Home › Artists' Oil Colors › Another (If the method employed)

Another (If the method employed)

If the method employed for Dutch pinks be followed by mixing the aluminous decoction of Brazil-wood with pure clay, such as Spanish white and white of Morat, and if the mixture be deposited on a filter to receive the necessary washing, a lake of a very bright-dark rose-color will be obtained from the driers.

Lakes from other Coloring Substances.

By the same process a very beautiful lake may be extracted from a decoction of logwood. In general, lakes of all colors, and of all the shades of these colors, may be extracted from the substances which give up their coloring part to boiling water; because it is afterwards communicated by decomposition to the alumina precipi. tated from sulphate of alumina, by means of an alkali; or the tincture may be mixed with a pure and exceedingly white argillaceous substance, such as real Spanish white, or white of Morat.

To prepare Rouge.

Carmine united to talc, in different proportions, forms rouge employed for the toilette. Talc is distinguished also by the name of Briancon chalk.

It is a substance composed in a great measure of clay, combined naturally with silex.

Carmine, as well as carminated lakes, the coloring part of which is borrowed from cochineal, is the most esteemed of all the compositions of this kind, because their coloring part maintains itself without degradation. There are even cases where the addition of caustic ammonia, which alters so many coloring matters, is employed to heighten its color. It is for this purpose that those who color prints employ it.

Pink Saucers Are made with extract of safflower (carthamus), obtained by digesting it, after washing with cold water, in a solution of carbonate of soda, and precipitating by citric acid. It dyes silk and wool without a mordant. The extract is evaporated upon saucers as a dye-stuff, and, mixed with powdered talc, forms a variety of rouge. Carminated Lake from Madder.

Boil 1 part of madder in from 12 to 15 pints of water, and continue the ebullition till it be reduced to about 2 lbs. Then strain the decoction through a piece of strong linen cloth, which must be well squeezed; and add to the decoction 4 oz. of alum.

The tint will be a beautiful bright-red, which the matter will retain if it be mixed with proper clay.

In this case, expose the thick liquor which is thus produced on a linen filter, and subject it to one washing, to remove the alum. The lake, when taken from the driers, will retain this bright primitive color given by the alum. Another Method.

If, in the process for making this lake, decomposition be employed, by mixing with the bath an alkaline liquor, the alum, which is decomposed, deprives the bath of its mordant, and the lake, obtained after the subsequent washings, appears of the color of the madder bath, without any addition: it is of a reddish brown. In this operation 7 or 8 oz. of alum ought to be employed for each pound of madder.

This kind of lake is exceedingly fine, but a brighter red color may be given to it, by mixing the washed precipitate with alum-water, before drying.

Improvement on the above.

If the aluminated madder bath be sharpened with acetate of lead, or with arseniate of potash, the operator still obtains, by the addition of carbonate of soda, a rose-colored lake of greater or less strength.

To make Dark-Red.

Dragon's blood, infused warm in varnish, gives reds, more or less dark, according to the quantity of the coloring resin which combines with the varnish. The artist, therefore, has it in his power to vary the tones at pleasure.

Though cochineal, in a state of division, gives | let it stand till cold to settle; pour off the clear to essence very little color in comparison with yellow liquor; add to the precipitate a quart of that which it communicates to water, carmine boiling soft water, stirring it well; and when cold may be introduced into the composition of varnish separate by filtration the lake, which should weigh colored by dragon's blood. The result will be aan oz. Fresh madder-root is superior to the purple red, from which various shades may be dry. easily formed.

To Prepare Violet.

A mixture of carminated varnish and dragon's blood, added to that colored by prussiate of iron, produces violet.

To make a Fine Red Lake.

Boil stick-lac in water, filter the decoction, and evaporate the clear liquor to dryness over a gentle fire. The occasion of this easy separation is, that the beautiful red color here separated adheres only slightly to the outsides of the sticks broken off the trees along with the gum-lac, and readily communicates itself to boiling water. Some of this sticking matter also adhering to the gum itself, it is proper to boil the whole together; for the gum does not at all prejudice the color, nor dissolve in boiling water; so that after this operation the gum is as fit for making sealing-wax as before, and for all other uses which do not require its color.

