Paint & colour mixing, a practical handbook : for painters, decorators, artists and all who have to mix colours, containing 287 samples of actual oil- and water-paints and water-colours of various colours, including the principal graining grounds, and upwards of 600 different colour mixtures, with instructions on colour and paint mixing generally, testing colours, etc., etc. with thirteen coloured plates

Front matter

ik

l>i

Yi

Preface To The Third Edition

Another edition of this book being called for, the Author has taken the opportunity of adding several chapters dealing with subjects not previously included. The most important of these are " Mixing Paints and Colours on the Manufacturing Scale," and " Artists' Water Colours and How to Mix Them."

The latter subject is dealt with at considerable length, and a complete list of artists' water colours is given, with notes on the origin and properties of each, several typical palettes and hints as to the mixtures of colours which are used in water colour painting.

A chapter on "Glazing " has also been given, and the whole of the work, and especially the lists of colour mixtures, has been garefully revised and considerably added to. Another new chapter, " How to Learn to Mix and Match Colours" suggests a course of practical study and experiment by which the reader may learn the subject in a thorough manner.

Perhaps the most important improvement, however, is the increased number of coloured plates. In the first edition there were but four ; in this there are thirteen, comprising in all 287 different colours, all of them being executed in the actual material they represent ; that is to say, either oil paint, distemper, or artists' water colour. This feature is of importance because matches of any colour included in the plates may be made by using pigments and following the detailed instructions given, while it would be impossible if printers' or lithographic inks had been used.

The Author in the first edition said that he had ample justification for the publication of the book in the fact that he had during the last twenty years received, in his capacity as editor of painters' publications, inquiries almost daily for a book giving colour

VI.

Preface To Third Edition

mixtures, with actual samples of colours ; in other words, one which would be useful to the man who wanted to mix paints, but who had not made a study of the subject.

Two editions, each of two thousand, having been sold, it would appear that this view was not a mistaken one, and now that an earnest attempt has been made to add to the usefulness of the book it is hoped that it will interest many who have not purchased the earlier editions.

A critic might object that it is impossible to give accurate colour mixtures, because the appearance of colour varies according to the light in which it is viewed, and also because the result obtained by mixing coloured pigments of differf.nt manufacture must vary greatly according to the quaUty of those colours. AH these objections have been carefully borne in mind in the preparation of the contents of this work. It has been assumed that the colour mixtures will be viewed in an average good light, and it is further assumed that the colours employed will not necessarily be of the very best quahty, but certainly not those which are very inferior.

It need only be added that every one of the mixtures given in this work has again been carefully tested with the actual colours. The preparation of the lists has been no inconsiderable work.

The Author cordially invites correspondence,and he takes the opportunity of returning thanks to many readers, both at home and abroad, who have sent him words of appreciation of his work, and also to many paint and colour manufacturers who have kindly supplied him with their colour cards and lists which have been most useful for comparison.

Arthur S. Jennings.

62, Barry Road,

Dulwich, London, S.E.

December, 1906.

—White Lead — Zinc -Thinners — Turpen-

CHAPTER II. Colours or Stainers

The Nomenclature of Colours— Examples and Variations in the Name of the Colours- — Efforts made to Establish a Uniform Nomenclature— Colour Synonyms — Economy of using Good Colours — Hue, Tint and Shade — Standardising Colours — Competition . . , . . .

Chapter III

How TO Learn to Mix and Match Colours. - A Course of Experiments— Reds and How to Mix them— Blues — Yellows — Greens — Tints and Shades — Complex Colours — A Colour Chart — Matching Colours — Appearance of Colours and Intensity of Light — Experimenting with Distemper . . . . . . . . . . 27

CHAPTER XIV. Mixing Paints and Colours on the Manufacturing

Scale.

Raw Materials used in Paint Grinding— Barytes— Whiting or Plaster of Paris— Gypsum or Terra Alba— China Qav— Yellow Pigments— Black Pigments— Blue Pigments—Green Pigments— Table of Quantity of Lmseed Oil required in Grinding Pigments— Stiff Paints— Machinery and Plant used m Paint Grinding— Prepared Paints— Formute for Ready Mixed Paints— Skeleton Cost Sheet . .

