A 
 
 
 ' 4 1 
 
 9 
 
A 
 
 GUIDE 
 
 OIL PAINTING. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. S. TEMPLETON. 
 
 FIFTEENTH EDITION, REVISED. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 GEOEG-E EOWNEY & CO., 
 
 MANUFACTUEING AKTISTS' COLOUKMEN, 
 
 29, OXFORD STREET ; and 52, RATHBONE PLACE, W. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 HENDERSON, RAIT, AND FENTON, PRINTERS 
 23 , BERNERS STREET. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface .... 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 . 3 
 
 The Painting Room .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 The Implements ..... 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 . 10 
 
 The Materials ..... 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 16 
 
 Of the Drying of Colours. 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 31 
 
 The Mixing of Colours 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 33 
 
 McGuilps and Mediums. 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 38 
 
 Method of Applying the Colours 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 41 
 
 Of Painting Heads and Flesh . 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 48 
 
 Of Painting Back Grounds. 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 54 
 
 Of Painting Draperies 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 57 
 
 Of Painting Landscapes 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 62 
 
 Of Painting Animals .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 66 
 
 Of Flower and Fruit Painting . 
 
 
 
 
 
 07 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/guidetooilpainti13temp 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages are intended to remove, or 
 at least lessen, the difficulties that necessarily 
 present themselves at the threshold, in entering 
 on the study of any branch of Art, arising 
 from want of practical information, arranged 
 in proper order, simplified, and clearly defined: 
 discouragement, and not unfrequently ultimate 
 abandonment, of a pursuit that might have 
 proved both pleasing and profitable, are the 
 consequence of the difficulties so encountered, 
 when a ready reference to information founded 
 on the experience of others might have 
 smoothed the way for the more resolute, and 
 encouraged the desponding to persevere. 
 
 The writer of this little work has derived 
 what information he possesses on the subject 
 of which it treats chiefly from his own practical 
 experience, corroborated by the communications 
 and opinions of many others in the profession, 
 of such standing as to give high value to 
 their authority. He feels, therefore, that he 
 is justified in placing it, with modest con- 
 fidence, before those who are in a condition 
 to require it, without any hazard of leading 
 them astray, and with an eaimest desire that 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 it may prove useful. His aim has been to 
 omit nothing that could be considered essential 
 to be known ; and in entering into minute 
 details, it would he difficult to determine 
 what should be pronounced trivial or unneces- 
 sary to be communicated to such as are just 
 commencing their search for elementary infor- 
 mation. In viewing the various grades of 
 intellect that may be directed to the same 
 pursuit, it will be admitted without difficulty 
 that precepts and points of instruction, which 
 would appear superfluous and trifling to the 
 more gifted, xuay be necessary and of high 
 value to others. The best course, then, is to 
 provide for all, and to risk transgression rather 
 on the side of superfluity than scantiness. 
 Many, indeed most of the works that have 
 been hitherto published on the same subject, 
 are so deficient in the detailed information 
 here alluded to as to deprive them of half 
 their value to the beginner, however good 
 they may be in other respects. To supply this 
 want is one of the chief objects of this little 
 treatise, and it will be a source of great 
 gratification to the author if he should be 
 deemed to have accomplished his aim. 
 
 Kensington, May , 1845. 
 
A GUIDE TO OIL PAINTING. 
 
 THE PAINTING ROOM. 
 
 Where circumstances permit, it is obviously the most 
 satisfactory and convenient plan to have a room exclusively 
 appropriated to the purposes of oil painting ; as by its 
 adoption much time may be saved that would be otherwise 
 spent in the arrangement of, and putting away the 
 materials, previous to commencing, and after leaving olF 
 work. In a room of this kind, such order may easily be 
 preserved as will greatly conduce to the comfort and 
 facility of readily laying one’s hand on any of the materials 
 or requisites that may be wanted in the progress of the 
 picture ; they are likewise less liable to be disturbed or 
 deranged by the officious interference of persons unac- 
 quainted with their use. The picture can also be left to 
 dry undisturbed, after having been painted upon, without 
 risk of injury from dust or accident ; the artist is tempted 
 to embrace every opportunity of resuming his occupation 
 by the inviting readiness with which he can take up his 
 materials ; and he is also less liable to be disturbed by 
 the intrusion of strangers, or to be discouraged by 
 superficial or premature criticism, while absorbed in the 
 
8 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 pleasing effort of working out some peculiar effect, obvious 
 at the time to none but himself. 
 
 Such a room, which is called in plain English a painting 
 room, but which is sometimes effectively styled a studio, 
 or atelier, need be but of moderate dimensions for 
 ordinary practice ; and when a choice of aspect can be 
 made, it should have one good uninterrupted, and some- 
 what elevated, light, facing the east or north, as from 
 windows so situated the direct rays of the sun (which 
 are by no means friendly to the painter’s operations) 
 retire at an early hour in the morning. The furniture of 
 the painting room should be simple, and its quantity and 
 nature entirely regulated by the artistes convenience and 
 requirements. If he have but few seats, he is the less likely 
 to be disturbed in his studies by lounging intruders, and 
 the scarcity of tables will have the contrary tendency to 
 prolonging their visitations, by any prospective suggestions 
 of ill-timed or unnecessary hospitality ; but in truth an 
 over-supply of such things in a painting-room only serves 
 to encumber the painter, and its absence will never be felt 
 as a discomfort by him, when inspired by the enthusiasm 
 necessary to the production of a creditable work of art. A 
 drugget of some warm but unobtrusive colour will be a 
 proper covering for the floor ; window hangings are worse 
 than useless, as they tend to obstruct the light and 
 harbour dust, which they yield again on the slightest 
 agitation, to the manifest injury of colours recently laid 
 on the picture. In cold weather the painting-room is 
 best warmed by a close stove, by the use of which both 
 smoke and dust are in a great measure avoided, and a 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 9 
 
 more equal temperature is diffused through the room : the 
 advantage of which will be felt in its tendency to promote 
 the drying of the colours, which cold or frosty w^eather is 
 apt to delay. And it may be w^ell to remark that the glare 
 of reddish light from a fire, in an open fire-stove, is not 
 unfrequently found to impair, for a time, that nice and 
 delicate perception of tint and colour which it should 
 alw^ays be the artist’s endeavour jealously to preserve. 
 A few good prints, pictures, or copies of pictures, of a 
 character and subject suited to the taste of the Artist, and 
 the branch of painting he has chosen, will form a suitable 
 decoration for the walls, and will prove extremely useful, 
 in keeping up his eye and reminding him constantly of the 
 principles of composition and effect, with which he should 
 be familiar, and of which he should never lose sight : a 
 few portfolios containing prints, drawings, and studies ; 
 and some useful casts, or other picturesque objects, will 
 form the remaining appropriate garniture of the room, 
 which should not be inconveniently overstocked, and 
 every object in which should have some- reference to the 
 pursuit of its occupant. 
 
 Although a room of this description is desirable, it 
 must not be inferred that it is absolutely indispensable 
 to the practice of oil painting ; there are indeed but few 
 circumstances ordinarily to be met with so inimical to its 
 practice as to forbid it altogether ; an ardent mind, 
 possessed of a moderate share of perseverance, and an 
 aptitude for orderly arrangement, will seldom be turned 
 aside from its purpose by slight obstructions or incon- 
 veniences ; the peasant’s cottage, the garret, and even 
 
10 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 the stable, have often been the scenes where genius has 
 developed itself ; and many fine works, the choicest gems 
 of choice collections, have been produced under circum- 
 stances in which little more than the mind of the artist 
 was favourable to their production. 
 
 THE IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 It is necessary the painter should be provided with 
 certain implements, and it will save much annoyance and 
 trouble if these are well chosen at the first. The list of 
 them is simple, the expense of procuring them need not 
 be great, and the most economical mode is to have 
 recourse to the artists’ colour shop for their purchase. 
 They may be thus enumerated : easel, palette, palette- 
 knives, brushes of various kinds, port-crayon, mahl-stick, 
 an oil or smudge pan, a colour slab and muller, a portable 
 japanned tin colour box, — and to these may be added a 
 looking-glass, a pair of compasses, a ruler, a T square, 
 some oiled paper, or what is better, some tin-foil, and a 
 small stock of old linen for palette cloths ; all these the 
 most inexperienced may select for themselves, by attend- 
 ing to the following observations : — 
 
 The Easel — is the frame or rest on which the picture 
 is supported at a proper height for the artist to work on. 
 There are several kinds of easels, but those in general use 
 are the common square framed, and the rack easel, the 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 11 
 
 latter of which is by far the most convenient, particularly 
 for pictures of a size that require to be occasionally raised 
 or lowered, in order to paint on the upper or lower parts 
 of them ; as with it this can be done with one hand, 
 whereby the necessity of putting down the palette and 
 brushes each time is avoided ; but as a well-made rack 
 easel is rather expensive, the common framed easel, 
 supplied with pegs for adjusting the height of the picture, 
 is very frequently used. A convenient height, for either 
 kind, is about six feet ; for very small pictures a table 
 easel will sometimes be found useful. 
 
 The Palette — is the board on w^hich the colours are 
 arranged to paint from. Palettes are usually made either 
 of an oval or an oblong square form ; they should be of 
 some light coloured wood, and sufficiently thin and well 
 balanced on the thumb to avoid any inconvenience being 
 felt from their weight; it is well to be provided with two 
 or three, of different sizes, to suit the magnitude or 
 nature of the work in which they are employed. As they 
 ought to be kept clean, the colour should never be allowed 
 to dry on them, it being then difficult to remove ; therefore, 
 on leaving off painting for any considerable time, the 
 colours should be removed to a porcelain slab, and im- 
 mersed in water contained in a shallow pan or dish ; the 
 palette should then be carefully cleaned with a piece of 
 rag, dipped in spirits of turpentine, and wiped dry. The 
 colours will thus remain moist for a considerable time, 
 and ready to be transferred to the palette again when 
 required for use. 
 
12 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 The Palette Knife — is used for arranging the colours 
 on the palette, mixing tints, &c. It should he very 
 flexible, about three quarters of an inch wide in its 
 broadest part, tapering off towards the point, and having 
 a balance handle. Besides the steel or silver palette 
 knife, there should always be had one of ivory, to use with 
 those colours which are injured by contact with metal. 
 
 Brushes. — The use of brushes need not be explained, 
 but their being well selected is of great importance. Those 
 usually employed in oil painting are made of hog’s hair, 
 black fitch, red sable, and badger’s hair, and are so de- 
 nominated respectively. It must be well borne in mind, 
 that the use of large brushes is conducive to the acquire- 
 ment of a broad, bold, and free style of painting. Flat 
 brushes are generally preferred, though round ones are 
 useful for some purposes. The hair should project a 
 moderate length from the tin in which it is mounted, so 
 as to combine firmness and flexibility. In choosing flat 
 brushes of hog’s hair, or black fitch, such as assume a 
 clean chisel-like form, without any straggling hairs, w^hen 
 wetted and passed between the thumb and finger, are the 
 best. The same may be observed of sables ; but these 
 should have the additional property of coming to a fine 
 point when required. Brushes of badger’s hair are only 
 used for softening or sweetening broad tints that have 
 been previously laid on the picture. Proper size is the 
 point to be observed in the choice of these. 
 
