ITALIAN PINK MARBLE AND SCARLET MARBLE.
155. Really this marble and the Italian scarlet marble are only variations of sienna marble, and as the variation consists altogether in the coloring of the marble and not at all in its veining and other forms, there will be no need of telling “how” it should be done, as that is related under the heading of sienna marble in the following paragraph. For color venetian red lightened up to a pink with white lead is used instead of that described, and in the scarlet variety vermillion toned down with venetian red.
SIENNA MARBLE.
156. This marble is more extensively imitated than any of the others, with the exception of white marble black veined, and there is no wonder that it is so with its wealth of forms. No matter what one may fancy or do it is pretty sure to look like some specimen of it has done before if the same character is kept up to the end. It is true some forms are more pleasant than are others, and that is true really in all marbles, so that the student should not spend much time in trying to do something which is considered an inferiority in the sienna marble itself. The most pleasing forms are clumps of darker color overrun with veinings and intervals of lighter tone also veined, but usually with much lighter toned veins than the set occupying the darker clumps. But some of the light as well as the darker ones usually trespass some upon each other’s ground, and in some specimens clumps of very fine dots extend over some of the light areas instead of veins.
The ground should be put in with white and the larger clumps put in with raw sienna and blended. Then some of the intervals may be connected with lighter toned and smaller clumps, also made with the raw sienna upon the still wet ground. Proceed afterward to put in darker broad veins with the artist’s bristle brushes and blending them. After the blending, put in the white veining, which, of course, will mix with the still wet ground, but that will give it the transparent effect if when the work has dried they are touched up here and there with flake white to give them their character. The darker veinings should also be touched up in order to emphasize them and make them look transparent. Variations galore will suggest themselves to the student who has made a study of these marbles from natural specimens.
FLORENCE MARBLE.
157. The ground for this marble is a neutral tone of red made with white lead and Indian red. The veining should be put in with burnt umber and a second set with burnt sienna, a few of each running in every direction without any regularity. This veining must be done while the ground is still wet in order that the ends may blend in with it and seem to disappear into it. Sometimes the veining runs out of clumps and seems to break forth, leaving some parts nearly free of veinings, and then suddenly to spring up into a network as intricate as seen upon a nutmeg melon.
TENNESSEE MARBLE.
158. This is an American marble. It is usually of a mauve or bluish violet tone, and of a medium between dark and light, some specimens being rather dark. As it is plentiful and cheap much of it does not show up at its best, but there are some specimens which are very beautifully marked. As all other marbles, it has an infinity of showings. Its general character is an all-over veining. Some specimens, however, showing a few patches of plain white of considerable extent, and in all the better ones some large thick white veins with a number of smaller ones running in a wild way radiating from them, but with a distinct tendency to run in the same direction as the large white veins spoken of. Then there is another set of smaller veining of the same tone as the ground, but much deeper scattered nearly all over it. The ground should be put on with white paint and color made from Indian red deepened with Prussian blue, dabbed on nearly all over it and blended into the white, leaving a few patches of white and the larger fissure veins where desired, although these can be put on after the ground has become dry. Much of the smaller veining should be put on before the ground is dry in order to mix with it and give the transparent effect so much desired. Afterward the stronger high light effects in the large white veins and in some of the parts of the smaller ones should be touched up with flake white, and the darker veins should be touched up here and there also with the darkest color.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XXX.
155. Describe how Italian pink and Italian scarlet marbles are imitated?
156. How is sienna marble imitated?
157. How is Florentine marble reproduced?
158. What is said concerning the imitation of Tennessee marble?