CONTENTS.

IX.

Chapter XV. Page

Water Paints, Distempers, Etc.

The Increase in the Use of Water Paints — The Advantages — CoveringCapacity — Painting and Varnishing over Water Paints — Distemper .. .. .. ..124

Chapter XVI

Artists' Water Colours and How to Mix Them. PreUminary Remarks — Restricted Palettes — Palettes of Celebrated Artists — Chart of Water Colours — How to Imitate Water Colours — Suggestions for Painters in Water Colours — -Colours for Autumnal Tints — -Banks, Earthy — Bracken — -Branches of Trees — Backgrounds — Clouds and Distances — Clouds (stormy) — -Flowers and Fruit — Foliage, Grass and Herbage — Foregrounds — Grass — Grays, Warm and Cold — Ivy — Leaves and Stems of Flowers — Mountains — Rivers — Roads — Sea — Shadows — -Ship — Skies— Stone Walls — Sunset and Sunrise — Trees

CHAPTER XVII. Testing Colours

Chief Considerations — Purity of Material — Tone — Fineness of Grinding — Spreading Capacity — Testing — Chrome Green — -Bronze Green — ^Emerald Green — Vermilion — Indian and Tuscan Reds — Vermilionettes — Blues — Red Lead — Chrome Yellow — Ochre — Blacks— Umbers — Siennas. . . . . . . . . . . . 143

CHAPTER XVIIT.

Notes on Colour Harmony.

General Consideration — Colour Blindness — Matching Wall Papers — -Contrasting Harmonies — -SuggestionsforColour Schemes — For a Red Wall, etc. — Colour Combinations for Doors . . . . . . . . ..158

Chapter XIX

The Proportions of Materials, Notes, Etc. Proportions Vary with Conditions of Work — Priming for Iron — Painting on Stucco — -PrimingforDeal — Inside and Outside Work — ^Table of Materials Required — Eggshell Gloss — Oxide of Zinc — Pigments, some Useful Tables — Brushes and How they are Made — The Care of Brushes — The Tintometer — Coloured Oil Varnishes — Oxides — Jelstone . ,

Descriptions of the Coloured Plates

Index

165 178

THE COLOURED PLATES.

[Note. — A full description of each plate will be found at the end of the book, next to Index (see pages 178 to 185).]

Plate I. — This shows eight different body colours in common use with tints of the same produced by adding i 5 parts and 30 parts respectively of white lead, making 24 colours in all.

Plate II. — This shows eight different graining grounds, and eight oil colours used in everyday work. Instructions for mixine all of them wall be found within.

Plate III. — This plate gives sixteen different useful colours,

Plate IV.— This plate gives thirty named colours standardised bv ascertaining the popular opinion' of several thousands of colour experts as explained within.

Plate V. — Thirty more colours standardised in the same manner as those on Plate TV;

Plate VI.— Sixteen useful colours in washable distempers, one half of each colour being plain and one half varnished.

Plate VII. — Sixteen useful colours in distemper.

Plate VIII. — Sixteen examples of non-poisonous distemper colours.

Plate IX. — Forty different tints of distemper produced by mixing three primary colours with white in given proportions.

Plate X. — Twenty-seven different colours of distemper employed in everyday work.

Plate XI. — Forty specimens of typical water colours used by artists in water colour painting.

Plate XII. — Eight examples of methods of using the specialityknown as " Matsine.-'

Plate XIII. — Eight further examples of Matsine.

CHAPTER I. Paint and Colour Mixing : Introduction

The Composition of a Paint. — Clearly the first thing to be done before studying the subject of paint and colour mixing is to define " paint " and " colour." Without attempting to give a hard and fast definition, it may be said that a paint consists of any pigment, or pigments, such as white lead, tinctured or used plain, mixed with linseed oil, and thinned by means of turpentine to render it in such a condition that it may be readily applied to the surface of wood, iron and other work by means of a brush. Paint serves the purpose, first of preserving the material to which it is applied, and sometimes, but not always, a second purpose, namely, that of decoration or adding to the beauty of the obj ect to which it is applied.