 The illustrations on the opposite page will serve as a 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 13 
 
 guide for the sizes and the number of each size of 
 brushes that may be selected for a first supply. 
 
 The brushes should be washed immediately after 
 using them, first with spirits of turpentine, then with 
 soap and warm (not boiling) water, well rinsed and dried, 
 and the hairs laid smooth with the finger and thumb. It 
 is very difiicult to clean a brush in which the colour has 
 been suffered to dry ; and it is always found to be injured 
 by such negligence. It is proper to observe that much 
 of the success of painting depends on the good condition 
 in which the brushes are kept ; and when they have been 
 well selected at first, they not unfrequently improve by 
 use, up to a certain point. 
 
 Port-crayons. — These are made in a variety of 
 patterns in brass, albata, steel, &c. Those made of 
 albata are the best. 
 
 Mahl-stick. — The mahl-stick is used for steadying 
 the hand, while painting the details ; one end of it is 
 held in the left hand with the palette and brushes, while 
 the other, properly wadded, rests on the canvas. It 
 should be light and firm, — those made of stiff cane are 
 the best. Its aid is not always necessary, and some artists 
 discard it altogether, as interfering with freedom of hand. 
 
14 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 Oil-pan. — This is a long-shaped vessel or box, usually 
 made of tin, the bottom slanting downwards from one 
 end to the other, into which is poured a little poppy or 
 nut oil. — Its use is to lay the brushes in, with the hair 
 immersed in the oil, to keep them moist when put away 
 after using them, without being washed. 
 
 Colour-slab and Muller. — A stout glass slab, 
 roughed on one side, ten or twelve inches square, and a 
 porphyry or glass muller, two inches in diameter, are 
 requisite for grinding up small bits of valuable colours, 
 or such as do not keep well enough in oil, to be purchased 
 ready ground. (These will be treated of in their proper 
 place.) The use of the slab and muller is easily acquired. 
 
 Colour-box. — Colour-boxes are fitted up in various 
 ways, and may be chosen indifferently, according to 
 fancy. They are intended to receive the colours prepared 
 for painting, some vials of oil and varnish, a small palette, 
 &c. Their best recommendation is portability, as their 
 chief use is for conveying out the materials to paint land- 
 scapes from nature, for travelling, and other such purposes. 
 
 A moderate sized looking-glass, hung in a convenient 
 place in the painting-room, for occasionally looking at the 
 picture in during its progress, will be found of great use 
 in enabling the artist to detect readily any errors he may 
 have committed in drawing, perspective, composition, the 
 balance of light and shadow, and colour*. This it does by 
 reflecting the picture reversed, and consequently doubling 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 15 
 
 the error to his view ; and he may rest assured, if the 
 image of the picture in the glass presents anything that 
 appears to be erroneous or unsatisfactory, the picture itself 
 requires correction in that particular. The looking-glass 
 is indeed a severe critic, but assuredly an honest one. 
 
 The occasional necessity for using a pair of compasses, a 
 ruler, and a T square, will be obvious to anyone the least 
 conversant wdth drawing. The compasses should be of 
 that kind to w^hich a pencil or crayon-holder can be ad- 
 justed, for striking circles, or curved lines, and the ruler 
 and square may be combined in one instrument, namely, 
 the latter ; the blade or long arm of which may be about 
 two feet long. When straight lines of greater length occur 
 in a picture, a thread stretched tightly across it, in the 
 proper direction, will be a sufficient guide for drawing them. 
 
 Oiled Paper — is easily prepared by brushing some dry- 
 ing oil over sheets of thin wTiting-paper, and then hanging 
 them up with pins to an extended cord to dry ; but as has 
 been observed, tin-foil, which is scarcely more expensive, 
 is better. Its use is to fold up neatly in small packages 
 (as chemists do powders, &c.,) the residue of tints com- 
 posed of valuable colours, or the colours themselves, that 
 may happen to remain on the palette after painting, for 
 future use. They may be thus kept moist and uninjured 
 for almost any length of time. 
 
 Old Linen — has been mentioned as being preferable for 
 palette cloths, &c., and the reason of this preference is, 
 merely that it is freer than any other, except silk, from 
 those flocculent particles which, by adhering to the palette 
 
16 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 and brusheSj might get mixed with the colours, and injure 
 their quality. There is no difficulty in procuring an ample 
 supply of old linen, as perfectly pure and clean as the 
 superfine paper that is made from it, for it may be cheaply 
 purchased of the people denominated rag merchants or 
 marine dealers. 
 
 THE MATERIALS. 
 
 A review having thus been taken of the painting-room, 
 with its furniture and implements, we must next proceed 
 to the consideration of the materials. It is the peculiar 
 business of the artists’ colourman to prepare and supply 
 these, and in order to be as certain as possible of their 
 quality (their perfect preparation being chiefly developed 
 in their use), recourse should always be had to shops 
 of established reputation for their purchase. Strained 
 canvases, prepared panels and millboards, oils and 
 varnishes, colours, sketching chalks, and a few coloured 
 crayons, form the list. 
 
 Canvas, Panel, and Millboard — are used indiscri- 
 minately for pictures, but canvas is the cheapest in propor- 
 tion to its size, is generally made use of for pictures of 
 considerable dimensions, and is usually sold ready prepared 
 and stretched on straining-frames, which are frames 
 fitted with wedges to their inner corners, by driving 
 which the canvas may be tightened, should it chance to 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 17 
 
 become inconveniently loose, as it sometimes does. There 
 are two kinds of grounds with which they are all prepared: 
 namely, the hard, or oil ground, and the absorbent ground, 
 which latter is so called from its tendency to absorb a 
 portion of the oil from the first lay of colour that is put on 
 it ; an advantage (if it be one) which is not perceptible 
 in any subsequent application of colour to the picture, 
 and therefore either ground may be chosen. A well-pre^ 
 pared canvas should have the ground laid evenly, without 
 streaks, and moderately thin, so that the texture of the 
 cloth should be scarcely, or not at all, perceptible, and it 
 should be free from projecting coarse threads and knots. 
 Panels are always preferred with a smooth surface, as they 
 are mostly used for smaller works that are intended to 
 receive high and delicate finish. The ground with which 
 millboards are prepared has frequently a slightly granu- 
 lated surface, this being better calculated to receive and 
 give effect to the bold and broad style in which sketches 
 and studies for pictures are usually painted, and for which 
 millboards are chiefly used. 
 
 The grounds should be of a light colour, and indeed 
 many artists prefer them of a pure white, as they find it 
 conducive to pureness and beauty of colouring in those 
 parts of a picture which require to be painted on but once, 
 as the white ground shines through the colour in those 
 parts, and gives it a lustre it would not otherwise possess. 
 Rubens, and many of the Flemish, Dutch, and old German 
 masters, used grounds of a very light colour, and in some 
 instances nearly white. An inferior kind of prepared 
 millboard is often used, called sketching-board ; its name 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 indicates the purpose it is employed for. Canvases, 
 that have been kept for a considerable length of time 
 previous to using, particularly in London and other large 
 cities, are apt to receive from the atmosphere a greasy 
 deposit which, though imperceptible to the eye, is of suffi- 
 cient quantity greatly to retard, and often altogether to 
 prevent, the drying of the colours that are laid on them. 
 The nature of this deposit is similar to that which may 
 be observed on the glass of windows that have not been 
 recently cleaned ; it is clammy and adhesive, and to remove 
 this before using them, the canvases should be placed in 
 a horizontal position, and carefully rubbed with a piece of 
 flannel and finely powdered pumice-stone, well sifted; 
 they should then be washed with a weak solution of sugar 
 of lead in water, applied with a rag or sponge, which may 
 be allowed to dry on them ; the powdered pumice must 
 then be applied again, and removed with a brush. Should 
 any design happen to have been made with chalk, that it 
 is desirable to preserve from being erased, the outlines of 
 it may be delicately gone over with a sable pencil and 
 burnt umber, or any other quickly drying colour, thinned 
 with mastic varnish, or turpentine, and allowed to 
 harden for a day or two. They will not then be removed 
 by the process just described, if carefully performed. 
 
 Oils. — The oils used in painting are the vehicles in 
 which the colours are ground in the first instance, and, 
 as their names imply, they are all extracted from 
 vegetables. They are linseed oil, nut oil, and poppy 
 oil. These have the property of solidifying when exposed 
 on a surface to the air. This property is called drying. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 19 
 
 and they are here set down in the order in which they 
 possess it ; linseed oil being that which dries most 
 rapidly. Good oils are of a very pale amber colour, 
 or nearly colourless, perfectly limpid and transparent, 
 and w’hen smeared on a piece of clean glass, should, in 
 warm weather, dry as follows : — Linseed oil in a day, nut 
 oil in a few hours more, and poppy oil should not much 
 exceed a couple of days. They are all more or less 
 influenced in their drying by the colours with which they 
 are employed, some of which greatly accelerate, while 
 others retard it ; and w ith certain colours some oils will 
 not dry at all, unless means are employed to cause them 
 to do so.; but of these we will treat when speaking of 
 colours. 
 
 The cause of these oils drying is, chemically speaking, 
 that they possess, in a much greater degree than animal 
 oils, a peculiar affinity for oxygen, which they absorb 
 from the air when exposed to it, and by the action of 
 which they are gradually thickened and become solid. 
 The natural tendency of linseed oil to assume this state 
 is greatly increased by mixing and boiling it with certain 
 oxides of lead, such as litharge, red lead, &c.^ wdiich 
 impart to it a much greater rapidity of drying After 
 undergoing this preparation, it is called drying or 
 boiled oil.” When purchased it should be, though of 
 a darkish colour, quite clear and translucent ; it is indis- 
 pensable in the use of some colours, and in some prepara- 
 tions that will hereafter be described. 
 
 Oils will keep good a long time, if corked from the air, 
 and, indeed, they rather improve by age than otherwise. 
 
 B 2 
 
20 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 It is sometimes the practice to expose them to a strong 
 light, in white glass bottles, or vials, well corked, to 
 deprive them of their yellowish hue ; this is called 
 bleaching them ; but it produces no great advantage, and 
 is scarcely worth the attendant trouble. 
 
 The following will be found an ample supply of each 
 kind : — 
 
 Drying oil — a pint. 
 Linseed oil 1 
 
 Poppy oil j.of each a gilL 
 Nut oil 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
 Vaenishes. — Mastic and copal varnishes are chiefly 
 employed in painting. Mastic varnish, being simply a 
 solution of gum mastic in rectified spirits of turpentine, 
 dries more quickly when alone, from the speedy evapora- 
 tion of that essential oil, than copal varnish, which con- 
 tains a small portion of fixed oil, found necessary for the 
 solution of the gum copal ; notwithstanding which, how- 
 ever, the latter varnish is found to possess a stronger 
 influence in promoting the drying of colours ground in 
 oil, when mixed with them, in the course of painting, 
 than the former, which is quite neutral in that respect. 
 
