CHAPTER IX.

BLACK WALNUT.

This wood was very fashionable as an interior finish not very long ago, but its place is now largely occupied by cherry, mahogany and oak, and I think the change is for the better; for unless a room is well lighted, the effect of the deep color of walnut is rather sombre and the grains have less light and shade and less variety than those of oak or cherry. It can be imitated in either oil or distemper. The same tools are used as for ash. The piped bristle overgrainer is an excellent help for both oil and water color. The graining color is composed mostly of burnt umber, Vandyke brown being added for the darker portions of the work.

In my opinion, the best way to imitate walnut is first to stipple it with a thin mixture of Vandyke brown in distemper, using nothing but beer for thinner. When this is dry, rub in the oil color and wipe out the hearts with the rag in the same way as for oak and ash. Care must be taken not to add much water to the stippling color, or the stippling will be wiped off when the rag is used over it. When the hearts have been wiped out, the fitch tool may be used to sharpen up the edges of the growths and the whole lightly blended with the dry flat brush. The hearts can also be put in by using the fitch tool, or by mottling or wiping off the color slightly with the rag and then using the fitch tool as directed, the edges of the color being slightly lifted with the dry flat brush.

Some grainers prefer to use water color rather than oil, and do their work wholly in distemper. The same kit of tools is used as for cherry in distemper--viz., sponge, flat brush, sash tool, fitch tool, blender and overgrainer, either piped or plain. First stipple in the work slightly darker than if it were to be gone over in oil, and then put in the grains with a fitch tool and the overgrainer. Care must be taken in blending the hearts after pencilling, or the graining-color will lift off and show the ground-color. Oil color is sometimes used to pencil in the hearts, as it will not lift the stippling, no matter how much it is blended. A camel's-hair pencil is sometimes used to finish the points of the hearts. Care should be taken to have all the mitres and joints cleanly cut, and slightly to vary the color of the different portions of the work, so as to avoid sameness. The work may be shaded or overgrained after it is dry, but it is generally finished at once. For a quick job, done wholly in oil, rub in the work rather dry and stipple with the flat brush; then put in the hearts with the fitch tool and blend. Use the bristle piped overgrainer for portions of the work. By using the finer steel combs covered with cotton rag and stippling the work, when combed, with the dry brush, a very fair imitation is obtained.