PAINTING. 
the latter. Thefe preparations fhould be done carefully, 
and laid very fmoothly with the grain of the wood. When 
the Iafl coat is dry, which will be in twelve or twenty- 
four hours, then fmooth it with pumice-ftone, or give the 
work the firft coat of paint, prepared, or diluted, with nut 
or linfeed oil. When that is dry, all the nail-holes or 
other irregularities on the furface fhould be carefully 
Hopped with a competition of oil and Spanifh-white, a 
whiting commonly known by the name of putty; but 
which is frequently made and fold at the drops of very 
inferior articles. When that is done, let the work be 
painted over again, with the fame mixture of white-lead 
and oil, fomewhat diluted with the effence of oil of tur¬ 
pentine, which procefs ihould be repeated not lefs than 
three or four times, if the work is intended to be left, 
when finilhed, of a plain white or ftone colour; if of the 
latter, the laft coat ihould have a fmall quantity of ivory 
or lamp black added, to reduce its whitenefs a little ; and 
this is alfo of fervice in preferving the colour from 
changing; a circumftance which the oil is apt to produce. 
But, if the work is to be finifhed of any other colour, ei¬ 
ther grey, green, &c. it will be requifite to provide for 
fuch colour, after the third operation, particularly if it is 
to be finithed flat, or, as the painters ftyle it, dead-white, 
grey, fawn, &c. In order to finifh the work flatted, or 
dead, (which is a mode much to be preferred for all fupe- 
rior works ; not only for its appearance, but alfo for pre¬ 
ferving the colour and purity of the tint,) after the work, 
fuppdfing it to be wood, has been painted four times in 
oil-colour, as directed in general cafes, one coat of the 
flatted colour, or colour mixed up with a confiderable 
quantity of turpentine, will be found fufficient; although 
in large furfaces it will frequently be requifite to give two 
coats of the flatting-colour to make it quite complete. 
It mult be obferved, that, in all the foregoing opera¬ 
tions, it will be requifite to addfome fort of liccative. A 
very general and ufeful one is made by grinding in linfeed 
(or perhaps prepared oils, boiled, are better) about two 
parts of the bell white copperas, which mult be well dried, 
with one part of litharge of lead : the quantity to be added 
will much depend on the drynefs or humidity of the at- 
mofphere at the time of painting, as well as the local fitua- 
tion of the building. It is highly proper here to obferve, 
that there is a kind of copperas made in England, and faid to 
be ufed for fome purpofes in medicine, that not only does 
not aflill the operation of dryir,g-in the colours, but ab- 
folutely prevents thofe colours drying, which would other- 
wife have done fo by themfelves. The belt dryer for all 
fine whites, and other delicate tints, is faccharum faturni, 
or fugar-of-lead, ground in nut-oil; but which being 
very aCtive, a fmall quantity, about the fize of a walnut, 
will be fufficient for twenty pounds of colours, where the 
bafis is cerufe. The greatell care fhould be taken to keep 
all the utenfils, brulhes, See. particularly clean; or the co¬ 
lours will foon become very foul, fo as to deftroy the fur- 
face of the work. If this fhould fo happen, the colour 
fhould be parted through a fine fieve, or canvas; and the 
furface of the w’ork be carefully rubbed down with rtand- 
paper, or pumice-ftone ; and the latter fhould be prepared 
by being ground in water, if the paint be tender, or re¬ 
cently laid-on. 
The above may fuffice as to painting on wood, either on 
outfide or infide works; the former being feldom finifhed 
otherways than in oil, four or five coats are generally 
quite fufficient. 