To make a Beautiful Red Lake.

Take any quantity of cochineal, on which pour twice its weight of alcohol, and as much distilled water. Infuse for some days near a gentle fire, and then filter. To the filtered liquor add a few drops of the solution of tin, and a fine red precipitate will be formed. Continue to add a little solution of tin every 2 hours, till the whole of the coloring matter is precipitated. Lastly, edulcorate the precipitate by washing it in a large quantity of distilled water and then dry it. To Prepare Florentine Lake.

The sediment of cochineal that remains in the bottom of the kettle in which carmine is made, may be boiled with about 4 qts. of water, and the red liquor left after the preparation of the carmine mixed with it, and the whole precipitated with the solution of tin. The red precipitate must be frequently washed over with water. Exclusively of this, 2 oz. of fresh cochineal, and 1 of crystals of tartar, are to be boiled with a sufficient quantity of water, poured off clear, and precipitated with the solution of tin, and the precipitate washed.

At the same time 2 lbs. of alum are also to be dissolved in water, precipitated with a lixivium of potash, and the white earth repeatedly washed with boiling water. Finally, both precipitates are to be mixed together in their liquid state, put upon a filter and dried. For the preparation of a cheaper sort, instead of cochineal, 1 lb. of Brazilwood may be employed in the preceding manner. To make a Lake from Madder.

Inclose 2 oz. troy of the finest Dutch madder in a bag of fine and strong calico, large enough to hold three or four times as much. Put it into a large marble or porcelain mortar, and pour on it a pint of clear soft water cold. Press the bag in every direction, and pound and rub it about with a pestle, as much as can be done without tearing it, and when the water is loaded with color pour it off, Repeat this process till the water comes off but slightly tinged, for which about 5 pts. will be sufficient. Heat all the liquor in an earthen or silver vessel till it is near boiling, and then pour it into a large basin, into which 1 oz. of alum, dissolved in 1 pt. of boiling soft water, has been previously put: stir the mixture together, and while stirring pour in gently about 1½ oz. of a salurated solution of subcarbonate of potash; To give Various Tones to Lake.

A beautiful tone of violet, red, and even of purple-red, may be communicated to the coloring part of cochineal by adding to the colored bath a solution of chloride of tin.

Another. The addition of arseniate of potash (neutral arsenical salt), gives shades which would be sought for in vain with sulphate of alumina (alum).

To make a Carminated Lake by Extracting the Coloring Part from Scarlet Cloth.

To prepare a carminated lake without employing cochineal in a direct manner, by extracting the coloring matter from any substance impregnated with it, such as the shearings of scarlet cloth.

Put into a kettle 1 lb. of fine wood-ashes, with 40 lbs. of water, and subject the water to ebullition for of an hour; then filter the solution through a piece of linen cloth till the liquor passes through clear.

Place it on the fire; and having brought it to a state of ebullition, add 2 lbs. of the shearings or shreds of scarlet cloth, dyed with cochineal, which must be boiled till they become white; then filter the liquor again, and press the shreds to squeeze out all the coloring part.

Put the filtered liquor into a clean kettle, and place it over the fire. When it boils pour in a solution of 10 or 12 oz. of alum in 2 lbs. of filtered spring-water. Stir the whole with a wooden spatula till the froth that is formed is dissipated; and having mixed with it 2 lbs. of a strong decoction of Brazil-wood, pour it upon a filter. Afterwards wash the sediment with spring-water, and remove the cloth filter charged with it to plaster dryers, or to a bed of dry bricks. The result of this operation will be a beautiful lake, but it has not the soft velvety appearance of that obtained by the first method. Besides, the coloring part of the Brazil-wood which unites to that of the cochineal in the shreds of scarlet cloth, lessens in a relative proportion the unalterability of the coloring part of the cochineal. For this reason purified potash ought to be substituted for the wood-ashes.

To make a Red Lake.

Dissolve 1 lb. of the best pearlash in 2 qts. of water, and filter the liquor through paper; next add 2 more qts. of water and 1 lb. of clean scarlet shreds, boil them in a pewter boiler till the shreds have lost their scarlet color; take out the shreds and press them, and put the colored water yielded by them to the other. In the same solution boil another lb. of the shreds, proceeding in the same manner; and likewise a third and fourth pound.