 A new sort of varnish, called white lac varnish, was 
 recommended by the late Mr. Field for some purposes 
 which will be mentioned hereafter, when explaining the 
 use and application of varnishes. They are all to be had 
 in perfection, at artists’ good colour shops, and the 
 following supply will be suflScient at first : — 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 21 
 
 Mastic 
 
 Lac Varnish — a gill. 
 
 A preparation termed ‘‘ Siccatif” has been lately 
 introduced in the arts, which appears to possess very valu- 
 able properties. It has copal for its base. It serves 
 either as a varnish or medium to paint with, and acts 
 as a preservative to a picture. 
 
 Colours. — As colours form the very being and essence 
 of a picture, and as all the other materials are subser- 
 vient and have reference to them, they have always been 
 regarded with peculiar interest by the artist, and have 
 occupied a chief share of his attention. It is, indeed, of 
 the first consequence that their nature and properties, 
 their sympathies and antipathies, and their respective 
 permanence or fugitiveness, should be well understood, 
 for on a knowledge of these their proper mixture and 
 application in a great measure depend, and he who goes 
 thoughtlessly to work, without this knowledge, using 
 indiscriminately such colours as seduce him by their 
 apparent richness, or dazzle him by their temporary 
 splendour, may chance to repent his want of caution, by 
 beholding his most beautiful effects fading daily beneath 
 his eye, and his most elaborate works rendered worthless 
 by mutations of colour and tint to him altogether 
 unaccountable. 
 
 The discoveries of modern chemistry have added largely 
 to the comparative simple list of colours employed by 
 
 J”"“Heachh.lfapi.l. 
 
 Varnish ) 
 
22 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 the old masters ; and yet if these discoveries were ten 
 times more numerous, they would never of themselves 
 enable us to rival the beauty of colouring to be found in 
 their best works. We have the same colours, in equal 
 perfection, that they employed, together with a great 
 number of others, of recent discovery, w^hich were un- 
 known to them ; but the great discovery we stand in need 
 of is that skill and judgment possessed by them in their 
 application which render most of the works alluded to so 
 pre-eminently beautiful. 
 
 It is well known that all the endlesss and varied effects 
 that nature presents to our view are produced by the 
 agency of the three primitive colours, yellow, red, and 
 blue, into which the rays of pure light are found divisible ; 
 and if three pigments of these three colours, perfect in 
 brightness, intensity, and durability, could be discovered, 
 we might hope by their means alone to approach near to 
 nature in our pictorial imitations of her works. But as such 
 a valuable discovery is scarcely probable, it will be wise to 
 keep nature’s principle constantly in view, in our selection 
 of colours, as a wholesome check upon any desire we 
 may feel to add unnecessarily to their number. And look- 
 ing upon it in this light, there seems to be nothing im- 
 probable in the assertion of Pliny that the ancient Greek 
 painters employed but four colours in their works ; for, 
 judging from the remains of ancient sculpture that have 
 come down to us, nothing can be more certain than that 
 the artists of those times founded their practice on 
 strictly true philosophical principles, deduced from that 
 nature they studied so closely, and imitated so faith- 
 fully. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 23 
 
 It only remains to be added, that a multitude of 
 different colours, however good or unexceptional each may 
 be in itself, only tends to embarrass and perplex the 
 artist in their use, creating unnecessary anxiety for their 
 proper employment, that might be better expended on 
 more important considerations. Colours may be called the 
 food of a picture — -the simpler and plainer that food, the 
 more healthy and vigorous will be its tone and texture. 
 It is said of Sir Joshua Reynolds that he successively 
 discarded each colour in its turn that he was in the habit 
 of using from his palette, and found he could do perfectly 
 well without it. 
 
 Instead, then, of indulging in the common practice of 
 increasing the number of colours, let us rather exert our 
 ingenuity in an endeavour to discard those we can do 
 without, taking this as a maxim, that the shortest road to 
 good colouring is through a simple palette. 
 
 We shall now proceed to consider in detail the 
 colours (or pigments, as they are commonly called, 
 previous to their being ground and prepared for painting), 
 that are in general use. They are derived from several 
 sources — the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms, as 
 well as chemical science, each contributing its share. 
 Some are purely natural productions, ready formed to our 
 hand, some are natural productions modified by art, while 
 some are produced by art alone ; and it is to be observed, 
 that from each of these sources both good and objection- 
 able pigments are derived. This classification of their 
 origin it is useful to know, as that of each will be presently 
 given, but their arrangement as to their respective hues 
 
24 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 is the one of most importance, and may be taken in the 
 following order : — White, yellow, red, blue, orange, 
 green, purple, brown, and black. 
 
 The principal pigments that belong to each of these 
 
 
 WHITE. 
 
 
 Flake White. 
 
 YELLOW. 
 
 Zinc White. 
 
 Yellow Ochre. 
 
 
 Yellow Lake. 
 
 Naples Yellow. 
 
 
 Yellow Orpiment. 
 
 Raw Sienna. 
 
 
 King’s Yellow. 
 
 Yellow Chrome. 
 
 
 Lemon Yellow. 
 
 Aureolin 
 
 RED. 
 
 Cadmium yellow. 
 
 Vermilion. 
 
 
 Pink Madder. 
 
 Light Red. 
 
 
 Carmine. 
 
 Indian Red. 
 
 
 Scarlet Lake. 
 
 Red Lead. 
 
 
 Crimson Lake. 
 
 Indian Lake. 
 
 BLUE. 
 
 Rose Madder. 
 
 Ultramarine. 
 
 
 Smalt. 
 
 French Ultramarine. 
 
 Prussian Blue. 
 
 Cobalt Blue. 
 
 Indigo. 
 
 Antwerp Blue. 
 
 
 ORANGE. 
 
 
 Orange Vermilion. 
 Orange Lead. 
 
 
 Burnt Sienna. 
 Orange Chrome. 
 
 Orange Orpiment. 
 
 GEEEN. 
 
 Terra Vert. 
 Veronese Green 
 
 Verdigris. 
 Emerald Green. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 25 
 
 PURPLE. 
 
 Purple Lake. 
 
 Purple Madder. 
 
 BROWN. 
 
 Raw Umber. 
 Burnt Umber. 
 Vandyke Brown. 
 Cologne Earth. 
 
 Brown Pink. 
 Bone Brown. 
 Madder Brown. 
 Asphaltum. 
 
 Cappah Brown. 
 
 BLACK. 
 
 Ivory Black. 
 
 Blue Black. 
 
 This list of pigments might be greatly extended,"^ but it 
 contains enough, and more than enough, for all the pur- 
 poses of the artist. They are probably never all used by 
 the same individual. As above enumerated, they afford a 
 fair field for selection. A dozen of them judiciously chosen 
 will form a liberal and efiScient supply for the palette; 
 and as we proceed we shall take care to point out the 
 most eligible. 
 
 Flahe White — (chemical) is white lead purified. It is 
 tolerably permanent, generally used in oil, perfectly 
 opaque, and dries well. 
 
 Zinc White — (chemical) is the white oxide of zinc. 
 
 * Among others not enumerated in the above list may be mentioned as 
 deserdng attention and trial — palladium scarlet, palladium red, permanent 
 blue, and Italian ochre. The Italian ochre is remarkable for its brilliant 
 yellow colour and its transparency, in both of which respects it far exceeds 
 all other ochres. 
 
26 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 quite permanent, frequently used in finishing, not quite 
 so opaque as flake white, nor so good a drier. 
 
 Yellow Ochre — (earth) is a good permanent colour, 
 much used, and dries well. 
 
 Naples Yelloiv — (chemical) is permanent, very opaque, 
 a good drier, and in considerable use. 
 
 Raw Sienna— is permanent, transparent, and 
 much used, though an indifferent drier. 
 
 Yellow Chrome — (chemical) is of a doubtful permanency, 
 though sometimes used on account of its brilliancy; is 
 opaque, and dries well. 
 
 Aureolin — (chemical) is permanent, very pure and 
 brilliant in tone, semi-opaque, and is a slow drier. 
 
 Yelloiv Lake — (vegetable) not permanent, very trans- 
 parent, not much employed, and dries very slowly. 
 
 Yellow Orpiment — (chemical) an unsafe colour, seldom 
 used, but will stand when applied alone in copal varnish ; 
 is very opaque, and dries very badly in oil. 
 
 King^s (chemical) nearly of the same charac- 
 
 ter as the preceding. 
 
 Lemon Yellow — (chemical) not much in use, is very 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 27 
 
 weak, though said to be permanent ; is semi-transparent, 
 and dries well. 
 
 Cadmium Yellow — (chemical) a rich warm yellow, 
 semi-transparent, believed to be permanent, but defective 
 in drying. 
 
 Vermilion — (chemical) very permanent, and of indis- 
 pensable use, opaque, dries rather slowly, except in 
 drying oil, with which it may safely be used. 
 
 Light Red — (earth) is yellow ochre burnt, is very per- 
 manent,' in general use, semi-transparent, and dries 
 readily. 
 
 Red Lead — (chemical) when of good quality is 
 tolerably permanent, but an unsafe colour, used occasion- 
 ally, opaque, and dries very rapidly. 
 
 Indian Red — (earth) is very permanent, much used, 
 opaque, and dries well. 
 
 Pinh Madder — (vegetable) is very permanent, of great 
 use, very transparent, but a bad drier. 
 
 Rose Madder — (vegetable) of the same character as 
 the preceding, but of greater depth and richness ; it is an 
 excellent colour. 
 
 Carmine^ Scarlet Lahe^ Crimson Lahe — (all prepara- 
 tions from cochineal). These three are various prepara- 
 
28 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 tions of the same kind, of no great repute for permanency, 
 hut used with certain precautions to a considerable extent ; 
 they are very transparent, but bad driers. 
 
 Indian Lahe — (vegetable gum) of the same character 
 as the last, but more durable. 
 
 Ultramarine — (mineral) perfectly unchangeable, 
 generally used, semi-transparent, and dries well. 
 
 French Ultramarine — (chemical) resembles ultramarine, 
 instead of which it is often used for economy, though 
 inferior in colour ; it sometimes undergoes a slight change ; 
 a good drier. 
 
 Colalt Blue — (chemical) is durable, much used, trans- 
 parent, dries freely, and has a tendency to assume a 
 greenish hue. 
 
 Smalt — (chemical) of the nature of cobalt, but not so 
 durable ; is rarely used, and is a good drier. 
 
 Prussian Blue^ — (chemical) permanent ; much used 
 for dark rich blues, or mixed dark tints ; it is a most 
 powerful and transparent colour, and an excellent drier. 
 
 Antwerp Blue — (chemical) resembles Prussian blue ; 
 is less permanent, and is rarely used. 
 
 * Most Prussian blues are very fugitive. That made by George Rowney 
 & Co. is quite permanent. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 29 
 
 Indigo — (vegetable) though very deep, not very per- 
 manent, and is not often used ; it is very transparent, and 
 dries well. 
 
