, in- 
 discriminately mix whatever pigments will combine 
 to produce the hue they wish ; and, as if still 
 further to sow the seeds of decay, they employ 
 some nostrum or pernicious vehicle that will 
 bring the mixture into the desired consistence, 
 recklessly regardless of what chemical changes 
 are engendered thereby. There could be nothing 
 more destructive in painting than to incorporate 
 megilp, a compound into which lead enters with a 
 
4 8 
 
 pigment in which sulphur is present ; and yet this 
 and many other bad mixtures are made by the 
 modern painter, because the artist only thereby 
 attains the effects of colouring desired, and so is 
 content to leave the stability of the painting to be 
 discovered after his departure from this world. We 
 could almost wish that their sins could be found 
 out while they yet live, to be a vivid witness 
 against their reckless daring. 
 
 The great fault of modern painters is in using 
 too many colours in a mixture ; the fewer colours 
 employed the better. By this we do not wish to 
 limit the palette to half-a-dozen colours, but what 
 we would advise is the avoidance of commingling 
 four, five, or more pigments in one mixture for 
 the production of some bizarre hue. 
 
 It will be seen on referring to the section on the 
 composition and nature of pigments that they are 
 salts of various kinds from a great variety of metals, 
 besides being extracts from vegetables, insects, 
 &c. Common sense tells us that a mixture of 
 oil, vinegar, water, and sugar, would be anything 
 but agreeable to the digestion ; and so we should 
 use similar judgment when laying the palette. 
 
 A sulphide, oxide, carbonate, and cyanide of as 
 many different metals cannot reasonably be 
 expected to form a mixture free from disagreeable 
 consequences chemically ; nevertheless, this is 
 
49 
 
 what is too frequently done by the modern 
 painter, so that he obtains some uncommon 
 effect, not easily obtainable by his fellow-painters 
 and he is satisfied. The seeds of decay are thus 
 sown ; and as if to hasten the destructive process, 
 vehicles and mediums of the most fanciful and 
 useless kind are employed. 
 
 Looked at artistically, such heterogeneous 
 mixtures are wrong, the colours lose their sweet- 
 ness, and the painting its clearness, so that the 
 result produces a depressing effect of muddy paint 
 as the only object before our vision. The pig- 
 ments have been muddled out of recognition ; and 
 yet, whatever we turn to in Nature, we find the 
 colouring of the purest, brightest, and most 
 exhilarating kind. 
 
 Palette of W. Etty, R.A.— This well-known 
 exponent of figure-painting always believed in 
 using a small number of colours, and especially 
 a few at the same time. At one period of his 
 painting he thought it best to use one colour 
 at a time for painting flesh — or at the most two — 
 letting each layer of colour be seen through. In 
 the first setting he would use yellow ochre or 
 lake to put in the outline with, and in the second 
 setting he would use black and white, with 
 a little red, preferably Indian red. The shades 
 
 D 
 
5o 
 
 he would lay in with black and red, totally ex- 
 cluding white from them. These shades he would 
 paint redder than he saw them, so that by 
 scumbling afterwards they would be lowered 
 to the proper tone ; as the form took shape he 
 would use white and red towards the high lights. 
 In his earlier style he painted all his half tones 
 smooth, but the high lights thickly. Much of 
 his first painting was afterwards hidden by re- 
 painting. 
 
 Later, however, he discovered a — to him — new 
 effect ; he made a flesh tint of Indian red and 
 white, which, when painted directly on a prepared 
 millboard, emitted a lustre from the light of the 
 white ground behind it, a lustre which Etty 
 deemed very desirable to preserve. Thus for- 
 saking his former method Etty adopted what 
 we may term his second style of practice, viz., 
 painting in the figure with solid white and Indian 
 red to begin with, then allowing the paint to 
 become dry, he would varnish it with copal until he 
 brought it to the tint he wanted, and when the 
 glazing was done he would scumble on the bloom 
 by painting so lightly with opaque colours as to 
 render them semi-transparent. When this, in its 
 turn, was dry, the shadows were glazed in and the 
 lights touched on lightly. 
 
 As a ground colour, Etty would sometimes lay 
 
5i 
 
 on raw umber, and paint into this while wet ; and 
 in one instance, that of laying in the lights and 
 shadows of the Siren, he employed tempera. 
 
 When at the Academy Life School, Etty would 
 draw in the outlines of his subject with charcoal, 
 then go over this with pen and ink, and afterwards 
 rub in, with his usual vehicle, a little asphaltum 
 over his millboard, touching in the shadows trans- 
 parently in masses ; he then began to paint in 
 the lights, dragging their edges with a free hand 
 into the shadows. 
 
 The special vehicle which Etty affected was 
 raw linseed oil, to which was added a little 
 sugar of lead and a few drops of turpentine ; 
 or else he would compound a vehicle of one part 
 saturated sugar of lead, one part mastic varnish, 
 and one of linseed oil ; sometimes he added a 
 few drops of turpentine. In fact all kinds of 
 vehicles, including wax, were used by him. 
 
 In advice to a correspondent, Etty recommends 
 the use of few colours at the same time, giving the 
 following list as forming a good palette : — Naples 
 yellow, light red, Indian red, vermilion, lake, lerre 
 verte, blue, raw umber, burnt umber, black. 
 
 From the above list we notice the omission 
 of a brilliant yellow, and are also left in doubt 
 as to what blue was recommended. 
 
 In the same letter Etty gives the following 
 
 D 2 
 
52 
 
 recipe for a medium: — "A little sugar of lead, 
 " finely ground, about the size of a bean, rubbed 
 " up with your palette knife in a teaspoonful of 
 " mastic varnish ; add to this two spoonsful of 
 " cold drawn linseed oil, and mix them well to- 
 " gether ; if you like, add a little spirits of turps, 
 " as much or as little as you please, and with a 
 " large brush rub over the canvas a portion you 
 " have to put on." 
 
 As regards his canvasses, they were prepared 
 for Etty with a rough, absorbent ground ; and 
 he often began his pictures in water-colours, 
 especially so his draperies, &c, which he fixed 
 to the canvas by glazing before proceeding to 
 the regular work of oil painting. 
 
 Etty's Method and Palette scientifically con- 
 sidered. — If we are to take it for granted that the 
 palette Etty recommended to a correspondent as 
 containing the colours which he used himself, we 
 have very little fault to find with it from a chemical 
 point of view. The only doubtful colours being the 
 Naples yellow and lake. All the others, excepting 
 vermilion, are absolutely permanent, but only the 
 vermilion suffers change when in strong layers ; in 
 the small amount of it used by this painter we can 
 see little cause to fear the stability of the hue pro- 
 duced in its use as a compound in a flesh tint. 
 When, however, flake white is mixed with it, the two 
 
53 
 
 bodies are disintegrated, and we might therefore 
 look for a change of hue to a leaden tone. But the 
 Naples yellow with white lead, or the pernicious 
 compound used by Etty as a vehicle, would produce 
 disastrous changes of hue in time. Their chemicai 
 changes, perhaps, would to a great extent be pre- 
 vented by the layer of copal varnish laid over the 
 first coat of colour. Sugar of lead employed in a 
 painting sows the seeds of most chemical mischief, 
 both as regards the pigment and the vehicle 
 used. 
 
 The Palette of J. A. Storey. — Ivory black, Van- 
 dyke brown, raw umber, brown pink, madder brown, 
 burnt sienna, Antwerp blue, cobalt, emerald green, 
 Indian red, light red, madder lake, extract of vermi- 
 lion, gold ochre, raw sienna, yellow ochre, Naples 
 yellow, lemon yellow, light Mars orange, flake white. 
 
 About this palette of colours, Mr. Storey says, 
 " If I want blue, for instance, I take some Antwerp 
 " blue and white, and when it is too crude I take 
 " some black, if it is not purple enough I take lake, 
 " &c, so one colour counteracts another or modifies 
 " it, and although the number of different tints or 
 " shades is infinite, this method of producing them 
 " is the simplest in the world." 
 
 The medium used by Mr. Storey was cold 
 drawn linseed oil, scarcely any other vehicle being 
 employed by him ; but sometimes he has used 
 
54 
 
 copal ; for sketching in his pictures raw umber and 
 oil of turpentine were used. 
 
 Although Mr. Storey's mode of producing tints 
 " is the simplest in the world," we have in such 
 method of mixing one that could not be more 
 heterogeneous unless the full stock of an artist's 
 colour shop was included. Light and yet more 
 light regarding the chemical qualities is certainly 
 wanted with such a palette and such a method of 
 mixture ! 
 
 The strangest thing about it is that although Mr. 
 Storey was methodical in always arranging his 
 palette in the order given, beginning with black on 
 the left of the palette, yet he pursued an almost 
 indiscriminate method of mixing the colours, the 
 like of which we should advise artists to strictly 
 avoid. 
 
 Chemically considered the above palette is made 
 up as follows : — Vandyke brown is a pigment which 
 owes its colour chiefly to oxide of iron, razv umber 
 and raw sienna are mixtures of oxide of iron and 
 manganese, burnt sienna is an earthy oxide ren- 
 dered still more active by calcination. Indian red 
 and light red are two different oxides of iron, while 
 gold ochre and yelloiv ochre are hydrated oxides of 
 iron that contain potash and alumina in their com- 
 position. Naples yellow is a compound mixture of 
 two metallic salts, and lemon yellow is either a 
 
55 
 
 chromate of barium or else a mixture of sulphate 
 and chromate of lead combined with other bodies. 
 Light Mars orange is an artificial ochre, flake white 
 is a mixture of carbonate and hydrate of lead, while 
 ivory black is essentially a mass of carbon intimately 
 combined with tarry matter. Cobalt is a silicate or 
 phosphate of cobalt. Antwerp bine a cyanide of 
 iron and potassium. Emerald green is a compound 
 of copper and arsenic, and brown pink, madder 
 brown and madder lake owe their origin to a vege- 
 table source, and, finally, extract of vermilion is a 
 sophisticated sulphide of mercury. Surely this is 
 a representative palette of all the colours found in 
 an artist's repository ; we cannot conceive of any 
 mixture made with any of these colours that would 
 not be antagonistic. To attempt to depict the 
 chemical reactions that would be likely to occur 
 would be an endless task, especially as Mr. Storey 
 follows such a careless way of compounding his 
 tints. 
 
 H. W. B. Davis' Palette.— This painter lays 
 his palette as follows : — Flake white, light Naples 
 yelloiv, lemon yellow, cadmium pale, medium, and 
 d?ep ; Indian yellow, yellow ochre, golden ochre, 
 vermilion, rose madder, best crimson lake or carmine, 
 cobalt blue, French ultramarine, madder brown 
 (sometimes used), burnt lake, light red, Indian red 
 (sometimes used), raw sienna, burnt sienna, raw 
 
56 
 
 umber, burnt umber, Vandyke brown, ivory black 
 (or some other black), terre verte. 
 