We rtiall now proceed to note what is requifite for the 
painting of new w'alls, or Jiucco, not painted before, and 
prepared for oil-colours. It does not appear that any 
painting in oil can be done to any good or ferviceable ef¬ 
fect in ftucco, unlefs not merely the furface appear dry, 
but that the walls have been ereCted a fufficient time to 
permit the marts of brick-work to have acquired a fuffi¬ 
cient degree of drynefs : when ftucco is on battened work, 
it may be painted over much fooner than when prepared 
as brick. Indeed, the greateft part of the myftery of 
255 
painting ftucco, foas to ftand or wear well, certainly con- 
fifts in attending to thefe obfervations ; for, whoever has 
obferved the expanfive power of water, not only in con¬ 
gelation, but alrto in evaporation, mult be well aware that, 
when it meets with any foreign body obftrudting its efcape, 
as oil-painting for inftance, it immediately relifts it; form¬ 
ing a number of velicles, or particles containing an acrid 
lime-water, which forces off the layers of platter, and fre¬ 
quently caurtes large defective patches, extremely difficult 
to get the better of. 
Perhaps in general cafes, where perfons are building on 
their own eftate, or for themfelves, two or three years are 
not too long to flutter the ltucco to remain unpainted; 
though frequently, in fpeculative works, as marry weeks 
are fcarcely allowed. Indeed, there are fome noftrums fet 
forth, in favour of which it is Hated, in fpite of all the 
natural properties of bodies, that ltucco may, after hav¬ 
ing been waflred over with thefe liquids, be painted im¬ 
mediately with oil-colours. It is true there may be in- 
ftances, and in many experiments fome will be found, 
that appear to counteract the general laws of nature; but, 
on following them up to their caurtes, it will be found 
otherwirte. 
Suppofing the foregoing precautions to have been at¬ 
tended to, there can be no better mode adopted for 
priming or laying-on the firft coat on ftucco, than by lin- 
feed or nut oil, boiled with dryers, as before mentioned, 
and laid-on with a proper brufh ; taking care, in all cafes, 
not to lay-on too much, fo as to render the furface rough 
and irregular, and not more than the ftucco will abforb. 
It fhould then be covered with three or four coats of ce¬ 
rufe, or white-lead, prepared as deferibed for painting 
on wainfeoting; letting each coat have fufficient time to 
dry hard. If time will permit, two or three days betwixt 
each layer will not be too long. 
If the ftucco be intended to be finifhed of any given tint, 
as grey, light-green, apricot, &c. it will then be proper, 
about the third coat of painting, to prepare the ground 
for rtuch tint, by a flight advance towards it. Grey is 
made with cerufe; Pruflian-blue, ivory-black, and lake, 
fage-green, pea and rtea greens, with white; Pruflian-blue 
and fine yellows, apricot, and peach, with lake ; white, 
Chinefe vermilion, and fine yellow', fawn colour, with 
burnt terra Sienna, or umber and white; olive-greens, 
with fine Pruflian-blue and Oxfordfliire-ochre. 
We fhall conclude with an account of fome procefles 
which have been recommended, on account of their cheap- 
nefs, for preparing different materials for economical 
painting. 
Of House-Painting with Milk. 
This procefs was invented by A. A. Cadet de Vaux, of 
the Academical Society of Sciences in France; and firft 
deferibed in the Feuilie Cultivateur, about the year 1798 ; 
then in the Decade Philortophique; and afterwards tranrt- 
lated into fome of our Englifli journals. The following 
are the directions for preparing this paint: Take of 
fkimmed-milk a pint, which makes two pints of Paris, or 
nearly two quarts Englifh ; frefli-flaked lime, fix ounces, 
(about fix and a half ounces avoirdupois;) oil of cara¬ 
ways, or linfeed, or nut, four ounces;, Spanifh-vvhire 
(whiting), three pounds; put the lime into a ftone veflel, 
and pour upon it a fufficient quantity of milk to make a 
mixture rertembling thin cream ; then add the oil a little 
at a time, ftirring it with a fmall fpatula; the remainder 
of the milk is then to be added, and, laftly, the Spanifh- 
white. Skimmed-milk in fummer is often clotted ; but 
this is of no confequence, becaufe the contaCt with the 
lime foon reftores its fluidity. But it mult on no account 
be four, becaufe in that cafe it would form with the lime a 
kind of calcareous acetate, capable of attracting moifture. 
The lime is flaked by dipping it in water, out of which 
it is to be immediately taken, and left to fall in pieces in 
the air. 
The choice of either of the above-mentioned oils is in¬ 
different 5: 