 Orange Vermilion — (chemical) permanent, very eli- 
 gible, opaque, and dries well. 
 
 Orange Lead — (chemical) the same as red lead. 
 
 Burnt Sienna — (earth) very permanent, much used, 
 rich and transparent, and an excellent drier. 
 
 Orange Chrome — (chemical) rather more durable than 
 chrome yellow, but in other respects of the same 
 character. 
 
 Orange Orpiment — (chemical) has the same character 
 as yellow orpiment. 
 
 Terra Vert — (earth) permanent, used occasionally, 
 semi-opaque, and a very good drier ; very eligible. 
 
 Verdigris — (chemical) not at all permanent, except 
 when applied alone in copal varnish, and a little oil, in 
 which it is now and then used on account of its beauty as 
 a glazing colour ; very transparent, and an excellent 
 drier. 
 
 Veronese Grreen — (chemical) is a permanent and trans- 
 parent green of a pure bright hue, very useful for glazing ; 
 dries moderately well. 
 
30 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 Emerald Green — (chemical) not very durable, some- 
 times used sparingly on account of its brilliancy ; opaque, 
 and dries well. 
 
 Purple Lake — (insect) see character of scarlet and 
 crimson lakes. 
 
 Purple Madder — (vegetable) see characters of pink 
 and rose madders. 
 
 Paw TJmher — (earth) very permanent, much used, 
 semi-transparent, and an excellent drier. 
 
 Burnt Umler — (earth calcined) of the same character 
 as the last. 
 
 Vandyke Brown — (bog earth, vegetable) very durable, 
 frequently used, semi-transparent ; an extremely bad drier. 
 
 Cologne Earth — (bog earth, vegetable) very permanent, 
 much used, semi-transparent, dries slowly. 
 
 Brown Pink — (vegetable) not very durable, except in 
 deep rich shades, for which it is frequently used ; very 
 transparent, but an extremely bad drier. 
 
 Bone Brown — (animal) pretty durable, often used, 
 transparent, dries slowly. 
 
 Madder Brown — (vegetable) very durable, not often 
 required, very transparent, and a bad drier. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 31 
 
 Asphaltum — (bituminous) permanent, much used by 
 some artists, though objectionable on account of its lia- 
 bility to crack ; extremely transparent, and dries rapidly. 
 
 Cappah Brown — bears an unexceptionable character 
 as a pigment, transparent, and dries with remarkable 
 rapidity. 
 
 Ivory Black — (animal charcoal) very durable, constantly 
 used, very transparent, but rather a slow drier. 
 
 Blue Black — (vegetable charcoal) very durable, in 
 frequent use, semi-transparent, and a good drier. 
 
 OF THE DEYING OF COLOUES. 
 
 In treating of oils, it has been mentioned that some 
 colours retard or prevent the drying of the oils in 
 which they are ground. These colours are technically 
 called bad driers ; but this tendency may be corrected in 
 various ways; the most simple of which is, to add a small 
 portion of sugar of lead, of the best kind, very finely 
 ground in pale drying oil, to such colours as require it. 
 This may be done on the palette, with the palette-knife. 
 It is imagined by some that this mixture has a tendency 
 to injure the colours ; but if just so much of it is used as 
 will ensure their drying in moderate time, no injury need 
 
82 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 be feared equal to the probable accumulation of dust and 
 dirt that will be deposited on them before they dry, if 
 some such precaution be not taken, besides the chance of 
 smearing, and other accidents that may befal them, or 
 the irksomeness of waiting till they are in a fit state of 
 dryness to receive fresh work. 
 
 Such colours as dry rapidly alone are also frequently 
 found to promote the drying of those that dry slowly, 
 and advantage may be taken of this. For example, almost 
 all colours dry in a short time when mixed in tints with 
 fiake white ; a very small addition of burnt umber will 
 suffice to dry Vandyke brown, without materially 
 changing its colour ; a minute portion of red lead will 
 secure the drying of the lakes without injury to their 
 tints ; red lead and Prussian blue, mixed to a dark 
 grey, may be added in sufficient quantity to ivory black, 
 to promote its drying, without interfering with its black- 
 ness ; a small addition of raw umber will dry brown 
 pink, a still smaller portion of the same will serve for 
 raw sienna ; and a little experience in the nature of the 
 various colours, founded on a reference to their characters 
 in the foregoing list, will suggest other similar expedients, 
 so as nearly to avoid the necessity of using sugar of 
 lead or other artificial driers altogether. 
 
 The colours are usually sold ready ground in their 
 proper oils, and put in convenient quantities in tin tubes, 
 &c. ; but there are a few kinds that do not keep well in 
 oil, such as the cochineal lakes, Prussian and Antwerp 
 blues, and brown pink. These in a very short time thicken, 
 and become of the consistence of stiff cold size, or glue. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 33 
 
 They should therefore be purchased in a state of impal- 
 pable powder, and mixed with their proper oils when 
 required, which are, for the lakes and brown pink, 
 drying oil ; and for Prussian blue, linseed oil. Some of 
 the more valuable colours should also be procured in the 
 same state and used in the same way to avoid waste, such 
 as ultramarine, cobalt blue, pink madder, and carmine, 
 mixing just so much as may be required at the time of 
 use. 
 
 THE MIXING OF COLOUES. 
 
 The proper mixing of colours is, to the uninitiated, a 
 great apparent mystery; and it seems to them the chief 
 diflSculty in painting. That it is of great importance we 
 do not mean to deny, but it is a subject that a proper 
 attention to a few simple principles will soon enable any 
 one to master. The judicious application of the colours 
 when mixed is the greatest practical diflSculty the student 
 in painting has to overcome. 
 
 Colours are technically said to work well or ill, according 
 to the ease or diflSculty with which they can be laid 
 on the picture; the precision with which they obey the 
 touching on of the brush, and the sympathy they possess 
 for other colours, so as to form agreeable accidental tints 
 with them, while being broken, or worked together on the 
 picture. Now it fortunately so happens that white (flake 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 white), the indispensable pigment, the representative of 
 pure light in nature, possesses all these good qualities in 
 a pre-eminent degree; for with this pigment almost all 
 the others are occasionally called on to associate or mix, 
 and indeed it may be taken as a general principle that all 
 colours, which, when mixed with white, form agreeable 
 and permanent tints, are eligible to be mixed together, 
 without injury to one another, and worthy to be placed on 
 the palette. 
 
 It must be observed that yellow, red, and blue, the 
 only three primary and simple colours, are to be taken as 
 the elementary principles of all colours, for they cannot 
 be produced by the mixture of any other colours, while 
 all the others may be produced by the proper mixture of 
 these. White when mixed with colours simply lightens 
 their tint in proportion to its quantity, increases their 
 opacity, and cools their hues. Its mixture with yellow, red 
 and blue pigments, have the following results. Thus with 
 it and 
 
 Chrome Yellow, \ 
 
 ( 
 
 ' Primrose. 
 
 Naples Yellow, f 
 
 • are formed < 
 
 \ Lemon Colour. 
 
 Yellow Ochre, ( 
 
 
 \ Yellow Buffs. 
 
 Raw Sienna, ) 
 
 ' ( 
 
 [ Dark Buffs. 
 
 Vermilion, \ 
 
 i 
 
 Pink flesh tint. 
 
 Red Lead, f 
 
 are formed < 
 
 1 Salmon Colour. 
 
 Light Red, f 
 
 1 Flesh tints. 
 
 Indian Red. J 
 
 ( 
 
 Purplish flesh tint. 
 
 Ultramarine, ^ 
 
 Cobalt, ^ 
 
 ( 
 
 ■ Cool hght blues of 
 
 are formed < 
 
 different tints and 
 
 Prussian Blue, ) 
 
 ( 
 
 brightness. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 35 
 
 The other mixed colours in general use are as follows : — 
 
 MIXED ORANGE.* 
 
 YELLOWS. \ / RED. \ 
 
 Chrome Yellow/ \vermilion /produce Orange of various 
 
 Naples Yellow ^ Light Eed ‘^"^rees of brightness 
 
 Yellow Ochre ) (Red Lead. ) and opacity. 
 
 Yellow Lake j / Pink Madder ] 
 
 Raw Sienna > with I Carmine > Transparent Orange. 
 
 Lemon Yellow ) ( Scarlet Lake ) 
 
 By inverting the order of the reds, or yellows, semi- 
 transparent orange tints will be produced. 
 
 MIXED GREENS. 
 
 Ultramarine / 
 
 j Cobalt Blue \ Produce Greens of various 
 
 -r, . < degrees of brightness 
 
 ) Prussian or ) . ° 
 
 f / and opacity. 
 
 I Antp. Blues [ 
 
 Ultramarine / 
 
 i Cobalt Blue \ 
 
 : ^ . < Transparent Greens, 
 
 j Prussian or j 
 
 Antp. Blues [ 
 
 Mixed olive greens of various tints are made by mixing 
 with the above, for the opaque greens, a little vermilion, 
 light red or Indian red; for the transparent, carmine, 
 or any of the red lakes. They may also be made by 
 
 * The mixtures in this and the two following lists of mixed colours may he 
 taken diagonally (so to speak) : for example, Yellow Ochre and Vermilion ; 
 Pink Madder and Raw Sienna ; Yellow Ochre and Ultramarine ; Ultramarine 
 and Carmine. 
 
 Chrome Yellow 
 Naples Yellow 
 Yellow Ochre 
 
 "with 
 
 Yellow Lake 
 Raw Sienna 
 Lemon Yellow 
 
 > with 
 
 c2 
 
36 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 mixing any of the above yellows with a small portion of 
 blue black, or the blues with burnt sienna. 
 
 MIXED PURPLE. 
 
 Pink Madder \ ( Ultramarine ] Produce transparent Purples 
 
 The Red Lakes with I Colbalt Blue [ of different degrees of 
 Carmine J [ Prussian BlueJ depth and richness. 
 
 A duller semi- opaque purple may be formed by mixing 
 vermilion, or Indian red, with any of the above blues. 
 
 MIXED BROWNS. 
 
 An infinite number of browns can be produced by com- 
 bining any two of the above classes of mixed colours ; 
 for instance, green and orange, for bright browns, or 
 citron ; orange and purple, for warm medium browns, 
 or russet ; green and purple for deep olive browns, &c. 
 Dark earthy browns are also made by the mixture of red 
 and black ; but with these hints the composition of mixed 
 browns will be best acquired by a few experimental trials. 
 
 MIXED GREYS. 
 
 Nearly all greys are produced by mixture, and the 
 modes of forming them are also very numerous ; the 
 following are the most useful : — 
 
 Ivory Black and White. 
 
 Blue Black and White. 
 
 Vandyke Brown and White. 
 
 Light Red, Ultramarine, and White. 
 
 Vermilion, Ultramarine, and White. 
 
 Indian Red, Ultramarine, and White. 
 
 Ultramarine Ash and White. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 37 
 
 A very useful, clear, warm grey is produced by mixing a 
 small quantity of raw umber wdth white. The umber 
 must be used sparingly, otherwise the tint will sink into 
 a dirty light brown. 
 
 MIXED BLACK. 
 