The principal pigment used in paint mixing is white lead, but there are many others that are also employed. Many painters look upon paint as necessarily consisting of white lead, to which has been added sufficient colouring matter to give the desired tint. As a matter of fact, white lead may be wholly absent from a paint. For example, yellow ochre or sienna may each be used by itself. Iron oxide in the shape of Indian red, purple brown, or Venetian red, form in themselves good paints if the colour is not objectionable. Red lead used -by itself is a useful paint. Again, in the lighter paints, we sometimes have white lead replaced by an admixture of zinc oxide, barytes, lithopone, Charlton white, Orr's white, and other white pigments.

The oil used in mixing paint is principally used

PAINT AND COLOUR MIXING.

r.

to combine or unite together the particles of which the pigment is composed. It is also employed to give a glossy surface and to bring the material to a proper consistency. Turpentine could be used for the latter purpose by itself, but the result would be what is termed a " flat " surface, or an absence of gloss. The turpentine, too, evaporates almost wholly. It is generally conceded, among those who have given close attention to the subject, that the durabihty of a paint depends largely upon the oil used ; indeed, it has been likened to the life blood of the paint. Recent investigation has shown that it depends also and to a very great extent upon the fineness of the particles. A perfectly pure, but coarsely ground pigment, when made into paint, will not last nearly so long as one which is finely ground.

There is not much doubt that the best pigments may be replaced with others somewhat inferior without so much detriment to the quality of the paint as if linseed oil is replaced by some other oil. It is quite necessary that pure linseed oil be used in the manufacture of all paints, and although there are one or two substitutes on the market which may be employed in very cheap work, no attempt should be made to execute a really good job unless pure linseed oil is used. The purpose of the oil in giving a gloss is sometimes assisted by the addition of a small quantity of oak varnish. This is a growing custom among painters, as the gloss produced is decidedly improved by the addition of the varnish, and the work shows up well, while the varnish does not in any way detract from the durability of the paint, but rather adds to it. This practice is employed more on outside than inside work, where the execution of the painting requires more' care than it does inside, owmg to the severe atmospheric conditions, which cause any paint work not properly prepared to soon decay.

^^'mkt

INTRODUCTION.

For our present purpose " colour " may be defined as a pigment possessing a hue or colour in itself which it imparts to the v/hite lead or other white pigment with which it is mixed, thus producing a series of "tints" according to the proportions employed. It is for this reason that colours in painter's parlance are frequently called " stainers," although the word is not quite correct, as it implies an effect similar to that which would be produced by the use of a stain or dye. As a matter of fact coloured pigments^ when mixed with white ones, do not actually stain, but the particles lie side by side and become merged into each other when viewed at a little distance.

In mixing a paint the base, such as white lead, having been selected, a colour is mixed with it in order to produce the desired hue or tint. Frequently, however, a colour is made by the mixture of several colours, which are added to the base, or sometimes a single colour may be used by itself, or several colours without white at all may be employed.

The colour having been determined, oil, turpentine, and driers are then added. The object of the driers is that of causing the paint material to dry quickly. There are several kinds of driers on the market, but the two best known are termed " patent driers," which is sold in solid form, and the " liquid driers " or " japanners." Whichever is used, the actual quantity employed will depend very largely upon the pigment. Some pigments, such, for instance, as red lead, may be considered in themselves driers, and the addition, of any other is unnecessary. Others, like Vandyke brown, dry slowly, and much more driers will be necessary than is the case with white lead. Further on we give some idea of the proportions of materials to be used, but it will be understood that no exact information on the subject will be possible, for reasons that will be explained. It is of the utmost importance to remember that an excess of driers is most objection-

PAINT AND COLOUR MIXING.

able. It often retards, instead of increasing, the dryingquality, it causes cracks and blisters, and above all, it proves very destructive to the paint itself.