 Mr. Davis, replying to a correspondent regarding 
 the colours used, speaks well in favour of cadmium, 
 of which he is enamoured, but, as regards one 
 mixture he at one time made, he found that the 
 cadmium was an unsafe one, thus to quote Mr 
 Davis : " I recollect some years ago discovering 
 "that cadmium turned black in conjunction with 
 " emerald green, but inasmuch as I have, so to say, 
 " discarded the latter from my list of colours, the 
 " list does not hold good." It would be interesting 
 to know at what time this discarding of emerald 
 green took place. The writer has observed in one 
 picture (" The Return to the Fold ") that the glint 
 of the setting sun has darkened considerably during 
 the last ten years, whilst in some places patches 
 of a faint pink and a sapphire bluish-green appear 
 in the sky, an evening effect which the artist seems 
 to have attained by scumbling over a layer of 
 cadmium yellow. 
 
 As regards the above mixture of cadmium and 
 emerald green, it certainly is a most dangerous 
 one to make. Emerald green is never safe, unless 
 locked up by itself in a quick drying varnish, as it 
 is so readily decomposed, the copper compound of 
 it being easily affected by the presence of sulphur, 
 which is an essential ingredient of the cadmium 
 
57 
 
 yellows. The darkening that occurs in the mix- 
 ture of cadmium and emerald green is due to the 
 production of black sulphide of copper. 
 
 If we classify Mr. Davis' palette according to the 
 chemical compounds we shall have, as oxides (of 
 iron) light red, Venetian red, Indian red ; {earthy) 
 yellow ochre, golden ochre, raw sienna, burnt 
 sienna, raw umber, burnt umber, Vandyke brown. 
 
 Sulphides (of cadmmm), pale, medium, and deep 
 cadmium yellows ; (of mercury) vermilion. 
 
 CJiromates (of lead or barium), lemon yellow. 
 
 Compound colours (mixtures of metallic salts), 
 flake white, light Naples yellow, cobalt blue, 
 French ultramarine, Antwerp blue, terre verte ; 
 (of organic origin) Indian yellow, rose madder, 
 crimson lake, madder brown, ivory black. 
 
 Out of the above list the following are the 
 colours that cannot be depended upon for dura- 
 bility. The cadmiums, vermilion, flake white, 
 Naples yellow, Antwerp blue, Indian yellow, crim- 
 son lake. The rose madder and madder brown 
 are doubtful in permanence when compounded 
 with ivory black, for owing to the bleaching action 
 of this organic black the vegetable colours are 
 liable to lose their colour in time. With regard to 
 vehicles Mr. Davis is of opinion that too much 
 importance is often attached to the subject of 
 mediums, and thinks that it is immaterial what 
 
58 
 
 vehicle is selected by the painter, for he usually 
 employed what medium best suited his manner of 
 painting. This opinion the writer cannot endorse, 
 for even a pigment of unsafe composition can be 
 securely protected from change if properly locked 
 up in a suitable vehicle. In fact, much of the mis- 
 chief of decay in paintings is due to the indiscrimi- 
 nate and reckless choice of vehicles which are em- 
 ployed merely because they suit the painter's tech- 
 nical method. In Mr. Davis' own practice he has 
 sometimes used the tube colours without diluting 
 them with any vehicle, at other times he has used 
 turpentine and even benzine ; the latter fluid he liked 
 because it was less greasy than turpentine, being 
 perfectly volatile, which in Mr. Davis' opinion was 
 an advantage. As a consequence of its volatile 
 nature, this thin fluid has no binding property, but 
 the greasiness of turpentine is due to the small 
 amount of resin, which on evaporation of the spirit 
 is found left behind. When glazing this small 
 quantity of resin has the effect of fixing the colours 
 to the painting ground. Another favourite vehicle 
 of Mr. Davis was the " Siccatif de Haarlem," but 
 he was not content to use even this alone, for he 
 mixed one part with two parts of benzine, and for 
 a flowing vehicle for skies he made a mixture of 
 linseed oil and benzine which enabled him to wash 
 the colours easily without overloading them with oil. 
 
59 
 
 From the great variety of vehicles Mr. Davis 
 used, one is not far wrong in believing that he 
 could never have found a perfect one. Truly a 
 more heterogeneous mixture could not well be 
 used by a single painter. Will his pictures stand ? 
 Time alone can tell. 
 
 The following palettes used by some few R.A.'s 
 and A.R.A.'s will form a representative list of 
 colours used in modern oil painting: — 
 
 Palette of Sir Frederick Leighton, P.R.A. 
 In Landscape - — Ivory black, cappaJi brown (not 
 reliable), burnt sienna, raw sienna, Roman ocJirc, 
 yellow ochre, French Jaune de Naples, aureolin 
 (doubtful) cadmium (liable to darken alone or in 
 mixture). 
 
 For skies : cobalt, pale lemon yellozv, and ver- 
 milion. 
 
 Supplementary colours: deep lemon yelloiv, flake 
 white, vermilion, Venetian and Indian reds, rose 
 madder, cobalt, emerald oxide of chromium (viridian). 
 
 In this palette we find several pigments that 
 are not absolutely reliable. Flake white, with 
 cadmium or vermilion, will certainly darken in 
 time ; and so will the lemon yellow (if lemon 
 chrome) with cadmium or vermilion. 
 
 For Flesh. — Sir Frederick mixes cobalt and 
 emerald oxide of chromium with zvhite in grada- 
 tions. There is nothing to say against this 
 
6o 
 
 mixture ; but in the case of vermilion and lake, 
 which is also mixed with white, there is a decided 
 objection, because lake is liable to be weakened 
 in time by the white, and there is the chance 
 of the sulphide of mercury (vermilion) acting 
 on the carbonate of lead (in flake white) and 
 producing the black sulphide of lead. 
 
 Palette of Vicat Cole, R.A.— Of the following 
 fourteen colours used by this artist, with the 
 exception of the two last, all can be freely mixed 
 together without fear of being decomposed, as 
 they do not act chemically on each other. In 
 fact it is almost a perfect palette as regards 
 permanent colours : — Zinc white, cobalt green, 
 cobalt blue, ultramarine, lemon yellow, yellow 
 ochre, raw sienna, burnt sienna, light red, Indian 
 red, madder lake, rata umber, cadmium yellow, 
 cappah brown. 
 
 Palette of J. C. Hook, R.A. For Figure 
 Painting. — White, Naples yellow (unsafe), yellow 
 ochre, Roman ochre, vermilion (uncertain), Indian 
 red, rose or crimson madder (if of cochineal unsafe), 
 deep lemon yellozv and cobalt mixed, purple madder, 
 cobalt, French ultramarine, Vandyke brozvn, plum- 
 bago. 
 
 For Landscape. — White, Naples yellozv, deep 
 lemon yellozv, yellow ochre, Roman ochre, deep lemon 
 yellozv and ceruleum or cobalt mixed, cobalt, Frencli 
 
6i 
 
 ultramarine, vermilion, Indian red, purple madder 
 (unsafe), Vandyke brown, plumbago, real ultra- 
 marine (exceptional). 
 
 Palette of W. W. Ouless, R.A.— Flake white, 
 lemon yellow (not for flesh), yelloiv ochre, razv sienna, 
 burnt sienna (never for flesh), raw timber, Vandyke 
 brown, ivory black, extract of vermilion (doubtful), 
 ordinary vermilion (not always safe), pink madder 
 (uncertain in its action). Cobalt, French ultramarine 
 (supplementary). 
 
 Palette of Luke Fildes, A.R.A.— Flake white, 
 yellow ochre, Roman ochre, raw sienna, citron yellow, 
 light red, cobalt, ultramarine ash, terre verte, oxide 
 of chromium, brown madder, bitumen (should be 
 rigorously avoided on every palette), Verona brown, 
 ivory or blue black. 
 
 Supplementary colours: yellow lake (most fleet- 
 ing), burnt vermilion (uncertain), rose or carmine 
 madder, raw umber, Caledonian broivn real ultra- 
 marine, emerald green (a most unsafe green). 
 
 Palette of Val Princep, A.R.A.— Flake white, 
 lemon yelloiu, pale cadmium (unsafe), raw sienna, 
 vermilion, rose madder, Indian red, Venetian red, 
 cobalt, Antwerp blue (unsafe), oxide of chromium 
 (supplementary;, Naples yellow (unsafe), French 
 ultramarine. 
 
02 
 
 IDEAL PALETTE OF PERMANENT 
 COLOURS. 
 
 From the foregoing selection of representative 
 palettes, and from what has already been said 
 respecting each colour, we can form an Ideal 
 Artist's Palette of colours, which shall be per- 
 manent, whether used alone or in conjunction 
 one with the other. 
 
 Ideal Palette for Figure Painting. — Cobalt, 
 oxide of chromium, yellow ochre, Roman ochre, burnt 
 sienna, Indian red, French ultramarine, Vandyke 
 brozvn, ivory black, raw umber, raw sienna, lemon 
 yellozv (of barium), Venetian and light reds, zinc 
 zvJiite, permanent crimson and scarlet vermilion. 
 
 Ideal Palette for Landscape. — Ivory black, 
 
 burnt and raw sienna, Roman ochre, yellozv ochre, 
 
 lemon yellozv (of barium), Venetian, Indian, and 
 
 light reds, cobalt, emerald oxide of chromium 
 
 (Viridian), opaque oxide of chromium, FrencJi idtra- 
 
 marine, Vandyke brown, real ultramarine, terre 
 
 vcrte, permanent crimson, Verona brown ; and for 
 
 a bright yellow choose a well-made cadmium 
 
 yellozv (radiant yellow), ground up in a varnish 
 
 vehicle, and avoid using a drying oil, megilp, or 
 
 any vehicle which has been prepared with sulphuric 
 
 acid or salts of lead.* 
 
 * Linseed oil is often rendered drying by means of sulphuric acid 
 which is afterwards washed out of the oil with water or thrown 
 
63 
 
 An oil prepared with acid would react and 
 darken chrome yellow, while sugar of lead would 
 darken cadmium yellows. 
 
 For a bright red, Cliinese vermilion, or cinnabar, 
 ground up in a varnish vehicle should be used. 
 For rose tints and purples the new permanent crim- 
 son will take the place of the lakes and madders ; 
 if mixed with Vandyke brown or with burnt sienna 
 and a dash of ultramarine, the most useful tint of 
 brown madder can easily be matched. 
 
 If such colours as those given in these Ideal 
 Palettes were adhered to, we should certainly 
 expect pictures painted therewith to withstand 
 atmospheric effects and other detrimental causes 
 that impair modern paintings. 
 
 down by a salt of barium, but oil so prepared can seldom be 
 entirely free from impurities. 
 
6 4 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 COMBINATIONS OF COLOURS FOR 
 PRODUCING VARIOUS HUES. 
 