 A very intense black may be formed by mixing in 
 proper proportions brown pink, crimson lake, and 
 Prussian blue. The browm pink and lake should be 
 mixed together first, so as to form a deep marone, and 
 the Prussian blue added cautiously afterwards, till the 
 black is perfect. This black is seldom used alone, but 
 when mixed wdth ivory black, forms a good compound 
 colour for the strongest shadows of black draperies, &c. 
 
 We have thus stated all that seems necessary for the 
 preliminary knowledge of the nature and mixtures of 
 colours in general use ; what remains to be learned may 
 be best acquired by practice in their application. 
 
 Sketching Chalks, &c. — Prepared white chalk, 
 black Italian chalk, and willow charcoal, cut into the 
 form of crayons, are severally used for making the out- 
 lines of the subject on the canvas or panel ; for small 
 subjects, a moderately soft black lead pencil may also be 
 used for the same purpose. White chalk and charcoal 
 being easily effaced, are best to begin with, as they admit 
 more freely of corrections being made. An outline made 
 of charcoal saturated with drying oil will become fixed 
 in a few hours : this has the advantage of not being 
 liable to be removed by the friction of brushes when 
 painting on it. 
 
38 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 Crayons. — A few soft crayons of different colours, 
 white, yellow, red, blue, orange and green, will be found 
 useful in the more advanced stages of the picture, when 
 it is sufficiently dry and hard ; with these, limited 
 modifications of its light and shade, or colour, may be 
 temporarily tried, the effects of which the artist may be 
 unable to foresee with sufficient certainty, to hazard their 
 more permanent introduction with oil colours, which are 
 not so easily removed if required, but which latter are to 
 be substituted for the crayon touches, should the result 
 of the trial with them prove satisfactory. If not, they 
 (the crayon touches) can be immediately effaced with a 
 moist sponge. The anticipated effect of the introduction 
 of figures and cattle in landscapes may be conveniently 
 tested also in this way. 
 
 McGUILPS AND MEDIUMS. 
 
 By these terms are designated various compounds of 
 the oils and varnishes already described ; they are used 
 by dipping the brushes into them for tempering and 
 diluting the colours, previously ground in oil, to a proper 
 consistence for laying on the picture ; those are the best 
 which, with an agreeable texture, interfere least with the 
 permanency and colour of the tints with which they are 
 used, and have the least tendency to produce cracks, and 
 separations on the surface of the picture, as it becomes 
 old. It has been considered a difficult problem to unite 
 
OIL PAINTING, 
 
 39 
 
 all these good qualities in one medium, therefore the 
 composition of McGuilps and mediums has usually 
 occupied a considerable share of the attention of artists, 
 and consequently the recipes for their formation are 
 numerous ; but as the aim of this treatise is to simplify, 
 and not to perplex, we shall only give a few of those 
 which we consider the best.^ 
 
 No. 1. — Siccatiff, if found to dry too slowly, add 
 spirits of turpentine; if too fast, add linseed or poppy 
 oil. 
 
 No. 2.. — Mix equal quantities of drying oil and 
 mastic varnish, let the mixture stand undisturbed for 
 a few minutes, and it will take the consistence of a thin 
 transparent amber-coloured jelly this forms an agree- 
 able McGuilp in very general use. 
 
 No. 3. — Mix a small quantity of sugar of lead, very 
 finely ground in linseed oil, with so much of the same 
 oil as not to impair its fluidity, to this add a similar 
 portion of mastic varnish : this will form an equally 
 good McGuilp, that will dry well, of a much lighter 
 colour than the former. 
 
 No. 4. — Mix one part of a saturated solution of sugar 
 of lead in water, with two parts of linseed oil, stir 
 them well together, till they are intimately combined, 
 
 * Some of these are to be procured at Artists’ colour shops, prepared in 
 tubes. 
 
40 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 then add two parts of mastic varnish. This forms a 
 white creamy opaque compound, hut which will dry 
 equally transparent as the two preceding. It is called 
 Gumption, is an excellent drier, and seldom used. 
 
 No. 5. — One part copal varnish, mixed with two of 
 linseed oil, to which a little of sugar of lead is added, 
 as in No. 2, is sometimes used ; this does not coagulate 
 like the preceding. * 
 
 Some persons object to the use of varnishes altogether 
 in painting, and dilute their colours with linseed oil 
 and spirits of turpentine, mixed in equal quantities ; 
 this for some purposes will be found rather difficult to 
 manage ; though pictures so painted are considered very 
 durable ; its drying properties are very slight, therefore 
 in using it, the precautions mentioned under the head 
 of colours, to secure their drying, must be carefully 
 attended to. 
 
 Some again, from a wish to avoid an injurious excess of 
 oil in their colours, dilute them with spirits of turpen- 
 tine alone. This mode of painting is of still more difficult 
 
 * With whatever McGuilp or medium a picture is begun, the same should be 
 used throughout the whole of its progress. The non-observance of this rule 
 frequently leads to very injurious consequences to the picture, for when several 
 different kinds of mediums are used in the same picture, the substance of the 
 colours when dry is, in consequence of the varying nature of the ingredients 
 employed, liable to varying and antagonistic degrees of expansion and con- 
 traction, under the influence of the changes of atmospheric temperature ; and 
 the picture after a time is found in consequence of this to crack and, separate 
 in all directions, to its manifest and sometimes almost irreparable injury. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 41 
 
 management, and with it the same precautions must be 
 taken for the slowly drying colours. 
 
 METHOD OF APPYLING THE COLOUKS. 
 
 There are several technical distinctions in the modes of 
 applying the colours to the picture in its various stages 
 that require explanation, in order that the designating 
 terms which are given them, and necessarily used in the 
 directions that follow hereafter, for painting the various 
 classes of subjects, may be the more readily understood ; 
 these are severally called, first, the lay-in or dead- 
 colouring ; second, painting in detail ; third, glazing ; 
 fourth, scumbling ; fifth, dry-touching, or, as it is some- 
 times called, dragging. There are also such terms as 
 loading, scraping, oiling out, &c. These we now proceed 
 to describe. 
 
 1. The laying-in^ or dead colouring^ is performed by 
 going over the picture with a moderate quantity of colour 
 in the lights, which should be more thinly laid in the 
 shadows (using large brushes) giving to each object a 
 somewhat slighter or weaker effect of light, shade, and 
 colour, than it is intended to possess when finished ; 
 omitting the details, and not defining the outlines too 
 sharply : in this process, too, an idea of the general effect 
 of the light and dark (or chiaroscuro) of the picture 
 should be preserved. A picture properly laid-in, or 
 
42 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 dead-colouredy should present in general a quiet atmo- 
 spheric effect, with silvery grey, and transparent neutral 
 brown tints predominating among the other colours. To 
 produce this, the colours used in this first stage of the 
 picture should be as few and simple as possible, and the 
 tints should be carefully laid in a broad and simple 
 manner in their proper places at once, avoiding much 
 blending or mixing on the picture. 
 
 It is a vulgar and fatal error to suppose that the 
 dead-colouring of a picture may be done in a slovenly or 
 hap-hazard manner; on the contrary, it requires great 
 care and judgment, as on it much of the ultimate success 
 depends ; for it often happens that a considerable portion 
 of it is left apparent, through all the subsequent opera- 
 tions that are necessary to complete the picture. 
 
 2, Painting in detail^ called also the second paint- 
 mg, may be described as a repetition of the former, but 
 comprehending more attention to the characteristic details, 
 and finish of the various objects. In this process, their 
 drawing, light and shade, reflections, and variety of tints 
 in colouring, are more elaborately made out ; and the 
 relative distances of objects from the eye are more care- 
 fully preserved by means of serial perspective ; the shadow s 
 though strengthened, are, as before, painted thinly, and 
 with a certain degree of transparency, so as to allow those 
 of the dead-colouring to be partially apparent through 
 the second painting, and more care is required in uniting 
 them with the half-tints, so as to produce roundness or 
 solidity, and a greater body of colour is laid on the 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 43 
 
 lights, which should also be pencilled with greater atten- 
 tion to character, and sharpness, and the touches on the 
 high lights should be put in with firmness and precision. 
 A greater variety of colours may be placed on the palette 
 for this stage of the work. 
 
 When it occurs that portions of the first lay, or dead- 
 colouring, are found sufficient, or nearly so, for the required 
 effect, they should be but slightly or not at all interfered 
 with in the second painting. This will be found generally 
 to happen in shadows and half tints, and will greatly 
 conduce to clearness and transparency of colouring. 
 
 When all the parts of a picture have thus been painted 
 in detail, it should present a tolerably finished effect, 
 both of colour and light and shade, only requiring 
 modification more or less by the following processes. 
 
 3. Glazing . — The laying thinly transparent colours 
 diluted with a considerable quantity of any of the 
 McGuilps or mediums already described, either in broad 
 flat tints or partial touches, on portions of the picture, is 
 called glazing, and a tint or colour thus applied is called 
 a glaze, which, when it is of moderate strength, will 
 allow the work beneath to appear distinctly through it, 
 but tinged with its colour. 
 
 The uses of glazing are, to strengthen such shadows as 
 require it, or to give warmth or coolness to their hue, to 
 subdue those lights that are obstrusive from their bright- 
 ness, or to give additional colour, force and richness to 
 those that are deficient in these qualities ; to give these 
 diversified tintings that frequently occur on the surfaces 
 
44 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 of near objects, and occasionally to supply such details and 
 markings in them as may have been previously omitted. 
 Thin delicate glazes judiciously passed over large portions 
 of the picture are sometimes found of great service in 
 improving the general effect, both in breadth, as regards 
 light and shade, and tone, as regards colour. 
 
 Great caution must be observed that no attempt be 
 made to glaze until the colours over which the glazing is 
 to be laid be perfectly dry and firm ; otherwise the latter 
 will be dissolved and rub up in the operation, and so 
 much of the work be thereby spoiled. To avoid this, two 
 or three days should be allowed to intervene between the 
 drying of colours and the subsequent glazing on them. 
 
 Semi-transparent, and even opaque colours, are some- 
 times used as glazing colours, when rendered sufiiciently 
 transparent by mixing a small quantity of them with a 
 large proportion of McGuilp. Vermilion, light red, 
 yellow ochre, &c., may be employed in this way, and 
 frequently with excellent effect ; but it must be done 
 with great caution ; for if used in excess, they will mar 
 the beauty of the work, by injuring its transparency. 
 
 Glazing requires much practice and experience for its 
 proper performance, as the facilities it presents for modi- 
 fying effects often tempts the beginner to an injudicious 
 or incautious use of it ; the result of which, to the picture, 
 is generally a heavy and dirty tone of colour. Still it must 
 be remembered the power it gives when judiciously used 
 is one of the chief recommendations of oil painting. 
 
 4. Scumbling . — By the term scumbling is meant, the 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 45 
 
 driving opaque tints very thinly over parts that have 
 already been painted, and that are sufficiently dry and 
 firm to undergo the operation ; it is usually performed 
 with a hog’s hair brush, very sparingly charged with the 
 tint to be employed ; which is called a scumble, and 
 must be generally lighter, and nearly, though not of 
 necessity invariably, of the same tone of colour as the 
 part over which it is passed. 
 
