111. Sycamore is another wood which, like maple, shows but little pores. Its growth, unlike maple, is an indescribable interlacing and twining of its ligaments which when sawed produce an infinity of variations with short, jerky, snappish terminations, and an infinity of short mottlings. This very infinity at last produces a uniformity on account of their smallness, as the eye cannot catch all their variations. Were it possible to greatly increase these of such a size as those of maple, sycamore would be one of the richest of our woods.

112. It is passably well imitated in distemper work and grained quickly. The ground should be deeper than that of any of the woods previously described, of a decided buff tone. The graining color should be made from raw sienna and burnt umber in distemper. The graining should be done with the sponge and immediately well blended. If the sponge is pecked on to the surface to be grained, the blending will produce the small mottles, and another pecking done in such places as needed and blended will usually produce a very fair representation of the wood. Another way is to put on the color evenly with either a sponge or a brush and to rotate the rotary cylinder rubber roller graining tool upon it and blend quickly. This gives a very fair imitation if well done.

CHERRY.

113. Cherry graining presents no great difficulty, as it is a wood of very plain growth, so much so that it looks rather tame and for that reason it is very seldom imitated by graining. There are some of the rooms in the old-time houses where the woodwork is cherry, and it sometimes happens that repairs are done to it, and which have to be grained in order to match the old work.

114. The ground color is made by tinting white lead with ochre, venetian red and burnt umber. A very fine stipple of burnt umber much reduced with whiting may be given it and the veining should be put in with a pencil of the proper color, which should in no wise be very prominent as in the natural wood it does not show much darker than the fine pores or stipple work. Of course all of the work is done in water colors.

SATINWOOD.

115. Satinwood, with the one exception of holly, is one of the easiest of all woods to imitate. There is but few markings upon it and next to nothing in veining. Mottlings of no great prominence by their depths of coloring are the only markings. The wood varies somewhat in the depth of its tone from a light to a medium tone of buff.

116. The ground will vary from a very light buff to a darker shade of the same. As said before the graining consists of mottlings which are not very prominent, therefore the graining color, which is made up from raw sienna and burnt umber in distemper reduced to less intensity by whiting, should be put on thinly with a sponge and blended so as to show no feathering.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XXI.

111. Relate what are the main characteristics of sycamore?

112. How is sycamore grained?

113. What is said of cherry graining?

114. How is cherry grained?

115. What is said regarding the characteristics of satinwood.

116. How is satinwood grained?