 The following mixtures to produce various hues 
 are such that the components do not chemically 
 react on each other : — 
 
 Brick Colour. — Yellow ochre, light red, and 
 flake white in suitable proportion. 
 
 Bronze Green. — Opaque oxide of chromium, 
 burnt umber, green predominating. 
 
 Brown (ordinary). — Light or Venetian red, black 
 and yellow ochre. 
 
 Canary Yellow. — Flake white and lemon yellow 
 (of barium). 
 
 Carnation Red. — Permanent crimson and zinc 
 white. 
 
 Chestnut Brown.— Light or Venetian red, lamp 
 or ivory black, lemon yellow (of barium). 
 
 Chocolate Brown.— Indian red and black to 
 form a brown, then add yellow ochre and lemon 
 yellow to bring about the desired shade. 
 
65 
 
 
 Citron.— Light red, yellow ochre, cobalt blue in 
 proportion to produce the desired hue. 
 
 Claret Colour. — Indian red and black, or per- 
 manent crimson and ultramarine. 
 
 Clay Drab. — Raw sienna, raw umber, flake 
 white, and a touch of opaque oxide of chromium. 
 
 Copper Red. — Light red, yellow ochre, black. 
 
 Cream Colour. — Flake white, yellow ochre, and 
 light red. 
 
 Deep Buff. — Yellow ochre, flake white, and a 
 little light red. 
 
 Dove Grey. — Light red, flake white, cobalt blue, 
 and yellow ochre. If vermilion be used instead of 
 light red, zinc white should be substituted for flake 
 white. 
 
 Drab (ordinary). — Flake white and a small 
 quantity of burnt umber. 
 
 Fawn Colour. — Flake white, a little of each 
 light red and burnt umber, and a slightly larger 
 quantity of yellow ochre. 
 
 French Grey. — Flake white tinted with ivory 
 black. 
 
 Greens. — Transparent oxide of chromium and 
 radiant yellow for deep, rich greens and russets of 
 Autumn. Transparent oxide and aureolin for the 
 more sunny Autumn greens. Lemon yellow and 
 cobalt blue for the tender greens of Spring. 
 
 Lead Grey. — Flake white, and one-eighth each 
 black and French blue. E 
 
66 
 
 Lemon Yellow. — Lemon yellow with half as 
 much flake white. 
 
 Light Buff. — Yellow ochre and flake white. 
 Lilac. — Venetian red, flake white, and cobalt 
 or French blue or permanent mauve and white. 
 
 Maroon. — Permanent crimson with a little lemon 
 yellow (of barium). 
 
 Oak Wood. — Flake white and an equal part of 
 yellow ochre. 
 
 Olive Green. — Yellow ochre, French blue, and 
 black ; or as shadows to bright and warmish 
 yellow-greens, mix burnt sienna with a little 
 aureolin and French blue. 
 
 Orange. — Aureolin and burnt sienna. This hue 
 is useful for the autumn tints and to mix with 
 the other greens, in order to vary their tone and 
 depth. 
 
 Peach Blossom. — Flake white and equal parts 
 of light red, cobalt blue and lemon yellow (of 
 barium). 
 
 Pea Green. — Flake white, and one-fifth part of 
 opaque oxide of chromium. 
 
 Pearl Grey. — Flake white, black and light red 
 in proportion to suit lustre. 
 
 Plum Colour. — Flake white, Indian red, and 
 French blue. 
 
 Portland Stone Drab.— Raw umber, yellow 
 ochre, flake white. 
 
67 
 
 
 Rose. — Zinc white and permanent white, and 
 permanent crimson. 
 
 Salmon Pink. — Flake white, lemon yellow, and 
 a little burnt umber and Venetian red. 
 
 Snuff Brown. — Yellow ochre and Vandyke 
 brown. 
 
 Stone Drab. — White, yellow ochre and burnt 
 umber. 
 
 Straw Yellow. — Yellow ochre or lemon yellow, 
 flake white, and a little red. 
 
 Tan. — Burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and raw 
 umber. 
 
 Violet. — Similar to lilac, but bluer and redder 
 than purple. 
 
 Willow Green. — Zinc white and verdigris (in 
 varnish vehicle). 
 
 It is next to impossible to give cut and dried 
 quantities of each colour to take in any one mix- 
 ture, because the consistence of the colours in the 
 tubes vary considerably. 
 
 In making experimental blends of colours as 
 given above, the artist will, however, derive a large 
 amount of useful information in compounding per- 
 manent mixtures. 
 
 E 2 
 
68 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 COLOURS AND THEIR COMBINATIONS 
 
 FOR FLESH PAINTING, BACKGROUNDS, 
 
 LANDSCAPES, &c. 
 
 Setting the Palette for Flesh Painting. 
 
 The chief colours from which all tints required 
 for painting flesh are : — 
 
 Flake White should be ground in poppy oil, 
 linseed oil, megilp or ordinary drying oil (prepared 
 with lead), or any colours that contain sulphur in 
 their composition should not be mixed with it* 
 
 Yellow Ochre ground in poppy oil. 
 
 Raw Sienna. 
 
 Light Red. 
 
 Vermilion. 
 
 Permanent Crimson requires drying oil. 
 
 Cobalt. 
 
 * In any case it is better to avoid the use of oils which owe their 
 drying properties to lead salts. Reeves' special drying oil prepared 
 with manganese salts is equally effective and is less likely to be 
 injurious. 
 
6 9 
 
 Burnt Umber. 
 
 Ivory Black requires addition of drying oil. 
 
 Terre Verte. 
 
 Some examples of the tints which may be com- 
 pounded from the above list are : — 
 White, yellow ochre, and a little light" 
 red ... 
 with a dash of yellow ochre )>Lights. 
 yellow ochre, and crimson ... 
 vermilion, and crimson ...J 
 
 cobalt, and light red ...\ Middle 
 
 light red, and terre verte ... J tints. 
 Light red, burnt umber, and a little" 
 
 crimson 
 Terre verte, burnt umber, light red, 
 
 and white ... 
 Raw sienna, crimson and burnt 
 
 umber ... ... ... 
 
 White, black, and cobalt ... . . . ^ 
 
 Raw sienna, burnt umber, and white >Eyes. 
 
 White, cobalt, terre verte, black 1 
 
 Vermilion, crimson, cobalt, and white"! T . 
 
 Crimson and burnt umber ... 1 
 
 Black and burnt sienna 
 „ „ umber 
 
 „ „ sienna, and crimson ^*Hair. 
 
 Raw sienna, crimson, and burnt 
 umber 
 
 )>Shadows. 
 
7o 
 
 Yellow ochre and white 
 Black, white, and cobalt 
 Raw sienna and white, &c. 
 
 Hair. 
 
 Colours and Tints for Backgrounds 
 for Portraits. 
 
 The principal colours required for painting 
 backgrounds, such as walls, buildings, or the 
 like, are white, black, Indian red, yellow and 
 brown ochre, French ultramarine, viridian, and 
 burnt umber. From these colours are compounded 
 the following eight principal tints : — 
 
 Black, white, and a little Indian red. 
 
 Black and white, mixed to a dark lead colour. 
 
 Brown ochre and white. 
 
 Yellow ochre, white ultramarine, and a touch of 
 viridian. 
 
 Indian red and white mixed to a middle tint. 
 
 Indian red and white and a little black mixed 
 to a kind of purple or middle tint. 
 
 White, burnt umber, black, and Indian red. 
 
 Black and Indian red. 
 
 All the colours should be laid with drying oil 
 only, because they mix and set better with the 
 softener. 
 
7i 
 
 Colours and Tints used in Landscapes. 
 
 The principal colours are flake white, yellow 
 ochre, brown ochre, burnt umber, ivory black, blue 
 black {charcoal black}, Prussian blue, ultramarine, 
 cobalt, terre verte, viridian, permanent crimson, 
 India7i red, vermilion, cadmium (radiant yellow), 
 lemon yellozv (of barium), aureolin, raw sienna. 
 
 The principal tints are — 
 
 Yellow ochre and white. 
 
 Yellow ochre, Prussian blue and white. 
 
 Yellow ochre and Prussian blue in two tones, 
 light and dark. 
 
 Terre verte and Prussian blue. 
 
 Brown ochre, ultramarine, and viridian. 
 
 Indian red and white. 
 
 Ivory black, Indian red, and white. 
 
 Aureolin, cobalt, and a little crimson. 
 
 Aureolin and viridian. 
 
 Radiant yellow and viridian. 
 
 Radiant yellow and blue black. 
 
 Crimson, burnt sienna, and a dash of ultramarine, 
 for colour of brown madder. 
 
 Crimson, raw sienna, and ultramarine, for colour 
 of brown pink. 
 
 The principal colours for painting the sky are 
 flake white, ultramarine, cobalt blue, yellow ochre, 
 vermilion, crimson, Indian red. 
 
72 
 
 Some tints are — 
 
 Cobalt and white in different tints. 
 
 Ultramarine and white in different tints. 
 
 Yellow ochre and white. 
 
 Vermilion and white. 
 
 Vermilion, cobalt, and white. 
 
 To the above list the artist will add whatever 
 permanent colours his experience may show him 
 to be necessary. 
 
73 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 PAINTING GROUNDS. 
 
 The Old Masters' painting grounds were formed 
 of calcined sheep's-trotters, pounded and mixed 
 with glue or fish size ; and the remarkable bril- 
 liance of many of the Venetian paintings after 
 several centuries testifies to the excellence of this 
 preparation. In truth it is chemically more per- 
 manent than the modern " prepared canvas," 
 because the ground of the latter material is com- 
 posed of a mixture of linseed oil, white lead, and 
 driers (litharge, or " sugar of lead," &c). These 
 consist of a very pernicious compound to bring 
 into contact with oil colours, because the lead base 
 is liable to react chemically on paints spread over 
 it, and also because it absorbs sulphurous fumes and 
 darkens thereby, which darkening cannot fail to dim 
 the brilliancy of light colours and delicate hues. 
 
 Prepared Canvas, painted with white lead, is so 
 extensively used that some means of knowing how 
 to minimise its injurious reactions is useful to 
 know. 
 
74 
 
 One good method is to paint the back of the 
 prepared canvas with a coat of zinc white in 
 linseed oil or else in white lead, over which 
 another coat of zinc white is laid. A second 
 preventative is to paint over the white lead ground 
 of the canvas with either zinc white or else a thin 
 coat in oil of umber, accordingly whether the 
 painting is to be light or dark in its tone of 
 colouring. Even a coat of linseed oil put on 
 and allowed to dry thoroughly will minimise the 
 evils incidental to painting on a lead ground. 
 