 Scumbling may, with proper judgment, be used in any 
 part of the picture ; but it is better, if possible, to avoid 
 using it over shadows, more particularly such as are 
 wished to be kept transparent, and to confine its appli- 
 cation chiefly to the lighter parts, where it may be 
 required. It frequently produces beautiful effects on the 
 half-tints of flesh. 
 
 Its use is to weaken the force of colours that are too 
 strong, and force themselves too much on the eye, for 
 the preservation of harmonious effect ; to give air and 
 distance to objects that seem too near, and to soften and 
 unite such tints on the surface of particular objects as 
 may be too violently contrasted for breadth of effect. 
 
 A scumble is generally a tint made of some colour 
 mixed with white. Its usual effect is to render the part 
 of the picture where it is employed somewhat cooler, 
 greyer, and less defined than before ; hence it is of great 
 service in correcting any tendency to muddiness or dirti- 
 ness of colouring ; and also to what is called hardness, or 
 over distinctness of detail. 
 
 Scumbling in its effects may be viewed as the opposite 
 of glazing ; and when a picture has been injured by too 
 
46 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 free a use of the latter, it may in a great degree be 
 remedied by the former ; indeed, each is, to a great 
 extent, calculated to remedy any errors that may be 
 committed in the use of the other ; and their judicious 
 combination in the same picture is found to produce the 
 greatest possible clearness, brilliancy, transparency, and 
 richness of colouring. 
 
 Dry -touching^ or Dragging^ is nothing more than going 
 over certain parts of the picture when it is dry with 
 light delicate finishing touches, in order to improve 
 the character, and to relieve or give surface texture to 
 objects requiring it. The tints used for this purpose 
 may, as occasion dictates, be either lighter or darker 
 than the parts to which they are applied ; it must be 
 dexterously done with a light free hand ; in some places 
 holding the brush loosely between the finger and thumb, 
 so as to leave the colour contained in it only partially 
 adhering to the former more projecting touches by which 
 it is caught. 
 
 Certain unpleasant appearances, technically called 
 mealiness and spottiness, are the consequences of over- 
 doing this portion of the work, the progressive effect of 
 which must, therefore, be watched with jealous care and 
 deliberation. 
 
 Loading — is a term applied to laying colours in thick 
 masses on the lights, so as to make them project consider- 
 ably from the surface, with a view of their being strongly 
 illuminated by the light that falls on the picture, and 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 47 
 
 thus mechanically to aid in producing roundness and 
 relief, or in giving a sparkling effect to polished or 
 glittering objects. This artifice, however, must be had 
 recourse to sparingly, otherwise it defeats its own object, 
 and gives the execution a coarse and vulgar air. 
 
 Scraping — is merely used for removing the thicker and 
 more prominent touches of colour from those parts of a 
 picture which, for any cause, it is desirable to repaint. It 
 is found generally to leave the surface in a very agreeable 
 state for receiving the colours afresh ; but it must not be 
 attempted till the colours so to be removed have acquired 
 great solidity, or else they will be torn off, and leave the 
 surface in a rough and ragged condition, that cannot be 
 remedied without much diflSculty ; a sharp table-knife, 
 that has been a good deal used, is the best instrument for 
 scraping. 
 
 Oiling out . — The surface of colours in drying frequently 
 assumes a state that renders it dijSEicult to lay fresh 
 colours thereon properly. To correct this, previous to 
 commencing work, the picture must have a little oil 
 (either linseed or nut) sparingly applied to it with a 
 brush, and then perfectly removed by wiping it with a 
 soft silk rag. This will be eflectual. 
 
 It sometimes happens that the colours dry in^ as it is 
 termed. This means that the oil they have been mixed 
 with is partially absorbed by those colours over which 
 they are laid, whereby their brilliancy is partially 
 obscured; but it may be restored, when required, by a 
 
48 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 very thin application of either mastic or white lac 
 varnish.* 
 
 OF PAINTING HEADS AND FLESH. 
 
 The number of sittings required for a portrait depends 
 entirely on the degree of facility acquired by practice, and 
 on the kind of subject, whether it be male or female, old 
 or young, &c., so that no precise number can be fixed on ; 
 the general average for an experienced artist is seven or 
 eight, which is commonly found sufficient for a finished 
 head ; the time occupied by each sitting being an hour 
 and a half, or two hours. 
 
 It is usual with beginners to occupy the whole of the 
 first sitting in making the outline or sketch, which, as a 
 white ground is best, may most advantageously be done, 
 first with dry charcoal, and afterwards fixed with 
 charcoal soaked in drying oil, as already described. In 
 sketching the head, great attention should be bestowed on 
 the proportions of the sitter’s features, as, on the propor- 
 tions, likeness in a great measure depends. Where these 
 are right, the likeness can never be far wrong, but if 
 incorrect, no labour will produce a very good one. 
 
 * White lac varnish being a spirit varnish, and possessing no homogeneity 
 with the usual mediums for painting, is, we think, an unsafe application. 
 Though it has been strongly recommended for this purpose by the late Mr. 
 Field, it would, we think, be certain to produce a tendency to cracking on the 
 surface of the picture. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 49 
 
 THE FIRST PAINTING. 
 
 The sketch having been made, the first painting or 
 dead-colouring (see page 41) may be done in one 
 sitting, and the colours required on the palette are as 
 follow : — 
 
 1 . 
 
 Flake White. 
 
 6 . 
 
 Vermilion. 
 
 2. 
 
 Yellow Ochre. 
 
 7. 
 
 Crimson Lake. 
 
 3. 
 
 Raw Sienna. 
 
 8. 
 
 Indian Red. 
 
 4. 
 
 Burnt Sienna. 
 
 9. 
 
 Ultramarine. 
 
 5. 
 
 Light Red 
 
 10. 
 
 Ivory Black. 
 
 These are to be set in the order in which they are 
 numbered, near the outer margin of the palette, begin- 
 ning with the white, above the thumb hole. 
 
 1. Yellow Ochre and White, two degrees. 
 
 2. Light Eed and White, two degrees. 
 
 3. Yermilion and White, two degrees. 
 
 4. Lake, Indian Red, and White. 
 
 5. Ultramarine and White. 
 
 6. Ivory Black and White. 
 
 7. Indian Red and White. 
 
 8. Lake, Indian Red, Ivory Black, and White, for shadows. 
 
 9. Lake and Indian Red, for warm shadows. 
 
 ‘ These tints are to be mixed on the palette, and set 
 just within the preceding, and in the same order as 
 above. 
 
 Begin (using hog’s hair brushes) with tint No. 8, 
 laying in all the shadows thinly and carefully, keeping 
 the outlines correctly ; then proceed to lay in the lights 
 with the lightest tint of No. 2, commencing with the 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 highest lights on the face, gradually strengthening it as it 
 approaches the shadows, land adding a little of tint No. 5, 
 for joining it with the shadows, which, when united by a 
 little delicate working with this tint, will produce a clean 
 pearly middle tint ; to facilitate the blending of the 
 lights and shadows, either a small softener of badger’s 
 hair, or a flat hog’s hair brush, may occasionally be used 
 dry, care being taken not to work the colours of the lights 
 far into the shadows, so as to injure their strength and 
 clearness. When thus laying on the lights, they must be 
 strengthened and graduated in accordance with nature, so 
 as to produce an appearance of roundness ; which will be 
 much assisted by a moderate use of the blue tint (No. 5) 
 gradually worked in when approaching the outlines and 
 shadows. This is the first stage. 
 
 When thus much is satisfactorily done, proceed to lay 
 in the tints of the complexion, the mouth, &c., with tint 
 No. 3, strengthening them towards the shadows with tint 
 No. 4, also work in the other tints of the face as nature 
 dictates, such as the greys, the purples, or greens, with 
 the remaining tints on the palette, being careful to avoid 
 a mottled or spotty look, and keeping the whole lighter 
 than nature. After this, proceed to improve the shadows 
 with tiiit No. 9, working it in only where it is required, and 
 using it for the stronger markings of the features, such 
 as the touches of deep warm shadow under the eyebrows, 
 the nostrils, and the mouth ; then with a tint composed 
 of No. 5, and the lightest degree of No. 1, mixed to a 
 delicate pearly green, with a light hand and tender touch, 
 gently cool down and harmonize such parts as require it, 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 51 
 
 avoiding, as much as possible, disturbing the tints already 
 laid. 
 
 When this is done, lay in a light tint of the hair, of its 
 appropriate colour — very thinly, marking its forms with 
 colour a little darker, joining it softly and with free 
 touches to the flesh, keeping it rather within the outline, 
 and the first painting of the head will be complete. 
 
 For a beginner, all this may possibly be too much to 
 achieve in one sitting, particularly as over haste and 
 want of care are to be guarded against ; therefore it may 
 be as well in such case to terminate the first sitting with 
 the first stage of dead-colouring ; taking another sitting 
 for its completion, previous to commencing which a little 
 oil should be applied (see page 47) to prepare the surface 
 for receiving the tints. 
 
 Remarks. — The lights in this sta^e should be laid in 
 with a great body of colour, avoiding unpleasant rough- 
 ness. Both the lights and shadows should be fainter than 
 nature, particularly the latter, as they are finished by 
 glazing, which will strengthen them suflSciently. The tints 
 should be laid in their proper places at once, or worked 
 together when necessary, with the brushes used in laying 
 them, and avoiding sweetening or softening them together 
 with the sweetener, as much^as possible. The tint No. 2, 
 (light red and white) must be considered as the ground 
 or general mass of the light for receiving all the other 
 tints of the flesh. Breadth of effect, and roundness, 
 without much marking or detail, is to be aimed at chiefly 
 in the first painting. 
 
 D 2 
 
52 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 THE SECOND PAINTING. 
 
 The second painting will require several sittings, the 
 first and second of which (with a palette set as before), 
 should be employed in correcting the tints on the lights, 
 with scumbling and thin painting where they require it, 
 and in improving the shadows, by glazing them delicately 
 to their proper colours, by a few touches of a stronger 
 and firmer character, and working in the principal 
 reflexions. The higher lights should also be touched in 
 with greater brightness and spirit, and a somewhat thicker 
 body o£ colour ; the features should be corrected in their 
 drawing and worked into more finish, occupying the 
 attention collectively as a whole, and not separately, 
 which is the only way to make them harmonize in 
 expression and character, and to secure likeness. The 
 tints for the lights of the eyes are compounded from tints 
 1, 5, and 6, varied a little occasionally with tint 2. 
 
 Subsequent sittings for the second painting will be 
 occupied in improving the likeness by still further 
 attention to the details of the features and other 
 markings of the face, improving the shadows by such 
 additional glazing as they require, strengthening the 
 hair by glazing and putting in its lights, so as to give 
 it more form and individual character, and relieving it 
 from the flesh by proper shadows thereon, of a clear 
 warm reddish tone, broken into the flesh colours with 
 cool pearly half-tints. 
 
 FINISHING. 
 