The quality of patent driers varies very greatly, some of the cheaper grades consisting largely of material which possesses no drying properties whatever. Indeed, at the present day there is so much patent driers on the market that is largely adulterated that the author prefers to always use Hquid driers, provided, of course, that its good quality has been clearly established. When the latter is used the proportions can very readily be ascertained and the danger of using an excess is avoided.

Another effect of using driers in excess is a somewhat peculiar one, and is worthy of mention here. The paint dries hard in rather less than the usual time, but after a week or two it gradually becomes soft, adhering to the hand or anything placed against it. The reason for this is that the paint dries only on the surface, owing to the excess of driers, and that the soft paint afterwards works through.

Pigment and Thinners. — It being now clearly understood that a paint consists of pigment such as white lead, mixed with oil in order to bind the particles together, and thinned with turpentine in order to render it of a suitable consistency for application by means of a brush, we may add a few remarks under each of these heads.

Pigments. — The principal pigments used by the painter are, as already stated, white lead, zinc oxide, oxide of iron, and the various colours used for tinting purposes. White lead is manufactured either by what is known as the " old Dutch " process, also known a^ the " stack " process, or by one of the many new methods which are designed to effect a saving of time. Speaking broadly, the old Dutch process yields the best lead, although there are one or two exceptions, notably Brimsdown lead, which is manufactured by a new f

INTRODUCTION.

process. It is a beautifully white and fine lead which is rapidly gaining great popularity among painters.

Genuine white lead, i.e., lead which is not adulterated, is always marked on the package, " Genuine White Lead." If any proportion of adulterant is added, the package is then marked " Reduced White Lead," so that the reader need have no hesitancy in purchasing lead, because the mark will tell him what its quality is. If any merchant or manufacturer sells adulterated white lead as pure, he renders himself liable to heavy penalties for contravening the provisions of the " Merchandise Marks' Act," and the White Lead Corroders Section of the London Chamber of Commerce order prosecutions in cases of the kind which come to their knowledge.

Zinc Oxide has, in recent years, made great advances in popularity among painters. Compared to white lead, it is as white to yellow. It is indeed beautifully white, very fine, and easily worked. The whiteness is of importance in mixing paints, as the purity of colour is retained, while when mixed with lead the yellowish cast to some extent destroys the purity of the original colour. The fact that oxide of zinc is non-poisonous is a point in its favour of very considerable importance. It is claimed that painters who take care to wash themselves frequently are not hkely to contract lead poisoning. This is -doubtless true enough, but as a matter of fact, the best of painters are at times careless, while in the rush of vv^ork, it is often impossible to take the precautions required.

The most important quaHty of zinc oxide is its .extreme durability. Properly mixed it will last, say at a moderate estimate, twice as long as lead, especially in large cities where the air is impregnated with sulphur derived from burning coal. Lead, in such circumstances, turns yellow or black and quickly decays, and some places, such as stables, where sulphuretted hydrogen abounds, it is useless to paint with white lead, and if zinc is used these disadvantages are avoided.

The practical reader will probably think, when he reads the foregoing, that while our remarks are true enough so far as they go, yet he will say that zinc oxide is open to the objection that it is lacking in " body."

In another chapter will be explained at length what " body " is, and it must be acknowledged that white lead is superior in body to most, if not all, other pigments. In fact, it is this quality which has caused it to be used for so many years, notwithstanding its other shortcomings. Zinc oxide has a very good body, probably as good as white lead. If a proper comparison be made, and if both be thinned out to a consistency suitable to be applied by brush, it is true that zinc will apparently not have so good a body as lead, but it will spread much farther. If an exactly equal quantity of lead and zinc are both painted on an exactly equal area, zinc will cover a little better than lead. In this state, however, the consistency of the zinc paint would be rather too thick for application with a brush, but it can, of course, be thinned very readily by adding oil.

A careful consideration of these facts will show the practical painter that he will require really less zinc than he will lead to perform a good job, and when the durability is also taken into consideration as well as the beauty, it will not take long for him to make up his mind as to the superiority of zinc.