 The practice adopted by some painters of 
 backing their canvasses with prepared canvas 
 reversed, cannot claim to be very effectual in 
 preventing the darkening of the painting ground 
 by absorption of noxious gases ; but an extra 
 backing of canvas is a precaution to be recom- 
 mended against accidental damages. Artists' 
 colourmen would do well to prepare their can- 
 vasses somewhat on the lines of the old Venetian 
 painters. 
 
 Of the colour of painting grounds, we have it on 
 the authority of Mrs. Merrifield, that " One cause 
 " of the purity and beauty of the colours in ancient 
 " paintings is the care with which the grounds 
 " were prepared. When these were not of gold, 
 " they were invariably white ; and we find, from 
 " the work before us, that no pains were spared to 
 
75 
 
 preserve them, pure, clean, and bright ; for on 
 this the success of the painting appeared to 
 depend. ' All they,' says De Piles, the com- 
 mentator on Du Fresnoy's Art of Painting ; 'who 
 have coloured well, have had another maxim 
 to maintain their colours fresh and flourishing, 
 which was to make use of white grounds, upon 
 which they painted, and oftentimes at the first 
 stroke, without retouching anything, and without 
 employing new colours. Rubens always used 
 this way ; and I have seen pictures from the 
 hand of this great person, painted up at once, 
 which were of a wonderful vivacity. The 
 reason why they made use of those kinds of 
 grounds is because white not only preserves 
 a brightness under the transparency of colours, 
 which hinders the air from altering the whiteness 
 of the ground, but also repairs the injury which 
 they receive from the air, so that the ground and 
 colours assist and preserve each other. It is for 
 this reason that glazed colours have a vivacity 
 which can never be imitated by the most lively 
 and most brilliant colours ; because, according 
 to the common way, the different tints are laid 
 on each in its place, one after another. So true 
 is it that white, with other strong colours, with 
 which we paint at once what we intend to glaze, 
 gives life, spirit, and lustre to the work. The 
 
76 
 
 " ancients most certainly found that white grounds 
 " were much the best ; for although they were 
 " conscious of the injury which their eyes received 
 " from that colour, yet they did not forbear the 
 " use of it.' " In his tenth book Of the Use of the 
 Parts, Galen says : " Painters, when they work 
 " upon white grounds, place before them dark 
 " colours, and others, mixed with blue and green, 
 " to refresh their eyes ; because white is a glaring 
 " colour, which wearies and pains the sight more 
 " than any other." 
 
 Panels. — There are many points in favour of 
 painting on wood. Correggio, Rubens, and many 
 of the great masters of the Italian, Flemish, and 
 Dutch schools used this material as a painting- 
 ground after previously preparing the surface with 
 white. 
 
 Pearwood, boxwood, and oak were generally 
 employed for making panels, and for very large 
 ones, the boards were cemented together with a 
 glue made from cheese, that formed the panel into 
 a wide board, as firm as if made out of a solid 
 plank. 
 
 Mahogany is now almost invariably used for 
 panels, but they are not very extensively employed 
 on account of their greater cost compared with 
 other grounds. Unless carefully prepared they are 
 liable to warp or split, but if properly made they 
 
77 
 
 are preferable to any other form of ground for 
 moderate sizes. In order to preserve them flat the 
 wood must in the first instance be very carefully 
 selected, and they should be painted with an equal 
 quantity of colour on both sides. 
 
 Millboards are a modern invention prepared 
 with a surface similar to the panels. 
 
 Academy boards are a cheaper form of mill- 
 board with less preparation and less fine in texture, 
 they are suitable for out-door sketches and studies. 
 They are in every way adapted for the purpose for 
 which they were intended. 
 
 Paper. — Ordinary paper is of course not suited 
 for oil painting, as the oils and vehicles become 
 absorbed, and the paint will not become attached to 
 it. The prepared paper known as " oil sketching 
 paper " is, however, perhaps the most convenient 
 and economical ground for out-door sketching. It 
 can be obtained finished with a smooth surface or 
 with a grain in exact imitation of canvas. For 
 touring it will be found very portable, especially in 
 the form of a sketching "block" composed of a 
 number of sheets compressed together, each sheet 
 being removed as used without disturbing the 
 rest. 
 
 All the surfaces of the grounds, canvas, panels, 
 millboards or paper are prepared in a similar way. 
 The preparation of the canvas particularly occupies 
 
78 
 
 much time, and is carefully manipulated in order to 
 render it smooth and pliable. The English pre- 
 pared canvas is much preferable to the foreign, 
 because the English is generally prepared solely by 
 hand and much of the foreign is coated by 
 machinery. Hand-prepared canvas is stretched to 
 its utmost tension, and prepared in this state it will 
 not give to any appreciable extent afterwards ; but 
 machine-prepared canvas cannot be coated whilst 
 the cloth is in a state of tension, the consequence is 
 that the cloth will afterwards still stretch con- 
 siderably, and the surface not being equally elastic 
 is liable to crack. For large sizes canvas is the 
 only available ground, in fact it is manufactured by 
 Messrs. Reeves in pieces without a join as large as 
 13 feet by 20 feet. 
 
 The white colour used in its preparation being 
 white lead, it cannot be depended upon to keep its 
 colour entirely. Some pieces originally white, 
 which the writer has put by during the last twenty 
 years, are of a dun grey or chamois colour, although 
 they have, been exposed only to ordinary atmos- 
 pheric influences. If the canvas were prepared 
 with some white substance other than white lead, 
 as, for instance, sulphate of barium and zinc oxide, 
 or silica, or zinc sulphide in an oleoresinous medium, 
 or drying oil prepared without alkali or acid, we 
 might expect such a canvas to retain its colour 
 
79 
 
 and not be darkened when exposed to foul 
 air. 
 
 The early oil painters prepared their panels with 
 two or three coats of size, then a layer of coarse 
 gesso (a kind of plaster of Paris) and on this at 
 least eight layers of a finer description of the same 
 material. In the Italian school of a later period 
 the grounds were generally of pipe-clay mixed 
 with chalk. 
 
 Canvas is also prepared with the object of 
 absorbing the oil from the first layer of colour ; it 
 is called " absorbent." 
 
8o 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF 
 OIL PAINTS AND THEIR MEDIUMS. 
 
 Use and Abuse of Vehicles. 
 
 A pigment should not only be permanent in 
 itself, but the medium incorporated with it to form 
 it into a paint should be one that is thoroughly- 
 reliable under all conditions. 
 
 These conditions are — 
 
 That it does not disintegrate the pigment with 
 which it is mixed, nor become disintegrated itself. 
 
 That it is not decomposed by atmospheric in- 
 fluences, such as sunlight, cold, damp, foul air, light 
 or darkness. 
 
 Provided that the pigment is permanent and the 
 vehicle incorporated with it fulfils the above con- 
 ditions, it does not necessarily follow that the paint 
 so formed is a perfect one. 
 
 In fact a paint is not perfect unless it fulfils the 
 following conditions : — 
 
 Keeps its place on the canvas. 
 
Dries firmly and solidly throughout its depth, 
 and therefore does not exhibit wrinkles, puckers, or 
 forms a skin of hard oil. 
 
 That the pigment does not sink away from the 
 oil or medium. 
 
 That the oil or medium is not absorbed by the 
 canvas or painting ground. 
 
 A medium is the oily megilp or other nostrum 
 employed with the paint to render it capable of 
 executing the desired technical difficulties. While 
 a vehicle is a medium employed to give colours a 
 drying quality and to render them thin and trans- 
 parent enough to be laid over other colours, as in 
 " glazing," as this technical method is termed. 
 
 Even though the paint itself may be perfect it is 
 often rendered imperfect, i.e. impermanent, by 
 the improper use of vehicles. 
 
 A perfect paint should be one that fulfils its 
 purpose without any extraneous additions of 
 vehicles or mediums applied in the raw state. 
 Thus if opaque colours were ground stiff for solid 
 painting, and transparent colours were found limpid 
 or thin for glazing purposes, there would be no 
 need of adding a "thinning vehicle," as turpentine, 
 to the tube colour, as is now the practice. This 
 is, in fact, a practice much to be condemned, 
 because the grinding of the pigments and oil has 
 produced a homogeneous product, but if, to this 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 mixture, an addition be made on the palette — as, 
 for example, thinning the tube colour with turpen- 
 tine or megilp — such additions do not become 
 thoroughly incorporated with the paint, and so, in 
 time, show the evil effects of such incomplete 
 combination. We have an example in the case 
 of adding raw linseed oil to a tube colour while 
 painting. This raw oil will not dry at the same 
 rate that the tube colour would alone, and, as a 
 consequence, the painting subsequently becomes 
 cracked, wrinkled, or otherwise disfigured, solely 
 because the raw oil has not been incorporated 
 thoroughly with the paint like that which had 
 been ground up with the pigment. 
 
 As a general rule, each painter has a favourite 
 nostrum or vehicle which he has faith in, such 
 confidence having been engendered because this 
 particular nostrum conduced to his desired effects 
 in some one particular manner. Now from the 
 diverse composition of pigments, the lakes, of 
 vegetable origin ; sepia, cochineal, &c, of animal 
 origin ; and the many other colours of mineral 
 origin — it will be granted that it is next to impos- 
 sible for any one particular vehicle to suit one and 
 all colours alike. 
 
 The only safe mediums are drying oil prepared 
 with manganese or the "Oleoresinous medium," 
 which is not entirely an oil nor altogether a 
 
83 
 
 varnish. In respect of choosing the right vehicle, 
 the painter cannot be too cautious. 
 
 The vehicles to avoid are all those that have been 
 prepared with sugar of lead, sulphate of zinc, sul- 
 phate of calcium, boiled oil ; which has usually 
 been incorporated with lead salts or acids to 
 render it drying ; last of all, megilp, which is a 
 favourite but noxious compound of mastic resin, 
 with lead prepared drying oil. 
 
 If a dryer is at all needed, it should be sulphate 
 of zinc calcined or borate of manganese ; these 
 bodies do not act injuriously on linseed oil when 
 added thereto to render it drying. 
 
 Owing to the difficult drying qualities of pig- 
 ments, the colourman has to manipulate the 
 incorporating mediums with some one or other of 
 the above salts. The two last-named should only 
 be used. The writer has invented an oleoresinous 
 medium that combines well with all colours, and 
 when ground up with pigments cause the painting 
 to dry firmly and solidly throughout their depth 
 and without the addition of any dryer. 
 
 The addition of a raw oil to copal or amber 
 varnish for use as a vehicle for glazing colours 
 should be avoided, for the varnish, if properly 
 made, has had its necessary quantity of oil in- 
 corporated with it, and the addition of raw oil 
 only serves to spoil the varnish, because, under the 
 
 F 2 
 
8 4 
 
 conditions of such empirical mixture, thorough in- 
 corporation of varnish and raw oil does not, and 
 cannot take place. The varnish by itself would 
 dry very fast, the raw oil alone would dry very 
 slowly, consequently, when the two are mixed, such 
 mixture would dry at different rates and so cause 
 ridges or wrinkles, and, later on, with the proba- 
 bility of the paint cracking and peeling off when 
 thoroughly dry. 
 