Whilst this is doing, dissolve 14 lbs. of cuttle-fish bone in 1 lb. of strong aquafortis in a glass receiver; add more of the bone if it appear to produce any ebullition in the aquafortis, and pour this strained solution gradually into the other; but if any ebullition be occasioned, more of the cuttle-fish bone must be dissolved as before, and added till no ebullition appears in the mixture.

The crimson sediment deposited by this liquor is the lake: pour off the water, and stir the lake in 2 galls. of hard spring-water, and mix the sediment in 2 galls. of fresh water; let this method be repeated 4 or 5 times. If no hard water can be procured, or the lake appears too purple, an oz. of alum should be added to each quantity of water before it is used. Having thus sufficiently freed the latter from the salts, drain off the water through a filter, covered with a worn linen cloth.

When it has been drained to a proper dryness, let it be dropped through a proper funnel on clean boards, and the drops will become small cones or pyramids, in which form the lake must be dried, and the preparation is completed.

Another Method.

Boil 2 oz. of cochineal in 1 pt. of water; filter the solution through paper, and add 2 oz. of pearlash dissolved in pint of warm water and filtered through paper. Make a solution of cuttlebone, as in the former process, and to 1 pt. of it add 2 oz. of alum dissolved in pt. of water. Put this mixture gradually to the cochineal and pearlash as long as any ebullition arises, and proceed as above.

A beautiful lake may be prepared from Brazilwood, by boiling 3 lbs. of it for an hour in a solution of 3 lbs. of common salt in 3 galls. of water, and filtering the hot fluid through paper; add to this a solution of 5 lbs. of alum in 3 galls. of water. Dissolve 3 lbs. of the best pearlash in 1½ galls. of water, and purify it by filtering; put this gradually to the other till the whole of the color appears to be precipitated and the fluid is left clear and colorless. But if any appearance of purple be seen, add a fresh quantity of the solution of alum by degrees, till a scarlet hue is produced. Then pursue the directions given in the first process with regard to the sediment. If lb. of seed-lac be added to the solution of pearlash, and dissolved in it before its purification by the filter, and 2 lbs. of the wood and a proportional quantity of common salt and water be used in the colored solution, a lake will be produced that will stand well in oil or water; but it is not so transparent in oil as without the seed-lac. The lake with Brazilwood may be also made by adding oz. of anatto to each pound of the wood; but the anatto must be dissolved in the solution of pearlash.

After the operation, the dryers of plaster, or the bricks, which have extracted the moisture from the precipitate, are exposed to the sun, that they may be fitted for another operation.

To make Prussian Blue.

Dissolve sulphate of iron (copperas, green vitriol) in water; boil the solution. Add nitric acid until red fumes cease to come off, and enough sulphuric acid to render the liquor clear. This is the persulphate of iron. To this add a solution of ferrocyanide of potassium (yellow prussiate of potash), as long as any precipitate is produced.

Wash this precipitate thoroughly with water acidulated with sulphuric acid, and dry in a warm place.

Soluble Prussian Blue.

Add ferrocyanide of potassium to a solution sulphate alumina, or a decoction of Brazil-wood with sulphate alumina; the color may be varied by the addition of carbonate potash.

To make Purple A decoction of Brazil-wood and logwood affords, with carbonate of potash, a permanent purple.

To make Orange Lake.

Boil 4 oz. of the best anatto and 1 lb. of pearlash, an hour, in 1 gall. of water, and strain the solution through paper. Mix gradually with this 1½ lbs. of alum, in another gallon of water, desisting when no ebullition attends the commixture. Treat the sediment in the manner already directed for other kinds of lake, and dry it in square bits or lozenges.

To make a Yellow Lake.

Take 1 lb. of turmeric-root, in fine powder, 3 pt. of water, and 1 oz. of salt of tartar; put all into a glazed earthen vessel, and boil them together over a clear gentle fire, till the water appears highly impregnated and stains a paper to a beautiful yellow. Filter this liquor, and gradually add to it a strong solution of alum, in water, till the yellow matter is all curdled and precipitated.