There is one point, however, about its use which must be very clearly explained. Zinc oxide is, when compared with lead, quite light in weight, or, in other words, its volume is much greater than lead. Now, it being an entirely different product, it must not be treated in the same way as lead would be. The painter, perhaps, takes some zinc, mixes it with raw oil, with a liberal amount of patent driers and a more

Graining Colours. Samples of Colours.

INTRODUCTION.

liberal dose of turpentine, and then he grumbles because it does not show up to advantage. What he does is to destroy its inherent good quahties. To repeat then, zinc oxide must not be treated in the same way as white lead. Anchovy sauce is excellent for fish, but would be rather distasteful with a chop or steak. So with these two important white pigments. The proper way to treat zinc oxide is to mix it with refined boiled oil, i.e., no driers should be used, and only just sufficient turpentine to bring it to the required consistency. Refined boiled oil may be had without difficulty from a number of makers. Being pale, it does not destroy the whiteness of the zinc, while it certainly aids considerably in drying. It is paler than raw linseed oil, and hence it does not destroy the most deficate tints, however fight. It will be observed that the words " zinc oxide " have been used in the above paragraphs instead of " zinc white," the term by which the pigment is usually known among painters. The reason for this is that the latter term is not infrequently appfied to an entirely different class of pigments of which Orr's white, Charlton white, and lithopone are the best kno\\Ti examples.

Thinners. — Linseed oil is the principal vehicle used by painters. It is expensive, but no other oil can compare with it for good service. It is used both raw and boiled. Frequently a proportion of each is used in paint. Boiled oil is linseed oil, which has been heated to about 350° to 500° F. This causes the oil, when cool, to dry much quicker but dryers are with the same object usually added while the oil is hot. Boiled oil should dry hard in about twenty-four hours, and a good test is to paint a fittle on a watch glass. At the end of twenty-four hours it should have dried quite hard. There is a great difference of opinion among painters as to the proper use of boiled and raw oils. Some prefer to use boiled oil

PAINT AND COLOUR MIXING.

almost always, while others are of the opinion that the less used the better. The author's opinion is that good boiled oil may safely be used if mixed with the proper proportions of raw oil, depending upon the class of work to be done, and that this produces far better workthanitis possible to obtain bythe practice so frequently carried on of adding driers in excess to paint. Turpentine. — It is very important that the turpentines used in paint be pure. American turpentine is mostly used. Owing to its high price it is sometimes adulterated, with disastrous effects upon the paint. It should be perfectly white in colour, and its purity can roughly be tested by dropping a httle on a sheet of writing paper. If it is adulterated, a greasy spot will remain, while if pure it will wholly disappear in a few minutes. When the adulterant is mineral oil it can usually be detected by the pecuhar blue colour it gives to the turpentine.

Although American turpentine has for so many years enjoyed a practical monopoly among EngHsh painters, the Russian product has of late become very much more popular, and bids fair to prove a very formidable rival. The old adage that " necessity is the mother of invention " may aptly be applied to the condition of things concerning turpentine in recent years. American turps were very high in price, with no prospect of their lowering, as the pine forests are rapidly becoming exhausted. Painters therefore are compelled to look for something to take the place of American turps. One or two enterprising firms took up the question of Russian turpentine. Painters who have tried this have objected to it on account of its smell, but experience proved that it was quite possible to remove this objection almost wholly, and to obtain a turpentine practically water white which hould answer for the purpose of American turpentine, n fact, be identical with it in appearance, behaviour, flash point and specific gravity, with perhaps a slight

■ ■■■^0'''

INTRODUCTION.

difference in smell, but nothing in the least objectionable. The most satisfactory substitutes at present on the market may be divided into three groups (a) The Russian and French turpentines ; (b) Spirits of petroleum origin, and (c) Liquids produced by distillation of various pine products other than crude American turpentine. To these might be added the various mixtures which consist simply of blends of pure turpentine and petroleum spirit in proportions depending upon the price at which they are to be sold.

