DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20658#0263
WATER-COLOURS,
24Q
one of the most splendid colours, almost entirely loses its brilliancy when mixed with lime : it
may however be employed in situations not exposed to the air, by using certain precautions in
the preparation : for instance, the cinnabar, the purer the better, must be reduced to powder,
put into an earthen vessel, and covered three or four different times with lime water. By this
preparation the cinnabar is in some degree combined with the lime water, and so rendered fit for
use in fresco painting. One of the most useful colours for giving the proper tone and gradation
of tints is the white of lime, prepared by mixing lime which has been for a long time slaked,
with pure water : this deposites a sediment, which, when the water is poured off, is the white of
lime. Another sort of white may be used, that is, the white of egg shells, being prepared in
this manner. A quantity of shells of eggs are to be pounded and boiled in water, together with
some quick lime; they are then strained off, and washed repeatedly with rain water. The shells
are again pounded, and washed until the water comes off pure and clear. Being in this way
reduced to powder, the powder is ground down in water, and formed into small pieces, to be
dried in the sun. All sorts of ochres furnish excellent colours for fresco painting, and a great
variety of shades and tints. Naples yellow is sometimes used, but it does not stand when much
exposed to the air. Good black colours may be obtained from charcoal, peach stones, and vine
twigs; that extracted from hones is of no use at all. Roman vitriol, commonly called burnt
vitriol, ground down in spirits of wine, withstands the effects of the air extremely well, when
employed in lime. A red colour is also extracted from the same preparation, which is very
useful for preparing the ground to receive cinnabar; and draperies done with these two colours,
have a peculiar brilliancy of hue, rivalling paintings in oil. Ultramarine is a very steady colour,,
not only free from any tendency to change itself, but communicating the same property to other
colours with which it is mixed.
All these colours are prepared by mixing and grinding them in water, and arranging them so
as to form the several tints to be employed in the work : these are then put into pots, and the
whole number of colours and tints placed in readiness for use. As all the tints, excepting burnt
ochre, violet, red, and blacks of all kinds, are apt to become light and clear, the artist should
have a piece of dry new brick or tile, on which to try his colours, for the water is soon absorbed
by the brick, and their degree of colour may be seen before it is applied to the painting itself.
SECTION VI.
PAINTING IN WATER-COLOURS.
OF the gratifications which the human mind receives through the channel of the senses,
none is perhaps greater than that which is excited by the practice of the arts of design. This
gratification possesses this peculiar property also, that repetition instead of lessening increases
and enhances the enjoyment, in proportion to the genius, application and progress of the student.
As an amusement only the arts of design furnish one of the most innocent and inoffensive as
well as delightful nature. The poet was in old times termed a maker, because by his art he
seemed to create a world of his own. To the proficient in drawing and painting the tennis
equally, nay still more applicable. Not every reader can discover or comprehend the creation,
of the poet; but every eye can perceive, if not be enchanted with the new beings produced by
3. s. the
24Q
one of the most splendid colours, almost entirely loses its brilliancy when mixed with lime : it
may however be employed in situations not exposed to the air, by using certain precautions in
the preparation : for instance, the cinnabar, the purer the better, must be reduced to powder,
put into an earthen vessel, and covered three or four different times with lime water. By this
preparation the cinnabar is in some degree combined with the lime water, and so rendered fit for
use in fresco painting. One of the most useful colours for giving the proper tone and gradation
of tints is the white of lime, prepared by mixing lime which has been for a long time slaked,
with pure water : this deposites a sediment, which, when the water is poured off, is the white of
lime. Another sort of white may be used, that is, the white of egg shells, being prepared in
this manner. A quantity of shells of eggs are to be pounded and boiled in water, together with
some quick lime; they are then strained off, and washed repeatedly with rain water. The shells
are again pounded, and washed until the water comes off pure and clear. Being in this way
reduced to powder, the powder is ground down in water, and formed into small pieces, to be
dried in the sun. All sorts of ochres furnish excellent colours for fresco painting, and a great
variety of shades and tints. Naples yellow is sometimes used, but it does not stand when much
exposed to the air. Good black colours may be obtained from charcoal, peach stones, and vine
twigs; that extracted from hones is of no use at all. Roman vitriol, commonly called burnt
vitriol, ground down in spirits of wine, withstands the effects of the air extremely well, when
employed in lime. A red colour is also extracted from the same preparation, which is very
useful for preparing the ground to receive cinnabar; and draperies done with these two colours,
have a peculiar brilliancy of hue, rivalling paintings in oil. Ultramarine is a very steady colour,,
not only free from any tendency to change itself, but communicating the same property to other
colours with which it is mixed.
All these colours are prepared by mixing and grinding them in water, and arranging them so
as to form the several tints to be employed in the work : these are then put into pots, and the
whole number of colours and tints placed in readiness for use. As all the tints, excepting burnt
ochre, violet, red, and blacks of all kinds, are apt to become light and clear, the artist should
have a piece of dry new brick or tile, on which to try his colours, for the water is soon absorbed
by the brick, and their degree of colour may be seen before it is applied to the painting itself.
SECTION VI.
PAINTING IN WATER-COLOURS.
OF the gratifications which the human mind receives through the channel of the senses,
none is perhaps greater than that which is excited by the practice of the arts of design. This
gratification possesses this peculiar property also, that repetition instead of lessening increases
and enhances the enjoyment, in proportion to the genius, application and progress of the student.
As an amusement only the arts of design furnish one of the most innocent and inoffensive as
well as delightful nature. The poet was in old times termed a maker, because by his art he
seemed to create a world of his own. To the proficient in drawing and painting the tennis
equally, nay still more applicable. Not every reader can discover or comprehend the creation,
of the poet; but every eye can perceive, if not be enchanted with the new beings produced by
3. s. the