 The various stages in the progress of a picture slide so 
 gradually into one another that it would be difficult if not 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 53 
 
 impossible to draw the line where one ends and another 
 begins, thus the process of finishing a head partakes, in a 
 great degree, of the nature of a portion of the work de- 
 scribed in the latter part of the second painting, the chief 
 addition being that of glazing. 
 
 The work of finishing is done by putting in judicious 
 touches of glazing and scumbling, so delicately as not to 
 obliterate or obscure, but only to improve and render as 
 perfect as possible what has been already done. Too 
 much must not be attempted at one sitting in this 
 stage of the work, as the tints laid by the glazings and 
 scumblings may, by overworking them, interfere with and 
 dirty each other. At this advanced stage of the picture 
 it is better, then, to be over-cautious rather than otherwise, 
 and to allow the colours to dry frequently, and so repeat 
 the operations as often as may be necessary. When 
 nearly all has been done that is required, a few free light 
 touches, done in the manner of dry-touching (see page 
 46), will complete the work. 
 
 Remarks. — The colours used for glazing are, for the 
 lights, pink and rose madder, or carmine,^ used in some 
 places alone, or occasionally modified with light red, 
 vermilion, and ultramarine mixed to various tints ; raw 
 sienna, and raw sienna and ultramarine may be used 
 for the yellowish and greenish glazings. For glazing the 
 shadows, the colours employed are, lake, burnt sienna, 
 ultramarine and ivory black, from which the tints required 
 
 * Whenever it is practicable, the preparations from madder should be 
 substituted for those from cochineal, on account of their superior permanency. 
 
54 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 may be mixed. Too much attention cannot be paid to 
 keeping the glazing tints for the shadows clean and 
 translucent, as any degree of opacity injures them. 
 
 For scumbling, light red and white, with a very little 
 vermilion, will be found to be the tint of most general 
 service, and will preserve its clearness with almost any 
 other tint "with which it is mixed. A very light tint of 
 yellow ochre and white, tint No. 1, may also be found 
 useful sparingly applied in parts that require it. For 
 glazing and scumbling, the best McGuilp to use is No. 2 
 (see page 89)., 
 
 OF PAINTING BACK GROUNDS. 
 
 In giving directions for painting back-grounds, very 
 little need be added to what has already been said, when 
 treating of the methods of applying the colours, (see page 
 41). As to the tone of colour necessary in back-grounds, 
 almost every face having its own particular complexion, 
 the application of any general rule would be difficult, the 
 tone and colour of the back-ground being governed by the 
 complexion chiefly, as well as by the colour of the hair, 
 the dress, and whether an in-door, out-door, or landscape 
 efiect is to be employed. The only general rule that can be 
 given is, that the colours of the back-ground, of whatever 
 objects it may be composed, must harmonize with the 
 head and other parts of the flgure, and give them all the 
 relief requisite. The best way to effect this is to break 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 55 
 
 the colours of the flesh and such other parts as much as 
 possible into the colours of the back-ground, subduing 
 and generalizing them afterwards, by proper glazing and 
 scumbling, so that they may not stare out, or come into 
 competition wdth the colours employed in the lighter 
 parts of the face and figure. 
 
 In general neutral transparent browns, and warm greys 
 used in conjunction, or broken into one another, will be 
 found the safest and least perplexing tints for beginners 
 to manage ; as they will harmonize with, and bear out 
 clearly and pleasantly, almost all other colours. When the 
 management of these has become familiar, the introduc- 
 tion of some simple addition may be tried, such as a 
 piece of drapery of a subdued red, blue, &c., the folds of 
 which should be copied from nature, and thus step by 
 step, and with the careful observation of good pictures, 
 the theory and practice of back-ground painting may be 
 acquired. 
 
 The colours of chief service in painting back-grounds 
 are — 
 
 Flake White. 
 
 Prussian Blue. 
 Ultramarine. 
 Crimson Lake. 
 Purple Lake. 
 Kaw Sienna. 
 Burnt Sienna. 
 
 Ivory Black. 
 Vermilion. 
 Light Bed. 
 Yellow Ochre. 
 Paw Umber. 
 Burnt Umber. 
 
 Ultramarine is used when clear azure tints are required 
 for skies ; and the lakes for glazing red draperies. The 
 before mentioned colours will produce every variety 
 
56 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 of tint necessary, the following being those chiefly 
 required : — 
 
 1. Black and White. 
 
 2. Ivory Black, White, and a little Vermilion. 
 
 8. Yellow Ochre, or Raw Sienna and White. 
 
 4. Raw Umber and White. 
 
 5. Yellow Ochre, Prussian Blue, and White. 
 
 6. Yellow Ochre and Black. 
 
 7. Vermilion and White, with very little Prussian Blue. 
 
 8. Light Red and Black. 
 
 9. Burnt Sienna and Black. 
 
 Large hog’s hair brushes should be used for back- 
 grounds, and it is best to begin nearest to the head, 
 working from it as from a central point, for it will 
 generally be found that when the tints next to it are well 
 chosen, the more remote tints will be easily hit, and 
 almost fall, as a matter of course, into their proper tones, 
 if the painter has an ordinarily good eye for harmonious 
 colouring. Some white should be used in almost every 
 tint in the laying in of the back-ground, perfectly trans- 
 parent or glazing colours being too powerful, but semi- 
 transparent colours frequently give great beauty, by 
 allowing the ground in parts to appear through them. 
 Above all, blackness and heaviness should be avoided as 
 being totally the reverse of that ^‘Free^ transient light ” 
 effect so desirable in back-grounds. 
 
 It must be remembered that a w^ell-painted back- 
 ground should not only have the property of harmony of 
 colour as relates to the general effect, but should also be 
 so calculated as to bring forward or throw out the nearer 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 57 
 
 objects by a pleasing contrast of chiaroscuro and colour, 
 while at the same time, to a certain extent, it absorbs or 
 wathdraw’s from the eye the more distant objects, in a 
 manner and degree proportioned to their distance, the two 
 effects thus aiding and enhancing each other. 
 
 OF PAINTING DKAPEPIES. 
 
 The best and simplest method of painting draperies is 
 to make out their folds, forms, and a good deal of the 
 character of the stuffs of which they are composed, in 
 the first painting, by a few simple gradations of the tints 
 of the colour of the drapery. Four of these tints will, in 
 most cases, be quite sufficient, and the lightest should be 
 laid on in a considerable body, and lighter than nature, so 
 as to allow of glazing in the work of the second painting; 
 and the darker parts or shadows should be laid in thinly, 
 and in rather a neutral manner of colouring ; which, when 
 finished with transparent tints, will give brightness and 
 value to the lights, and receive the reflections agreeably. 
 
 Draperies ought always to be painted from the stuffs 
 thrown or cast into the folds required, which should not 
 be disturbed till it is finished; for, materially changing 
 the forms of the folds when they have been once painted 
 is very injurious, and should not be done unless it is 
 found absolutely necessary. 
 
 The following colours will be found well adapted to the 
 production of the respective draperies. 
 
58 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 COLOURS FOR WHITE DRAPERIES. 
 
 White. 
 
 Yellow Ochre. 
 Indian Hed. 
 
 Ultramarine. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Light Bed. 
 
 TINTS FOR FIRST PAINTING. 
 
 White slightly tinged with Yellow Ochre. 
 White and a little Ivory Black. 
 
 White, Black, and a little Indian Bed. 
 Black, Indian Bed, a little Yellow Ochre, 
 and White (for shadows). 
 
 In the second painting, ultramarine and a little light 
 red make a fine glaze for the middle tints, where they 
 require it ; and the reflections may be made of white, 
 black, yellow ochre, and Indian red. 
 
 Blue draperies, when large, are frequently painted 
 with Prussian blue ; but when economy is no object, 
 ultramarine should be used, at all events, for the lights, 
 as Prussian blue is unexceptionable for the darker parts 
 or shadows. 
 
 BLUE DRAPERIES. 
 
 COLOURS. 
 
 White. 
 
 Ultramarine. 
 
 Prussian Blue. 
 Black. 
 
 TINTS. 
 
 White and Ultramarine. 
 
 White, Prussian Blue, and Ultramarine. 
 Prussian Blue and a very little white. 
 Prussian Blue and a little Black. 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 59 
 
 In the second painting or finishing, the lights must be 
 glazed to their proper strength Tvith ultramarine. 
 
 RED DRAPERIES. 
 
 (Scarlet or Crimson.) 
 
 COLOURS. 
 
 Crimson Lake. 
 
 Indian Red. 
 
 Ivory Black. 
 
 TINTS. 
 
 Naples Yellow and White. 
 
 Yellow Ochre, with a very little Ivory Black, 
 and still less Y ermilion. 
 
 Burnt Umber, with, occasionally. Ivory Black, 
 and Vermilion for the deepest shadows. 
 
 It is best to avoid glazing yellow draperies; but, if 
 absolutely required, raw sienna for the lights, and raw 
 sienna and burnt umber for the shadows, may be used. 
 
 When a very bright effect of yellow drapery is 
 required, some touches in the highest lights, put in 
 when the first work is dry, with King’s yellow or 
 orpiment ground with drying oil, and used with copal 
 varnish, will produce it ; but these colours must be used 
 alone, and not mixed with any others. The chrome 
 yellows may be used for the same purpose ; but though 
 they remain brilliant for a time, they frequently lose 
 that brilliancy. 
 
 GREEN DRAPERIES. 
 
 The colours and tints set down for painting blue 
 draperies, with the addition of Naples yellow, yellow 
 
 White. 
 
 Vermilion. 
 
60 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 ochre, or chrome yellow, according to the hue of green 
 required, will do for the green draperies. The yellow, 
 however, must be used more sparingly in the shadows 
 than in the lights, and a very little Indian red added to 
 the shadows and middle tints will give an agreeable 
 warmth; hut it must he used very sparingly, to avoid 
 heaviness. 
 
 BLACK DRAPERIES. 
 
 Ivory black dries badly, and frequently when used 
 alone for shadows does not bear out well ; to correct 
 which, before using, it should be treated as follows : mix 
 as much sugar of lead with water, in a small vial, as the 
 water will dissolve ; mix equal parts of this and mastic 
 varnish, or rather more of the latter, on the palette with 
 the palette knife, till it stands up like thick cream, then 
 add another part of copal varnish, — put as much of this 
 mixture to the black as will leave it of an agreeable 
 consistence, and it will work pleasantly and dry well. 
 
 COLOURS FOR BLACK DRAPERIES. 
 
 Flake White. Lake. 
 
 Ivory Black. 
 
 TINTS. 
 
 White, Black, and a very little Lake. 
 
 White, and a larger proportion of Black and Lake. 
 
 Black and a little White and Lake. 
 
 Black and Lake. 
 
 A little of the mixed black, described at page 37, 
 mixed with the last named tint for the shadows, will add 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 61 
 
 i to its clearness and depth, and a ground of light red, 
 rubbed in previous to painting the drapery, and allowed 
 to dry, will make the tints hear out the better. 
 