An excellent turpentine which the author finds is equal to American in most respects, but is much cheaper, is termed " Canadian Turps," and is sold by Messrs. Dixon and Heydorn, 20, St. Dunstan's Hill, London, E.G.

Spirits of petroleum origin are Hkely to proveindeed are proving— very successful. Ordinary petroleum, such as lamp oil, would be useless in a paint because it possesses no drying properties, while the hghter distillations of the same product, such as benzine, would be suitable if they did not evaporate so quickly. The efforts of the manufacturers have produced petroleum, spirits which possess neither of the objections mentioned, and they are increasing in use every day.

Special Thinners.- -It is somewhat extraordinary that notwithstanding the care taken by enterprising paint m.anufacturers to improve the quality of their paint, it is only in recent years that any attempt has been made to sell special thinners. Just as a paint may be manufactured on a large scale by the aid of machinery, so a thinner might be prepared for use with special paints that would give quite satisfactory results and save considerable time in the mixing.

We may mention a firm who manufacture special thinners, viz., Messrs. Gross, Sherwood and Heald, Ltd., who make a paint called " Lead white," which is of unusually fine quaUty, and is used with a special

PAINT AND COLOUR MIXING.

thinner called the " Grosswood Drying Medium." Messrs. Craig and Rose, Ltd., also manufacture a special paint called " Permadure," which the author has had the opportunity of testing, and which he finds of superior quality. This, too, is used with special thinners called the " Permadure Thinners."

Paint Mixing. — For ordinary quantities of paint, the following is the method usually employed in mixing. A can or kettle is most usually employed for mixing the white lead or other base, and this is first thinned out and mixed with the driers and oil, the colour being afterwards added to it. It saves time to well beat up the lead with a wooden spatula, shaped Hke an oar or spade, before adding thinners of any kind. This having been done, a Uttle oil is first placed in the can, which is twisted around so that the oil covers every part of the inside surface. This prevents the lead sticking against the tin . A sufficient quantity of oil and the patent, or other driers, is then added. The lead is stirred and beaten against the sides of the tin until the whole is of the same consistency, and more oil is added until the thickness is not sufficient to support the stick standing upright. Turpentine may now be added to further thin the mixture, and then the colour is added. It may be noted here that the result is not so satisfactory if the turpentine is added before the oil.

The best way of mixing tinting colours is to place them on a stone, thoroughly amalgamating one with the other by means of a spatula. When the colour is what is required it is added to the white. To take a simple case of a gray, a Httle black would be beaten up on the stone, and when quite thin added to the pot of white. This would then be stirred up thoroughly and the grey colour observed to see whether it was sufficiently dark. Then a very little red and blue might be prepared on the stone and this be added to the pot, the mixture being again stirred. Two very

INTRODUCTION.

II important rules must be observed at this point. The first is that the colours ground in oil should be used and not dry colours. If dry colours are employed, oil must be added to them on the stone and not in the pot. We may repeat, by way of emphasis, that under no circumstances must dry colours be added to the pot of colour. This is a rul.e to which there is no exception. The second rule, and one which is equally important, is to add only a small quantity of colour to the pot of white at the time. Taking the case once more of the grey, a httle black being added and the mixture well stirred, it can be seen at a glance whether the desired depth of shade is obtained. On the other hand, it would be quite impossible to take any of the black from the mixture, and should it be too dark, the only way to hghten it would be to add more white, and this would probably mean mixing much more paint than was required for the job.

It will be understood that the above description of mixing refers to ordinary jobs such as are required in painting a house. When a considerable quantity of paint is to be mixed at the same time, a mechanical mixer may be used with great advantage. It is remarkable that painters do not use these paint mixers more frequently. They certainly effect a great deal of saving of time, and the outlay of a few pounds would be quickly repaid.

Since the first edition of this book was published in which it was recommended to use a machine for mixing paints, considerable progress has been made in this direction and many contractors now realise that whenever a large quantity of paint is to be mixed, it pays far better to use a machine than it does to use the old fashioned method. The author's opinion is that excepting, perhaps, in very small shops, it would pay every employing painter to purchase a good paint mixer.