 Copal and amber varnish should never be mixed 
 together, because copal varnish on drying contracts, 
 and, therefore, if mixed with a varnish that does 
 not do so, or laid on a surface of paint that dries 
 at a different rate to itself, the contracting of the 
 copal varnish would dry up the paint and expose 
 the canvas ground beneath. 
 
 Turpentine as a vehicle.— This spirit is used 
 too frequently on the palette. In itself it has no 
 artistic qualities, since it evaporates, leaving behind 
 a sticky pellicle of resinous matter without any 
 binding properties whatever ; the only plea that 
 artists can offer for its use is that it thins the 
 colours used for glazing, but with this favourable 
 exception, its physical and chemical bearing when 
 mixed with paint is detrimental to the mixture. 
 When turpentine is mixed with the colours on the 
 palette it does not become incorporated with 
 them, and when they are laid on the canvas the 
 
85 
 
 spirit evaporates, leaving them dull and bereft of a 
 great part of their beauty. If the paint over which 
 the mixture of turpentine and pigment is laid be 
 still moist, the turpentine will be imbibed even to 
 the extent of being absorbed by the painting 
 ground, and, as a result, leaving the surface of 
 paint "dead." 
 
 Besides the physical drawbacks to the use of 
 turpentine as a painting vehicle it has chemical 
 ones, which likewise render it detrimental in a 
 painting. 
 
 Lavender Oil. — It has been recommended to 
 use oil of spike or lavender oil as a substitute 
 for turpentine, this essential oil is preferable in 
 some points, but it should be known that oil of 
 spike lavender dissolves oil itself, and even hard, 
 obdurate varnishes ; consequently, if mixed too 
 freely with paint, it would set up disintegration 
 thereof by dissolving the oil incorporated there- 
 with. 
 
 The safest way to use this essence as a thinning 
 vehicle, is to mix up a small quantity with a large 
 quantity of linseed oil and then thin the paint with 
 this mixture. I have seen it mentioned that 
 naphtha and oil of petroleum are useful as thin- 
 ning vehicles. They are decidedly the opposite, 
 as both these fluids have no qualities whatever 
 to fit them for a painter's purpose. These 
 
86 
 
 remarks about fluid petroleum and its analogues 
 do not apply, however, to the solid white paraffin 
 wax ; this substance is useful to the artist 
 in the preparation of vehicles for special pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Varnishes. — Great and permanent injuries are 
 done to paintings by the improper use of a 
 varnish. The practice of the Old Masters was not 
 to varnish a picture until five years after painting 
 it ; this is a good procedure to follow, as it has 
 sound reason on its side ; but I fear the exigencies 
 of the conditions under which modern paintings 
 are produced preclude the possibility of following 
 so sound a practice. The painter of to-day cannot 
 well keep a commissioned portrait in his studio for 
 several years ; and to send the painting home 
 without a coat of varnish would, I fear, often 
 lead to the repudiation of the commission. A 
 coat of varnish, like a good cloak, covers up a 
 host of evils in the shape of dull patches of paint 
 that have been loaded with turpentine ; lumps of 
 hard paint that have become dull by the use of 
 too much drier ; sticky patches of paint that have 
 been made into a soap with megilp ; all these 
 blemishes in a painting are glossed over by a 
 coat of varnish while it is fresh ; when dry, how- 
 ever, the evils are intensified, and the picture a 
 wreck. 
 
87 
 
 The proper time to apply a coat of varnish is 
 not until twelve months have elapsed after the 
 painting is executed. To preserve the colour 
 fresh and bright when dry on the surface, the 
 painting should be brushed over with a solution 
 of white of egg and loaf sugar dissolved in water. 
 When the necessary time comes round for varnish- 
 ing, this coat of albumen is cleaned off by softly 
 sponging the painting with warm water, then 
 allowing it to dry for a day or two, and finally 
 a coat of varnish laid on at a temperature of 70 , 
 in a dry atmosphere, free from dust and draughts. 
 No moisture nor cold draughts should be allowed 
 to enter the varnishing room until the varnish is 
 set, i.e., no longer " tacky." To keep the room 
 free from moisture, saucers containing chloride of 
 calcium might be placed about the room. 
 
 In varnishing a picture, it should be placed in a 
 deep box, which is an excellent means of pre- 
 venting sudden draughts from sweeping over the 
 varnished surface. 
 
 The choice of varnish is of great moment. A 
 hard varnish, like copal or amber, should not be 
 laid on a picture whilst the paint is still wet {i.e., 
 not dry throughout), because such varnish, as it 
 dries at a quicker rate than the paint beneath it, 
 will drag up the latter, and so cause fissures and 
 cracks in time. 
 
Copal is especially prone to do this, since the 
 varnish made with this resin contracts on drying. 
 
 On the other hand, if a hard varnish be laid on 
 a picture, the paint of which is very hard and dry, 
 such varnish will cause the paint to peel off as the 
 varnish dries, such action being due to the latter's 
 strong adherence to the paint and combination in 
 drying, which causes the paint to peel away from 
 the canvas. 
 
 In varnishing old paintings, or those in which 
 the paint is dry and hard, it is best to lay a cushion 
 of oil on the paint a day or two before applying 
 the varnish. A mixture of half-a-pint of linseed 
 oil to half-an-ounce of oil of spike lavender mixed 
 with it forms an excellent medium for such 
 cushion ; the rationale of such a proceeding is 
 that this mixture gradually softens the hard 
 paint, so that when the varnish is applied it 
 unites directly with the paint, and then forms 
 a homogeneous whole. 
 
 If mastic varnish be applied, such mixture of 
 linseed oil and spike oil should not be used, 
 because mastic varnish is a brittle one, and easily 
 removed by friction ; and if this becomes in- 
 corporated with the softened paint, it could not 
 be subsequently removed if needed, or the picture 
 " cleaned " without the risk of some of the fine 
 glazings in the painting being also removed with it. 
 
8 9 
 
 The reason for delaying the varnishing process 
 until the paint is dry, is this : — 
 
 A coat of paint dries by absorbing oxygen, 
 usually from the air, but also from some pigments 
 rich in that element ; consequently, the surface of 
 the paint will become dry while the underneath 
 part is still wet {i.e., soft), and thus, as the dry 
 surface becomes thicker, the paint next to the 
 ground will remain a considerable time before 
 it can receive its complement of oxygen to render 
 it dry and hard. 
 
 Therefore, if a coat of varnish — which dries at 
 a quicker rate than the paint — be applied on 
 paint still wet, it is obvious that the latter will 
 take still longer to dry ; and not only this, but be 
 pulled off the ground by the quicker drying 
 varnish. 
 
90 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 SOME TERMS USED IN PAINTING 
 
 DEFINED AND PRACTICALLY 
 
 CONSIDERED. 
 
 Terms Applied to Colours. 
 
 Primary colours are those which cannot be 
 compounded by mixture of other colours. Our 
 space will not permit us here to enter into the 
 question of which colours should be considered 
 as true primaries ; suffice it to say that material 
 colours or pigments, in mixtures, do not follow 
 the same laws as coloured rays of light ; and 
 therefore, for the purposes of the painter, the 
 three colours, red, yellow, and blue, are assumed 
 to be the primary colours, because they cannot 
 be compounded from the mixture of other colours. 
 Secondary colours are those produced by the 
 mixture of any two primaries. Thus : — 
 
 Red and yellow produce Orange. « 
 Yellow and blue „ Green. » 
 
 Red and blue „ Purple, v 
 
9i 
 
 Tertiary 
 
 secondaries. 
 
 colours are mixtures of any two 
 
 » )) 
 
 Pier pie. 
 
 )) » 
 
 Orange. 
 
 » >) 
 
 Olive. 
 
 >) » 
 
 Russet. 
 
 » )) 
 
 Citrine. 
 
 Green and orange produce Citrine. 
 Orange and purple „ Russet. 
 Purple and green „ Olive. 
 
 Complementary colours are any two which, 
 between them contain a proper proportion of 
 each of the three primaries to form a harmony. 
 
 Red is complementary to Green. 
 
 Yellow 
 
 Blue 
 
 Orange 
 
 Green 
 
 Purple 
 
 Neutral Tint is a mixture of the three primaries 
 in a proportion to neutralise each other. 
 
 Harmony in colouring is the just adaptation to 
 a picture of the three primary colours in proper 
 proportions, either pure or mixed, so as to impart 
 a pleasing sensation of rest to the eye without any 
 of the colours predominating. 
 
 Contrast is the juxtaposition of two dissimilar 
 colours, whereby the effect of each is intensified. 
 The study of due contrast in every work of art is 
 essential to a fine effect. 
 
 Tint is a term used for gradations or mixtures of 
 colours with white. 
 
9 2 
 
 Hue is the variation of a primary colour by mix- 
 ture with a secondary. 
 
 Shades of Colour are colours or hues darkened 
 to a greater or less degree by the addition of black. 
 In painting, the term shade has a distinctly different 
 meaning. Shade or shadow in a picture is the 
 representation of those parts of objects which are 
 not seen in full illumination. In this connection, 
 Ruskin says, " It is an absolute fact that shadows 
 " are as much colours as lights are ; and whoever 
 " represents them by merely the subdued or dark- 
 " ened tint of the light, represents them falsely." 
 
 Tone expresses the degree of luminosity of the 
 prevailing hue in a colour, but the term is not 
 synonymous with tint, the latter relates rather to 
 the mixture of colours, and the former to their 
 effect. Cobalt is a light toned blue, and Prussian 
 blue a dark toned blue, they are different tones but 
 not tints of blue. 
 
 Grey is the mixture of black and white in various 
 tints. 
 
 Grays or broken colours are the mixtures of 
 colours with their complementaries. 
 
 Local Colour is the natural colour of an object 
 as it appears when viewed in white light. In a 
 landscape, objects gradually lose their local colour 
 and assume a sky tone as they recede from the eye. 
 
93 
 
 Terms used in Practice. 
 
 Laying-in or Dead Colouring is the first process 
 in painting a picture. It consists of painting the 
 lights and shadows with simple colours as a ground 
 work, a small quantity of colour being used, 
 especially in the shadows. The general effect 
 should be a middle tone, without glaring colours in 
 the light parts or too powerful tones in the dark. 
 All the light parts must be kept lighter in this stage 
 than they are intended to be when finished. The 
 minute details should be omitted. 
 
 The laying-in should present a quiet atmospheric 
 and general effect. The great art is to use two 
 colours, which shall serve for the ground of the 
 shadows in general (the sky excepted), and the 
 method of using them with the lights. It is 
 necessary that they be laid in a careful manner, 
 avoiding blending or mixing on the picture, as much 
 of the success of the after processes depends upou 
 this preliminary stage. 
 