 In painting draperies of all colours, great advantage 
 may be taken of the various hues of the reflected light 
 they throw on one another in their shadows, as well as 
 that which is thrown upon them by other objects, in reliev- 
 ing the monotony and heaviness of large masses of drapery 
 by breaking tints of various kinds among them. The 
 shades of the colder coloured draperies may be thus 
 greatly warmed, or those of the warm cooled down by the 
 means thus aflbrded. 
 
 There are many other varieties of tints in draperies, 
 the colours and tints proper for painting which it would 
 be impossible to describe within reasonable limits ; and 
 even if the attempt were made, little service would be 
 thereby rendered to the student, as but little information 
 of a precise and determinate nature could be conveyed to 
 him on a subject in which difierences so minute and 
 delicate may be made. He must, therefore, be left to the 
 exercise of his own ingenuity and increasing skill, for 
 employing the colours requisite to produce the endless 
 variety of hues in the draperies he may find it necessary 
 to paint. 
 
 Some authors attempt to give rules for painting the 
 various kinds of stuffs, such as satin, velvet, cloth, &c., 
 but neither can this be done. The only way to produce 
 a proper discrimination of the characteristics of these 
 varieties is to imitate them from nature, and the general 
 as well as the detailed rules w e have already given will be 
 
62 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 found greatly to facilitate this result without embarrass- 
 ing the student by a multiplicity of unnecessary obser- 
 vations, that must naturally occur to himself in the 
 course of his practice. 
 
 OF PAINTING LANDSCAPES. 
 
 The colours for landscape painting are 
 
 Flake White, 
 Yellow Ochre. 
 Naples Yellow. 
 Raw Sienna. 
 Lake. 
 
 Vermilion. 
 Light Red. 
 Indian Red. 
 Burnt Sienna. 
 Black. 
 
 Ultramarine. 
 Prussian Blue 
 Raw Umber. 
 Burnt Umber. 
 Terra Vert. 
 
 TINTS FOR SKIES. 
 
 Ultramarine and White, in several degrees, for azure. 
 
 Ultramarine 
 
 and 
 
 White, 
 
 ) (Light Red, ) 
 
 > with -<^ Vermilion, v 
 ^ /Indian Red, \ 
 
 for the grey tints 
 of clouds. 
 
 These, by the addition of either of the yellows or a 
 little raw umber, may be mixed to suit the endless variety 
 of grey tints in clouds observable in nature. 
 
 White and N’aples Yellow, \ 
 
 White, Naples Yellow, and Vermihon, 
 
 White and Light Red, 
 
 White and a very little Raw Umber, 
 
 White and a little Indian Red, 
 
 * 
 
 for the light tints of 
 clouds. 
 
 These may be mixed to various degrees of strength and 
 tint to suit morning, mid-day, or evening effects, and the 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 63 
 
 first three may be used for the warm tints, into which the 
 azure is frequently blended near the horizon. 
 
 The tints for the extreme distances are made nearly in 
 the same manner as those for skies, only that they are 
 usually somewhat stronger. The nearer or middle distances 
 run a little more into greens, brownish greys and light 
 greyish browns using along with the tints just mentioned. 
 
 Many of the best Dutch landscape painters were in 
 the habit of painting their skies and extreme distances at 
 once without any previous lay-in or dead-colouring; to 
 give time to effect this it is said they used a little olive 
 oil in their colours to retard their drying, which caused 
 them to remain soft enough for several days to admit of 
 the sky and distance being worked on from day to day 
 till complete. There is certainly a degree of beauty, 
 delicacy, and lightness, in many of their skies that could 
 scarcely be produced in any other way. 
 
 TINTS FOR DISTANCES. 
 
 White, Yellow Ochre, and Prussian Blue. 
 White, Light Bed, and Prussian Blue. 
 White, Baw Umber, and Prussian Blue. 
 White, Burnt Sienna, and Prussian Blue. 
 And others of the same kind. 
 
 TINTS FOR FOREGROUNDS. 
 GREENS. 
 
 2. The same, and Naples Yellow. 
 
 3. The same, Baw Sienna, and a little White. 
 
 4. Blue Black, Naples Yellow, and a little White. 
 
 DISTANCES. 
 
 1. Ultramarine, or' 
 Prussian Blue, . 
 
 > and Yellow Ochre. 
 
64 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 TRANSPARENT OR GLAZING. 
 
 5. Kaw Sienna and Ultramarine. 
 
 6. Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue. 
 
 7. Terra Vert, either alone or with a little Kaw Sienna. 
 
 BROWNS. 
 
 8, Kaw Umber and White. 
 
 Kaw Umber, Light Ked, and White. 
 
 Burnt Umber and White. 
 
 ’ Burnt Sienna and Kaples Yellow. 
 
 Light Ked, Vermilion, and black. 
 
 Good glazing browns may be made in a great variety 
 of ways, and the brown tints in foregrounds are so 
 various that it would be impossible to specify any 
 particular mixtures that would be preferable to others 
 that might be mentioned. An exceedingly useful tint may, 
 however, be made with burnt sienna and ivory black; 
 this will be found an excellent tint for rubbing in the 
 effect of the foreground, in the manner of a sepia or 
 bistre drawing, previous to dead-colouring it. 
 
 GREYS. 
 
 Black aud White. 
 
 Vermilion and Ultramarine, with a little W^hite 
 
 Indian Ked, Prussian Blue, and White. 
 
 Light Ked, Black, and White. 
 
 Burnt Umber, Prussian Blue, and White. 
 
 In addition to what has already been said, with respect 
 to first and second paintings, &c., it must be observed 
 that, as a general rule in landscape painting, it is best to 
 begin with the sky, and proceed downwards to the first 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 65 
 
 and second distances, then to the middle grounds, and, 
 last of all, to the foregrounds. When the composition is 
 such that trees or other objects rise out of the fore- 
 ground, and cut clearly and sharply against the sky and 
 distances, these latter must be finished before the fore- 
 ground objects, so as that they may not require to be 
 worked upon afterwards. The sky should be painted with 
 a considerable body of colour, and with very little or no 
 oil or McGuilp added to the colour, which should dry flat, 
 
 - — that is, without a shining surface. If the colour 
 requires thinning for the sky and distances, it is best to 
 use a little spirits of turpentine alone for that purpose. 
 
 The best way to learn a good original and natural style 
 of landscape painting is to paint from the objects in 
 nature direct, taking the colours, &c., out into the open 
 air, and making studies, first of picturesque single 
 objects, such as stumps of trees, old palings and gates 
 that are weather-stained, cottages, ruined or other build- 
 ings, rocks, and all such things as may serve to fill up 
 the composition of a foreground, for which purpose they 
 may afterwards be used. When considerable facility in 
 the use of the colours has been acquired in this way, 
 scenes of a simple kind may be tried, taking care at first 
 to avoid any great complication of objects, the student, 
 going on progressively to scenes and subjects of a more 
 extensive kind, as he finds his powers of representing 
 them increase, will realize an improvement much more 
 rapid than if he were to follow any other course of study. 
 He must take care, however, not to paint too long at 
 any one sitting from the same subject, as the light and 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 A GUIDE TO 
 
 shade constantly alter, and he will find himself thereby a 
 good deal perplexed. It will be proper, therefore, to limit 
 the sittings for each subject to an hour and a half or two 
 hours at most, but several neighbouring subjects may 
 always be in progress, so as to occupy the successive 
 portions of the day. 
 
 OF PAINTING ANIMALS. 
 
 Owing to the little certainty there is of animals 
 keeping in one position for any considerable length of 
 time, the difficulty of drawing them correctly, and of 
 observing their light and shade properly, is greatly 
 increased ; it will, therefore, facilitate the work of painting 
 them, if a correct study of their drawing, position, and 
 light and shade, be previously made in black and white 
 chalks, on tinted paper ; as alterations can be much more 
 easily effected in such a study, until the whole is correct, 
 than if they had to be made in the picture. A. great 
 deal of the first painting or dead-colouring may be done 
 from this study ; referring at the same time to nature for 
 the proper colouring. 
 
 A hand that has acquired great experience in animal 
 painting may ultimately dispense with the trouble of 
 making the chalk study ; but it will be found of immense 
 assistance to the beginner — the only way, indeed, to ensure 
 success. 
 
 The general rules that have already been given 
 
OIL PAINTING. 
 
 67 
 
 relative to the various stages of a picture, are applica- 
 ble to animal painting, ^lith this additional observation, 
 that the less an appearance of labour or overworking is 
 apparent, the more spirited and life-like will be the 
 representation. It is best, therefore, to put in the first 
 painting with rather more finish and effect than are 
 required for other subjects, and to finish on this by a 
 plentiful use of glazing, using while the glazing colours 
 are still wet, free, light, graceful, touches of opaque 
 colours for putting in the lights and giving character to 
 the hair, &c. 
 
 There is such an infinite variety of slightly modified 
 tints in the colouring of animals, that no attempt can be 
 made to give directions for compounding them. It may be 
 presumed, however, that the reader has now arrived at 
 a pretty good general idea of the manner in which the 
 various colours are employed in the formation of tints : 
 and a little experience will do more than many words, in 
 enabling him to apply the knowledge he has acquired to 
 the mixing of tints for animal painting. 
 
 OF FLOWER AND FRUIT PAINTING. 
 
 Here again, in the various natural processes observable 
 in the development, budding, blowing, ripening and decay 
 of the various kinds, the changes are so rapid, and the 
 successive appearances of the same object follow each 
 other so quickly, that it requires indefatigable attention, 
 and considerable facility of execution, to represent a 
 
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68 
 
 A GUIDE TO OIL PAINTING. 
 
 flower or a fruit under one appearance, before it begins to 
 assume another. Flowers in particular are so subject to 
 these mutations, that in general it is found best to paint 
 them as they grow, and not to cull them ; as in the latter 
 case they soon lose that lustre and brightness of hue that 
 render them fit subjects for the pencil ; and it must be 
 remarked, that none of the colours we possess, not even 
 the most brilliant and perfect, can vie with the natural 
 colours of flowers and fruit; deficiency of the artificial 
 pigments must therefore be compensated by using judi- 
 cious contrasts of colours in the groups or in the grounds, 
 — an art which several eminent masters have employed in 
 this department with an effect truly wonderful. 
 
 For the reason above given, flowers and fruit should be 
 finished, as nearly as possible, in one painting, leaving 
 little to be done but what may be effected by delicate glaz- 
 ing, and the addition of a few clean light finishing touches. 
 
 Most of the tints that have been heretofore described 
 will occupy a useful place on the palette of the fruit and 
 flower painter. The ground on which they are employed 
 should be of the purest white, and the utmost attention 
 should be given to transparency, richness, and brilliancy. 
 The occasional study of flowers and fruit will be found 
 of great service to artists in all departments ; but to none 
 more so than to the painter of portrait and figure sub- 
 jects; as nothing has a greater tendency to inculcate a 
 habit of clean and brilliant colouring and execution, or to 
 give a good knowledge of the properties of the various 
 pigments. 
 
 Henderson, Rait, & Fenton, Printers, Berners Street, Oxford Street, W. 
 
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