After this, pour the whole into a filter of paper, and the water will run off, and leave the yellow matter behind. Wash it with fresh water till the water comes off insipid, and then is obtained the beautiful yellow called lacque of turmeric.

In this manner make a lake of any of the substances that are of a strong texture, as madder, logwood, etc., but it will not succeed in the more tender species, as the flowers of roses, violets, etc., as it destroys the nice arrangement of parts in those subjects on which the color depends.

To make another Yellow Lake.

Make a lye of potash and lime sufficiently strong; in this boil, gently, fresh broom-flowers till they are white; then take out the flowers, and put the lye to boil in earthen vessels over the fire; add as much alum as the liquor will dissolve; then empty this lye into a vessel of clean water, and it will give a yellow color at the bottom. Settle, and decant off the clear liquor. Wash this powder, which is found at the bottom, with more water, till all the salts of the lye are washed off; then separate the yellow matter, and dry it in the shade, To Make a Yellow.

Gum guttæ and terra merita give very beautiful yellows, and readily communicate their color to copal varnish made with turpentine. Aloes give a varied and orange tint.

Chloride of lead tinges vitreous matters of a yellow color. Hence the beautiful glazing given to Queen's ware. It is composed of 80 lbs. of chloride of lead, and 20 lbs. of flints ground together very fine, and mixed with water till the whole becomes as thick as cream. The vessels to be freshly made of green vitriol in water. The white glazed are dipped in the glaze and suffered to dry. precipitate which falls, becomes blue on exposure to the air, and is soluble in water.

Chrome Red.

Melt saltpetre in a crucible heated to dull redness, and throw in gradually chrome yellow until no more red fumes arise. Allow the mixture to settle; pour off the liquid portion, and wash rapidly the sediment. The liquid portion contains chromate of potash, and may be used to make chrome yellow.

To make Blue.

A diluted solution of sulphate of indigo.

To make Pink.

To make Chinese Yellow.

The acacia, an Egyptian thorn, is a species of mimosa, from which the Chinese make that yellow which bears washing in their silks and stuffs, and appears with so much elegance in their painting on paper. The flowers are gathered before they are fully opened, and put into an earthen vessel over a gentle heat, being stirred continually until they are nearly dry, and of a yellow color: then to lb. of the flowers a sufficient quantity of rain-water is added, to hold the flowers incorporated together. It is then to be boiled until it becomes thick, when it must be strained. To the liquor is added oz. of common alum, and 1 oz.

Cochineal boiled with bitartrate of potash and of calcined oyster-shells, reduced to a fine powder. All these are mixed together into a mass. addition of a proportion of the ripe seeds to the flowers renders the colors somewhat deeper. For making the deepest yellow add a small quantity of Brazil-wood.

Tunic White, solution of gelatine; to this mixture is then added 10 or 11 per cent. of protochloride of tin, and lastly an excess of caustic potash soda. The precipitate is then washed and dried, whereupon it assumes a green color, with a tint of blue.

Largely used as a substitute for white lead, may be made by burning zinc, or by precipitating from a solution by caustic alkali. It is the oxide of the metal, and is not blackened by sulphuretted hydrogen.

To make a Pearl White.

Pour some distilled water into a solution of nitrate of bismuth as long as precipitation takes place; filter the solution, and wash the precipitate with distilled water as it lies on the filter. When properly dried, by a gentle heat, this powder is what is generally termed pearl white.

Chrome Green.

Mix bichromate of potash with half its weight of muriate of ammonia; heat the mixture to redness, and wash the mass with plenty of boiling water. Dry the residue thoroughly. It is a sesquioxide of chromium, and is the basis of the green ink used in bank-note printing.

Another. Mix chrome yellow and Prussian blue.

Guignet's Chrome Green.

Mix 3 parts of boracic acid and 1 part of bichromate of potassa, heat to about redness. Oxygen gas and water are given off. The resulting salt when thrown into water is decomposed. The precipitate is collected and washed. This is a remarkably fine color, solid and brilliant even by artificial light. To make Scheele's Green.

Dissolve 2 lbs. of blue vitriol in 6 lbs. of water in a copper vessel; and in another vessel dissolve 2 lbs. of dry white potash, and 11 oz. of white arsenic in 2 lbs. of water. When the solutions are perfect pour the arsenical lye into the other gradually, and about 1 lb. 6 oz. of good green precipitate will be obtained. To make Green.