 Painting in detail is the second painting. At 
 this stage attention must be given to the drawing, 
 and all minor details and characteristics must be 
 observed. The process is similar to the former, 
 but the quantity of colour used in the light parts 
 must be greater, and the shadows, whilst thin, must 
 be more transparent. Great care must be observed 
 
94 
 
 with the lights, in order to preserve their character, 
 and the half tints must be carefully blended with 
 the shadows to give the effect of relief. It will be 
 found that, where the first tint approaches the colour 
 desired, it will not be advisable to disturb it. 
 
 Glazing is executed by laying over other colours 
 a thin, and generally speaking, transparent film of 
 colour to modify the tone or to heighten the effect, 
 the work beneath appearing through, though altered 
 in colour by the glaze, which may be applied in 
 partial touches, or broad flat tints. 
 
 Glazing is not confined to the use of transparent 
 colours only, for although the colours which lie 
 beneath should appear through the glaze, yet a thin 
 layer of an opaque colour may be used, provided it 
 is more diluted than if it were transparent, as trans- 
 parent colours have always less body than the 
 opaque, and are therefore naturally more suited for 
 the purpose of glazing. The semi-transparent 
 colours such as light red, Indian red, the ochres, 
 and such colours may be used, but care must be 
 taken not to carry this process to excess, for, if this 
 is done, the work will inevitably suffer. 
 
 Glazing will give warmth, strength, or coolness to 
 the shadows ; it will also subdue the brightness of 
 the obtruding parts, and may be used to produce 
 the effect of smoke and mist ; its great value is in 
 generalising and giving breadth of effect and tone. 
 
95 
 
 Glazhg should, however, be resorted to with 
 great ciution, and to apply it successfully, both 
 practice and experience are required. In old 
 paintings the glazings have proved to be least per- 
 manent and naturally the process has been looked 
 upon wth distrust, but it is a power in the hands of 
 the arti:t which cannot be dispensed with ; artists, 
 howeve', need not fear for the future if they adhere 
 to the principles set forth elsewhere with regard to 
 permanent pigments and suitable mediums. 
 
 Scunbling is mostly practised in the lights as 
 glazing is generally confined to the shadows. It 
 is the opposite to glazing, for in scumbling the 
 colour i; used nearly dry, and applied stiff, with 
 brushes sparingly charged, and partaking some- 
 what ofthe colour over which it is to be laid. 
 
 Scumbling renders the parts to which it is 
 applied either light, grey, cool, less defined, or 
 gives ar and distance ; it destroys the hardness 
 resulting from over minuteness in details, lowers 
 the briliancy, and unites opposing colours. The 
 judicious use of scumbling and glazing in the same 
 picture vill produce harmony and richness, and if 
 cither his been used improperly, the one will be 
 found t< be the corrective of the other. 
 
 Impasting or Loading applies strictly to the 
 lights aid foregrounds, for as the colours in the 
 shadow; should always be thin, so those in the 
 
9 6 
 
 lights should be thick and laid on with a full 
 brush, especially in the more brilliant parts ; yet 
 in this there is a limit — a bad effect would be pro- 
 duced if the colours stood in ridges. This method 
 may be successfully applied in painting branches 
 and trunks of trees, the foremost leaves which 
 catch the light, the foam of the water, the moss on 
 rocks, and other like parts, as it will add depth 
 and contrast to the shadows. 
 
 Oiling Out. — When the surface of an unfinished 
 painting becomes dry, it is frequently difficult to 
 commence upon it again. To obviate this, the 
 painting should be carefully rubbed with a damp 
 soft sponge, and wiped dry. Then a small quan- 
 tity of nut or poppy oil should be applied with a 
 brush, and afterwards cleaned off with a dry silk 
 handkerchief. The oiling out has the effect of 
 making the after painting unite with that done 
 previously, and gives the work an appearance of 
 being executed at the same time. 
 
 Handling or manipulation consists in the 
 mechanical use of the brush. In it the individuality 
 of the artist asserts itself, it is only acquired by con- 
 stant practice and a study of the works of the leading 
 masters. For instance, contrast Raffaele with 
 Rubens, Teniers with Gerhard Douw, or Leighton 
 with Watts, and it will easily be seen how each 
 sought to interpret Nature in his own peculiar way. 
 
97 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Academy boards 
 
 Antwerp ilue 
 
 Artist, duy of 
 
 Artists, rrodern v. old masters 
 
 Asphaltun ... 
 
 Aureolin 
 
 Azure 
 
 ,, blu: ... 
 Baryta wlite 
 Bitumen 
 Blacks anl greys 
 Black leac . . . 
 Blanc d' Agent 
 
 Blues 
 
 Blue blacl . . . 
 Bone brovn . . . 
 Brown malder 
 
 „ piik ... 
 
 ,, oclre 
 Browns aid ochres 
 Brown, Vmdyke 
 Burnt oche ... 
 
 , , siema 
 
 ,, umler 
 Canvas, pepared 
 Cadmium /ellows 
 
 Galedoniai brown 
 
 Cappah bown 
 Carmine 
 
 , , nadder 
 Cassel brovn 
 
 , , earn . . . 
 Chinese blie 
 Chrome gnens 
 
 PAGE. 
 77 
 
 43 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 37 
 40 
 10 
 
 44 
 28 
 
 37 
 
 45 . 46 
 46 
 28 
 
 43-45 
 46 
 
 36 
 
 37 
 
 37 
 35 
 34-38 
 35 
 35 
 35 
 36 
 73 
 39 
 36 
 36 
 32 
 33 
 36 
 36 
 43 
 42 
 
Chrome red ... 
 
 ,, yellows 
 
 Chromium green, oxide of... , 
 
 Cobalt blue ... 
 
 ,, green 
 
 Coelin blue ... 
 Coeruleum ... 
 
 Cologne earth 
 
 Colouring, dead 
 Colour, local 
 
 ,, shades of ... 
 
 ,, manufacturing 
 Colours, combinations of ... 
 
 ,, ,, for backgrounds 
 
 ,, ,, ,, flesh 
 
 ,, ,, ,, landscapes .. 
 
 ,, complimentary ... 
 
 ,, primary ... 
 
 ,, reason for cost of good ... 
 
 ,, secondary... 
 
 „ tertiary 
 Contrast 
 Crimson lake 
 
 ,, permanent 
 Dead colouring 
 Detail painting 
 
 Dutch white... ... ... 
 
 Emerald green 
 Extract of vermilion 
 Field's orange vermilion ... 
 Flake white ... 
 Foundation white ... 
 French blue ... 
 
 ,, ultramarine... 
 
 ,, white ... ... 
 
 Gamboge 
 Glazing 
 Golden ochre 
 Greys 
 
 ,, and blacks ... 
 Green oxide of chromium ... 
 Greens 
 Grey... 
 
 Grinding colours 
 Grounds for painting 
 Handling 
 Hamburg white 
 Harmony 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 ... 32 
 
 ... 39 
 
 ... 42 
 
 ... 44 
 
 ... 42 
 
 ... 45 
 
 • •• 45 
 ... 36 
 
 • •• 93 
 ... 92 
 ... 92 
 ... 18 
 
 64-67 
 
 ... 70 
 
 ... 68 
 
 ... 71 
 
 ... 91 
 
 ... 90 
 
 ... 17 
 
 ... 90 
 
 ... 91 
 
 ... 91 
 
 ••• 33 
 
 • •• 33 
 ••• 93 
 
 • •• 93 
 ... 27 
 ... 41 
 ... 30 
 ... 30 
 ... 21 
 ... 27 
 ... 45 
 
 • •■ 45 
 ... 28 
 ... 40 
 ... 94 
 
 ••• 35 
 
 ... 92 
 
 45 . 46 
 
 ... 42 
 10, 41-43 
 
 ... 92 
 
 ... 16 
 
 ••• 73 
 
 ... 96 
 
 ... 27 
 
 ... 91 
 
99 
 
 Hue 
 
 Ideal palette for landscapes 
 
 ,, ,, ,, figures .., 
 Impasting ... 
 Indian brown 
 ,, lake ... 
 
 , , red . . . 
 ,, yellow 
 Indigo 
 
 Intense blue . . . 
 Italian pink ... 
 Ivory black ... 
 Kremnitz white 
 King's yellow 
 Lake, crimson 
 
 ,, Indian 
 
 , , madder 
 
 ,, scarlet 
 
 ,, yellow 
 Lamp black . . . 
 Lavender oil 
 Laying-in 
 Leitch's blue 
 Lemon yellow 
 Light red 
 Loading 
 Local colour 
 Madder, brown 
 , , carmine 
 ,, lakes 
 , , rose 
 Malachite green 
 Manganese brown 
 Mars red 
 Medium 
 Mediums, safe 
 Millboards ... 
 Mineral green 
 
 , .. grey _ 
 Mixtures of pigments 
 Mummy 
 
 Naples' yellows 
 
 Nature ochre 
 
 Neutral tint 
 
 New blue 
 
 ,, white 
 
 Ochres and browns .. 
 Ochre, yellow 
 
 ... 92 
 
 ... 62 
 
 ... 62 
 
 ••• 95 
 
 ... 36 
 
 ... 34 
 
 ... 31 
 
 ... 40 
 
 - 43 
 
 ... 44 
 
 ... 37 
 
 ... 46 
 
 ... 27 
 
 ... 38 
 
 ••• 33 
 
 ... 34 
 
 ••• 33 
 
 ••• 33 
 
 ... 37 
 
 ... 46 
 
 ... 85 
 
 .» 93 
 
 ... 44 
 
 ... 38 
 
 ... 31 
 
 ••■ 95 
 
 ... 92 
 
 ... 37 
 
 ■•■ 33 
 
 33, 34 
 
 • ■• 33 
 ... 41 
 
 ... 36 
 
 ... 32 
 
 ... 81 
 
 ... 82 
 
 ... 77 
 
 ... 41 
 
 ... 46 
 
 ... 8 
 
 ... 36 
 
 ... 40 
 
 ••• 35 
 
 45, 9i 
 
 ... 45 
 
 ... 28 
 
 34-38 
 
 • •• 34 
 
 G 2 
 
Oiling out ... 
 Oil of lavender 
 Olive green ... 
 ,, lake ... 
 Orange 
 
 ,, vermilion ... 
 Orpiment 
 Oxide of chromium... 
 
 Paint 
 
 Painting grounds ... 
 ,, in detail ... 
 Palette, ideal of permanent colours 
 Palettes of modern artists ... 
 Panels 
 
 Paper, prepared 
 Payne's grey... 
 Permanence in pictures 
 Permanent blue 
 
 ,, crimson... 
 
 ,, flake white 
 
 ,, mauve ... 
 
 ,, white ... 
 
