470 MIXING PAINTS. 



well slaked. Dissolve two pounds and a half of alum in. 

 boiling water, and add it to every pailful of whitewash. 

 Lime whitewash should be used very thin, and when it is 

 sufficiently bound on the wall by means of alum, two thin 

 coats will cover the work better ; this may be used for the 

 first coat, thinned with water. Most whitewashers apply 

 their wash too thick, and do not mix a proportionate quan- 

 tity of alum to bind it, consequently the operation of the 

 brush rubs off the first coat in various parts and leaves an 

 uneven surface, and the original smooth surface of the wall 

 is entirely destroyed. 



Italian Marble. This looks bold, and is well adapted 

 for columns, &c., and is easy to imitate. The ground a 

 light buff. For the graining colors, prepare a rich, warm 

 buff, made in the following manner : Mix stiff in boiled oil 

 white lead and good stone ochre, and tinge with vermilion, 

 then grind some burnt terra sienna very fine in burnt oil, 

 and put it into another pot ; mix some pure white stiff 

 in oil, and keep this separate. Thin these colors with tur- 

 pentine, have ready a brush for the buff, and another for 

 the terra sienna. Proceed to work as follows : Take the 

 brush intended for the buff moderately full of color, and 

 dab it on freely and carefully in different patches, some of 

 them larger than others, and varying them as much as pos- 

 sible. When these are laid on, take the other brush and 

 fill in with the terra sienna the spaces between ; as soon as 

 this is done, take a dry duster or softener and blend the 