The acetic copper (verdigris) dissolved in acetic acid, forms an elegant green.

Brunswick Green.

This is obtained from the solution of a precipitate of copper in tartar and water, which, by evaporation, yields a transparent cupreous tartar, which is similar to the superfine Brunswick green.

Schweinfürth or Emerald Green Color.

Dissolve in a small quantity of hot water, 6 parts of sulphate of copper; in another part, boil 6 parts of oxide of arsenic with 8 parts of potash, until it throws out no more carbonic acid; mix by degrees this hot solution with the first, agitating continually until the effervescence has entirely ceased; these then form a precipitate of a dirty greenish yellow, very abundant; add to it about 3 parts of acetic acid, or such a quantity that there may be a slight excess perceptible to the smell after the mixture; by degrees the precipitate diminishes the bulk, and in a few hours there deposes spontaneously at the bottom of the liquor, entirely discolored, a powder of a contexture slightly crystalline, and of a very beautiful green; afterwards the floating liquor is separated.

Green Colors free from Arsenic.

Some green colors free from the objections which apply to the arsenical greens, are described by Elsner. The first, called "Elsner Green," is made by adding to a solution of sulphate of copper a decoction of fustic, previously clarified by a The "Tin-copper Green" is a stannate of copper, and possesses a color which Gentele states is not inferior to any of the greens free from arsenic. The cheapest way of making this is to hea 59 parts of tin in a Hessian crucible, with 100 parts of nitrate of soda, and dissolve the mass, when cold, in a caustic alkali. When clear, this solution is diluted with water, and a cold solution of sulphate of copper is added. A reddish yellow precipitate falls, which, on being washed and dried, becomes a beautiful green.

Titanium Green was first prepared by Elsner in 1846. It is made in the following way: Iserin (titaniferous iron) is fused in a Hessian crucible with 12 times its weight of sulphate of potash.

When cold, the fused mass is treated with hydrochloric acid, heated to 50° C. and filtered hot; the filtrate is then evaporated until a drop placed on a glass plate solidifies. It is then allowed to cool, and when cold a concentrated solution of sal ammoniae is poured over the mass, which is well stirred and then filtered. The titanic acid which remains behind is digested at 50° or 70° with dilute hydrochloric acid, and the acid solution, after the addition of some solution of prussiate of potash, quickly heated to boiling. A green precipitate falls, which must be washed with water acidulated with hydrochloric acid, and then dried under 100° C. Titanium green then forms a beautiful dark green powder.

A Green Color which may be employed in Confeo tionary.

Infuse for 24 hours 0.32 grammes of saffron in 7 grammes of distilled water; take 0.26 grammes of carmine of indigo and infuse in 15.6 grammes of distilled water. On mixing the two liquids a beautiful green color is obtained, which is harmless. Ten parts will color 1000 parts of sugar. It may be preserved for a long time by evaporating the liquid to dryness, or making it into a syrup.

To mix the Mineral Substances in Linseed Oil.

Take 1 lb. of the genuine mineral green, prepared and well powdered, 1 lb. of the precipitate of copper, 1 lbs. of refiners' blue verditer, 3 lbs. of white lead, dry powdered, 3 oz. of sugar of lead, powdered fine. Mix the whole of these ingredients in linseed oil, and grind them in a levigating mill, passing it through until quite fine; it will thereby produce a bright mineral pea-green paint, preserve a blue tint, and keep any length of time in any climate without injury, by putting oil or water over it. To use this color for house or ship painting, take 1 lb. of the green color paint, with 1 gill of pale boiled oil; mix them well together, and this will produce a strong pea-green paint; the tint may be varied at pleasure by adding a further quantity of white lead ground in linseed oil.

This color will stand the weather and resist salt water; it may also be used for flatting rooms, by adding 3 lbs. of white lead ground in half linseed oil and half turpentine, to 1 lb. of the green, then to be mixed up in turpentine spirits, fit for use. It may also be used for painting Venetian windowblinds, by adding to 1 lb. of the green paint 10 oz. of white lead, ground in turpentine, then to be mixed up in turpentine varnish for use. In all the aforesaid preparations it will retain a blue tint, which is very desirable. When used for blinds, a small quantity of Dutch pink may be put to the white lead if the color is required of a | Compound for Receiving the Colors used in Enyellow cast. To Imitate Flesh-color.