 Pigment 
 
 Pigments, adulterated 
 ,, composition 
 ,, origin 
 Pink, brown 
 ,, Italian 
 ,, madder 
 Platinium yellow 
 Primary colours 
 Prussian blue 
 Pure scarlet ... 
 Radiant yellow 
 Raw sienna ... 
 Raw umber ... 
 Recipes, ancient 
 Red chrome... 
 ,, ochre ... 
 ,, pigments 
 Roman ochre 
 Rose madder 
 Sap green 
 Scarlet lake ... 
 ,, pure... 
 Scumbling ... 
 Secondary colours ... 
 Shades of" colour 
 
 ... 96 
 
 - 85 
 ... 42 
 ... 42 
 
 - 39 
 ... 30 
 ... 38 
 ... 42 
 ... 80 
 ••• 73 
 ••• 93 
 62, 63 
 47-61 
 
 ... 76 
 
 ... 77 
 
 ■•• 45 
 
 7, 16 
 
 ■•• 45 
 
 ••• 33 
 
 ... 28 
 
 ••• 45 
 
 ... 28 
 
 ... 80 
 
 ... 15 
 
 ... 20 
 
 ... 20 
 
 ■•• 37 
 
 ••• 37 
 
 ••• 34 
 
 ... 38 
 
 ... 90 
 
 ••• 43 
 
 ... 31 
 
 ••• 39 
 
 ••• 35 
 
 ... 36 
 
 ... 9 
 
 ... 32 
 
 ... 32 
 29-34 
 
 ••• 35 
 
 ••• 33 
 
 ... 42 
 
 ••• 33 
 
 ... 31 
 
 • •• 95 
 
 ... 90 
 
 ... 92 
 
Sienna, burnt 
 ,, raw ... 
 
 Silver white . . . 
 
 Smalt... 
 
 Strontian yellow 
 
 Terre Verte ... 
 
 Tertiary colours 
 
 Tint 
 
 ,, neutral... 
 
 Tone... 
 
 Transparent golden ochre 
 
 Turpentine ... 
 
 Ultramarine, artificial 
 ,, ash .. 
 
 ,, blue .. 
 
 ,, French 
 
 Umber, burnt 
 ,, raw... 
 
 Vandyke brown 
 
 Varnishes 
 
 Varnishing ... 
 
 Vehicles 
 
 Venetian red 
 ,, white 
 
 Verdigris 
 
 Vermilion 
 
 ,, Chinese process of 
 ,, Dutch process of 
 ,, extract of 
 ,, Field's orange 
 , , orange 
 
 Verona brown 
 
 Veronese green 
 
 Viridian 
 
 White pigments 
 
 Yellow 
 
 ,, lake... 
 , , ochre 
 
 Yellows 
 
 Zinc white ... 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 35 
 35 
 28 
 
 44 
 38 
 43 
 9i 
 9i 
 9i 
 92 
 
 35 
 84 
 14 
 45 
 44 
 45 
 36 
 36 
 35 
 
 86, 87 
 . 88 
 
 ii,»3 
 3i 
 27 
 9, 4i 
 
 29, 3o 
 13 
 12 
 
 30 
 30 
 30 
 36 
 42 
 42 
 21-28 
 11 
 37 
 34 
 38-41 
 . 28 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 .A. ZHZJLlSnDIBOOIK: 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHEMICAL & ARTISTIC QUALITIES 
 
 OF 
 
 WATER-COLOUR PIGMENTS. 
 
 Containing an analysis of the Report made to the Science 
 and Art Departments by Messrs. Abney & Russell, on the 
 action of Light on Water-Colours. 
 
 BY 
 
 H. C. STANDAGE. 
 
 PRICE ONE SHILLING. 
 
 Including 4 Plates comprising 72 Washes of Reeves and Sens 
 
 Water-Colours. 
 
 REEVES AND SONS, LTD., LONDON 
 
4> 
 
 <x& & S( % 
 
 !stablish(Qd 
 
 @# 
 
 * * 1777. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^> 
 
 Manufacturers of Artists' Colours 
 
 AND ALL 
 
 Ma.fe7ia.Px*> j?07 ©Yaaoiag anSL Q dinting. 
 
 PRIZE MEDALS WHEREVER EXHIBITED. 
 
 n 
 
 
 D 
 
 ' ' / <x/« ^-/arf to express my thanks to a. firm I have so long respected for their, 
 so far as I know, consistent excellence of 'manufacture ." — Professor Ruskin. 
 
 □ 
 
 REEVES & SONS, LTD, 
 
 113, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON, E.C. 
 
 Works - - - - DALSTON. 
 
IC4 
 
 REEVES &* SONS, Limited, 
 
 SUPERFINE OIL COLOURS. 
 
 (PURE AND EXTRA FINELY GROUND.) 
 
 The fewer colours the Artist has in his palette the more power will he obtain 
 over the?n, and the less likely are they to injure one another. 
 
 AN IDEAL PERMANENT PALETTE EOR OIL COLOTJE PAINTING. 
 
 IGHRE 
 
 ,|| — 1 
 
 GMEAPSIDE 
 
 Flake White. 
 Lemon Yellow. 
 Radiant Yellow. 
 Yellow Ochre. 
 Raw Sienna. 
 
 Venetian Red. 
 Scar. Vermilion. 
 Perm. Crimson. 
 Burnt Sienna. 
 Burnt Umber. 
 
 Ivory Black. 
 French Ultra. 
 Cobalt Blue. 
 Viridian. 
 
 REDS. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 **Burnt Carmine . 
 
 . I 
 
 6 
 
 **Burnt Lake . . . 
 
 . O 
 
 6 
 
 Burnt Roman Ochre 
 
 . O 
 
 4 
 
 Burnt Ochre. 
 
 . O 
 
 4 
 
 Burnt Sienna 
 
 . 
 
 4 
 
 **Carmine .... 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 **Crimson Lake . 
 
 . O 
 
 4 
 
 **Geranium Lake. 
 
 . O 
 
 6 
 
 **Indian Lake. 
 
 . O 
 
 4 
 
 Indian Red . 
 
 . O 
 
 4 
 
 Light Red . . . 
 
 . O 
 
 4 
 
 **Madder Carmine . 
 
 . I 
 
 6 
 
 ** Do. Lake. . . 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 **Permanent Crimson 
 
 . 
 
 6 
 
 **Pink Madder . . 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 **Rose Madder . . 
 
 . I 
 
 
 
 **Rubens' Madder . 
 
 . O 
 
 6 
 
 **Scarlet Lake. . . 
 
 . O 
 
 4 
 
 Venetian Red . 
 
 . 
 
 4 
 
 **Vermilion 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 ** Do. Chinese . 
 
 O 
 
 6 
 
 ** Do. Orange . 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 ** Do. Scarlet . 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 PURPLES. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 * Magenta (aniline) . 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 * Mauve (aniline) 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 ** Permanent Mauve . 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 **Purple Lake 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 ** Do. Madder . . 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 **Violet Carmine . . 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 YELLOWS. 
 
 **Aureolin .... 
 **Cadmium, pale . 
 ** Do. middle . 
 ** Do. deep 
 Chrome Yellow, pale 
 Do. do. middle 
 Do. do. deep 
 Do. Orange 
 ** Gamboge . . 
 ** Indian Yellow 
 *Italian Pink . 
 *King's Yellow 
 ** Lemon do. 
 **Mars Orange 
 ** Do. Yellow 
 *Naples do., No. i 
 * Do. do., ,, 2 
 Orpiment 
 **Pure Orange 
 **Radiant Yellow 
 Raw Sienna . 
 Roman Ochre 
 **Strontian Yellow 
 *Yellow Lake 
 ** Do. Madder 
 Do. Ochre 
 
 s. d. 
 
 1 6 
 
 1 6 
 1 
 
 4-1 NCH TUBE. 
 
 These Colours are made in 3-inch Tubes. 
 
in, CHEAPSIDE. LONDON. 
 
 £lJpEF(|?tfjE 0+L eeLeU^g;— continued. 
 
 BROWNS. 
 
 Asphaltum ... 
 
 Bitumen 
 
 Bone Brown ... 
 *Brown Madder 
 
 Brown Ochre... 
 "Brown Pink . .. 
 
 Burnt Umber... 
 
 Caledonian Brown 
 *Cappah Brown 
 
 Cassel Earth ... 
 
 Cologne Earth 
 *Mars Brown ... 
 
 Mummy 
 
 Raw Umber ... 
 *Sepia ... 
 
 Vandyke Brown 
 
 Verona Brown 
 
 s. d. 
 o 4 
 
 BLUES. 
 
 Antwerp Blue 
 Chinese Blue ... 
 **Cobalt Blue ... 
 **Coelin (Cerulean) 
 **French Ultramarine 
 ** French Blue ... 
 ""'Indigo 
 *New Blue 
 * Permanent Blue 
 Prussian Blue 
 
 **Smalt 
 
 ** Ultramarine (genuine) 
 ** Do. (second) 
 
 **Ultramarine Ash 
 
 o 
 6 
 
 21 
 
 IO 
 
 2 
 
 BLACKS. s. d. 
 
 Blue Black ... ... o 4 
 
 Black Lead ... ... o 4 
 
 Ivory Black ... ... o 4 
 
 Lamp Black ... ... o 4 
 
 GREENS. 
 Chrome Green, pale ... 
 Do. do. middle 
 Do. do. deep... 
 ** Cobalt Green... 
 Emerald Green 
 **Green Oxide of Chro- 
 mium 
 ** Do. transparent ... 
 **Malachite Green 
 *01ive Green ... 
 *Sap Green 
 Terre Verte ... 
 ** Verdigris 
 **Viridian (Veronese) ... 
 
 WHITES. 
 
 Cremnitz White 
 Flake White ... 
 Permanent White 
 Silver White ... 
 Zinc White ... 
 
 GREYS. 
 
 'Charcoal Grey 
 ^Mineral Grey... 
 '"Neutral Tint ... 
 '"Payne's Grey... 
 
 MEDIUMS. 
 
 Copal Megilp... 
 
 Megilp 
 
 Siccatif 
 
 Sugar of Lead 
 
 Medium (Reeves') . 
 
 * These Colours are made in 3 inch Tubes. 
 
 ** !l >> !> 2 II >! 
 
 Double Tubes at double the above Prices. 
 
 s. a. 
 
 o 4 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 1 o 
 
 Flake White, I lb. tube, 1/0 ; J lb. tube, 1/3 ; 1 lb. tube, 2/6. 
 
 Foundation White, in double tubes, 0/4. 
 
 Medium (Reeves') double tubes, 0/8 ; treble tubes, 1/0. 
 
 s. d. 
 o 4 
 
 pEVEii 
 
 (limited)) 
 
 SH.EAPSIDEI 
 
 3 INCH TUBE. 
 
 IevesI 
 
 ■ limited} 
 
 IIIE '=! 
 