Mix a little white and yellow together, then add a little more red than yellow. These form an excellent imitation of the complexion. A White for Painters, which may be Preserved Forever.

Put into a pan 3 qts. of linseed oil, with an equal quantity of brandy and 4 qts. of the best doubledistilled vinegar, 3 doz. of whole new-laid eggs, 4 lbs. of mutton suet, chopped small; cover all with a lead plate and lute it well; lay this pan in the cellar for 3 weeks, then take skilfully the white off, and dry it. The dose of this composition is 6 oz. of white to 1 of bismuth.

To Clean Pictures.

Take the picture out of the frame, lay a coarse towel on it for 10 or 14 days; keep continually wetting it until it has drawn out all the filthiness from the picture; pass some linseed oil, which has been a long time seasoned in the sun, over it, to purify it, and the picture will become as lively on the surface as new.

Another Method.

Put into 2 qts. of the oldest lye 1 lb. of Genoa soap, rasped very fine, with about a pint of spirit of wine, and boil all together; then strain it through a cloth, and let it cool. With a brush dipped in the composition rub the picture all over, and let it dry; repeat this process and let it dry again; then dip a little cotton in oil of nut, and pass it over its surface. When perfectly dry, rub it well over with a warm cloth, and it will appear of a beautiful freshness.

To Restore Discolored White.

In paintings, where the white has become blackened by sulphuretted hydrogen, the application of Thenard's oxygenated water will instantly restore it. Probably a solution of permanganate of potassa would have the same effect. (See CONDY'S SOLUTION).

To Restore Paintings.

Prof. Pettenkoffer has shown that the change which takes place in old paintings, is the discontinuance of molecular cohesion, which, beginning on the surface in small fissures, penetrates to the very foundation. His process is to expose the picture in a tight box to the vapor of alcohol, ether, benzine, turpentine, or other similar solvent. The process has been successfully tried in several instances. caustic Painting.

Dissolve 9 oz. of gum arabic in 1 pt. of water, add 14 oz. of finely powdered mastic and 10 oz. of white wax, cut in small pieces, and, whilst hot, add by degrees 2 pts. of cold spring-water; then strain the composition.

Another Method.

Mix 24 oz. of mastic with gum-water, leaving out the wax, and when sufficiently beaten and dissolved over the fire, add by degrees 1½ pts. of cold water, and strain.

Or, dissolve 9 oz. of gum arabic in 1½ pts. of water; then add 1 lb. of white wax. Boil them over a slow fire, pour them into a cold vessel, and beat them well together. When this is mixed with the colors, it will require more water than the others. This is used in painting, the colors being mixed with these compositions as with oil, adding water if necessary. When the painting is finished, melt some white wax, and with a hard brush varnish the painting, and, when cold, rub it to make it entirely smooth.

Grecian Method of Painting on Wax.

Take 1 oz. of white wax and 1 oz. of gum mastic, in drops, made into powder; put the wax into a glazed pan over a slow fire, and when melted add the mastic; then stir the same until they are both incorporated. Next throw the paste into water, and when hard take it out, wipe it dry, and beat it in a mortar; when dry pound it in a linen cloth till it is reduced to a fine powder. Make some strong gum-water, and when painting take a little of the powder, some color, and mix them all with the gum-water. Light colors require but a small quantity of the powder, but more must be put in proportion to the darkness of the colors, and to black there should be almost as much of the powder as of color.

Having mixed the colors, paint with water, as is practised in painting with water colors, a ground on the wood being first painted of some proper color, prepared as described for the picture. When the painting is quite dry, with a hard brush, passing it one way, varnish it with white wax, which is melted over a slow fire till the picture is varnished. Take care the wax does not boil. Afterwards hold the picture before a fire, near enough to melt the wax, but not to run, and when the varnish is entirely cold and hard, rub it gently with a linen cloth. Should the varnish blister, warm the picture again very slowly, and the bubbles will subside.