 CI-IEAPSIDE 
 
 2 INCH TUBE. 
 
io5 
 
 REEVES & SONS, Limited, 
 
 OILS, TARNISHES, AC. 
 
 CD 
 
 ("Amber Varnish 
 I Crystal Varnish 
 I Mastic Varnish 
 -{ Copal Oil Varnish . . . 
 
 Picture Copal Varnish 
 
 White Copal Spirit Varnish 
 
 White Lac Varnish. 
 
 f Nut Oil 
 
 | Poppy Oil ... 
 
 Purified Linseed Oil 
 
 O 
 
 Pale Drying Oil 
 
 ! Special Pale Drying Oil 
 l^Sirong Crying Oil ... 
 Japan Gold Size 
 Spirits of Turpentine 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 Pint 
 
 i Pint 
 
 
 I oz. 
 Bottles. 
 
 2 oz. 
 Bottles. 
 
 Stone 
 Bottles. 
 
 Stone 
 Bottles. 
 
 
 I/O 
 
 2/0 
 
 3/9 
 
 7/0 
 
 
 
 o/S 
 
 0/9 
 
 1/3 
 
 2/3 
 
 
 
 0/9 
 
 1/6 
 
 3/o 
 
 5/6 
 
 
 
 0/6 
 
 I/O 
 
 1/8 
 
 3/0 
 
 
 
 06 
 
 I/O 
 
 1/8 
 
 3/0 
 
 h" 
 
 
 0/6 
 
 I/O 
 
 1/8 
 
 3/0 
 
 
 
 0/6 
 
 I/O 
 
 1/8 
 
 3/0 
 
 
 
 o/3 
 
 0/6 
 
 0/11 
 
 1/6 
 
 
 
 o/3 
 
 0/6 
 
 0/11 
 
 1/6 
 
 
 
 c/3 
 
 0/6 
 
 0/8 
 
 I/O 
 
 
 
 0/3 
 
 0/6 
 
 0/9 
 
 i/3 
 
 
 
 0/4 
 
 0/8 
 
 I/O 
 
 1/9 
 
 
 
 o/3 
 
 0/6 
 
 0/9 
 
 i/3 
 
 
 
 0/4 
 
 0/8 
 
 I/O 
 
 1/9 
 
 
 
 0/3 
 
 0/5 
 
 0/7 
 
 I/O 
 
 1 Pint 
 
 Stone 
 
 Bottles. 
 
 13/6 
 4/6 
 
 I O/O 
 6/0 
 6/0 
 6/0 
 6/0 
 3/0 
 3/0 
 
 1/9 
 
 2/3 
 
 3/6 
 2/3 
 3/6 
 1/6 
 
113, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON 
 
 107 
 
 JAPANNED TIN BOXES. 
 
 Fitted with Finest Oil Colours and Materials. 
 
 £ 
 
 POCKET BOXES. 
 
 THE FIVE SHILLING POCKET BOX. 
 
 ize 7 J in. by 3*in., by 1 in. deep, Corrugated Platform for the tubes to rest 
 upon, Sunken Well in lid to protect the wet Palette, containing 10 Finest 
 Oil Colours in 2 in. Tubes, 4 Brushes, Wooden Palette, and Bottle of 
 Pale Drying Oil ........ Price, complete 050 
 
 Trice, empty, 2s. 
 
 THE SEVEN AND SIXPENNY POCKET BOX. 
 
 >ize, 8 in. by 4f in., by ij in. deep, with Corrugated Platform for the Tubes £ s. d. 
 to rest upon, Sunken Well in lid to protect wet Palette, containing 
 14 Finest Oil Colours, 6 Brushes, Wooden Palette, Botlle of Pale Drying 
 
 Oil and Dipper . Price, complete 076 
 
 Price, empty, is. 3c/. 
 
 THE HALF GUINEA POCKET BOX. 
 
 Size, 9I in. by 5^ in., by if in. deep, with Conugaled Platform for the Tubes 
 
 to rest upon, Sunken Well in lid to protect wet Palette, containing 
 
 12 Finest Oil Colours, 6 Brushes, Wooden Palette, Bottles of Pale 
 
 Drying Oil and Turpentine ..... Trice, complete 
 
 Price, empty, 4^. 
 
REEVES &> SONS, Limited. 
 
 Japanned Tin Boxes of Finest Oil Colours— continued. 
 
 No. 
 1500a 
 
 1500b 
 
 Sketching Box, size \o\ in. by 6 in., ij in. deep, containing 
 13 Tubes of Finest Oil Colours, Bottles of Drying Oil and 
 Turpentine, Sable and Hog Hair Brushes, Palette Knife, 
 Dipper, and Wooden Palette . . . Price, complete 
 
 Price, empty, $s. 
 
 Sketching Box, size 12^ in. by 6 in., i£ in. deep, containing 
 15 Single and 1 Double Tubes of Finest Oil Colours, Bottles 
 of Drying Oil and Turpentine, Sable and Hog Hair Brushes, 
 Palette Knife, Dipper, and Wooden Palette Price, complete 
 
 Price, empty, 6s. 
 
 £ 
 
 o 15 
 
 1504 
 
 1504d 
 
 Sketching Box, size I2g in. by 8£ in., ij in. deep, containing 
 21 Finest Oil Colours (19 Single and 2 Double Tubes), Bottles 
 of Turpentine and Pale Drying Oil, Sable and Hog Hair 
 Brushes, Badger Hair Softener, Palette Knife, Chalk, Port- 
 crayon, Dipper, and Wooden Palette . . Price, complete 
 
 Price, empty, Js. 6d. 
 
 The same size and fittings as No. 1504, with the addition of a 
 double bottom for Millboards, and containing 2 Prepared 
 Millboards, 12 in. by 8 in Price, complete 
 
 Price, empty, lis. 3d. 
 
U3, CHE A PS IDE, LONDON. 
 
 109 
 
 .panned Tin Boxes of Finest Oil Colours— continued. 
 
 No. 
 
 1505 Complete Sketching Box, with flap over the 
 colours, size, i2§ in. by 8^ in., \\ in. deep, con- 
 taining 23 Finest Oil Colours (21 Single and 2 
 Double Tubes), Bottles of Turpentine and Pale 
 Drying Oil, Sable and Hog Hair Brushes, Badger 
 Hair Softener, Palette Knife, Chalk, Port-crayon, 
 Dipper, and Wooden Palette. Price, complete 
 Price, empty, iox. 
 
 1505u The same size and fittings as No. 1505, with the addition 
 of a double bottom for Millboards, and con- 
 taining 2 Prepared Millboards, 12 in. by 8 in. 
 
 Price, complete 
 Price, empty, 14s. 
 
 £ 
 
 d. 
 
REEVES & SONS, Limited. 
 
 FINEST RED SABLE BRUSHES, 
 
 FOR OIL PAINTING. 
 
 In Seamless Ferrules on Polished Walnut Handles. 
 
 Flat. 
 
 Fan Shape. 
 
 Sizes- 
 
 Flat 
 
 Round 
 Brights 
 Riggers 
 Fan 
 
 O 
 
 s. d. 
 
 o 6 
 
 o 6 
 
 o 6 
 
 o 6 
 
 s. d. 
 
 o 6 
 
 o 6 
 
 o 6 
 
 o 6 
 
 o S 
 
 s. d. 
 o 7 
 
 o 7 
 
 o 7 
 
 o 8 
 
 o 9 
 
 s. d. 
 
 o 8 
 
 o 8 
 
 o 8 
 
 o 9 
 
 s. d. 
 o II 
 O II 
 
 II 
 
 1 o 
 i 3 
 
 s. d. 
 
 I 2 
 
 1 2 
 
 I 2 
 
 I 3 
 
 i 6 
 
 5. «r. 
 
 i 3 
 
 i 3 
 
 i 3 
 
 i 6 
 
 i 9 
 
 s. d. 
 
 i 6 
 
 i 9 
 
 i 9 
 
 2 2 
 2 6 
 2 6 
 
 .f. d. 
 
 2 8 
 
 3 2 
 3 2 
 
 IO II I I 
 
 3 2 
 
 3 9 
 
 5. </. s. 
 
 3 94 
 
 4 65 
 
H3, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON. 
 
 FINEST HOG HAIR BRUSHES. 
 
 F, flat 
 
 G, „ 
 
 SIZE5 = 
 
 short, and thin, fine French hair 
 ,, ,, very thin, fine Lyons hair 
 
 0-6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 s. d. 
 
 2 
 
 o 3 
 
 s. d. 
 04 
 4 
 
 s. d. 
 5 
 5 
 
 s. d. 
 6 
 6 
 
 s. d. 
 6 
 6 
 
 S. d. 
 O 7 
 O 7 
 
 S. d. 
 
 8 
 8 
 
 Landseers, Riggers, Fans, and other shapes in Stock, sizes 1-6, each 6d. 
 Brights, sizes 1-6, each 3^/. 
 
REEVES &• SONS, Limited. 
 
 COMPLETE CATALOGUE OF OIL COLOURS AND MATERIALS 
 FOR OIL PAINTING ON APPLICATION. 
 
 PREPARED CANVAS IN ROLLS OR ON STRETCHERS. 
 
 Qtttfffioart>6 + $cabem£ Q$oar&0 + an& $cmefe. 
 
 PALETTES, PALETTE KSIYES, DIPPERS. 
 
 Easels for Studio Use, or for Sketching, in all Sizes and Patterns 
 PENCILS FOR SKETCHING, ALL DEGREES, Id., 2d h 4d„ 6d. 
 
 CHARCOAL, PER BOX, 8d. AND 3d. 
 
 A Large Yarieiy of Fancy Whitewood, Terra Cotta, Opals, Cards, Plaques, &c, 
 
 ALWAYS IN STOCK. 
 
 CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHIC STUDIES OF ALL KINDS 
 
 AGENTS FOR MADAME VOUGA STUDIES-SEE SEPARATE LISTS. 
 
 WATER COLOURS AND MATERIALS.— CATALOGUES ON APPLICATION. 
 QUaf flemaficaf Jngfrumenfs £ aff <i)raug0ffiman + (glatexiafs 
 
 CATALOGUES ON APPLICATION. 
 
 iLi^uD^insr^-Tinsra- j±.tstid a-iijiDiEiEts' mateeials 
 EDUCATIONAL COLOURS AND MATERIALS. 
 
 C1WA MHHTIH6 All €iaTST®24lg' 
 LISTS ON APPLICATION. 
 
 CRAYONS, CHALKS, STUMPS, &e. 
 
 ETCHING TOOLS, LITHOGRAPHERS' MATERIALS. 
 
 ALL CATALOGUES FREE ON APPLICATION TO 
 
 R6G0GS & SOUS, L>iinifed, 
 
 u 3 , CWEHPSIDE, kOflBOJ*. 
 
1* 
 
 ? T 
 
 
 GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 
 
 3 3125 00140 2821