tone is necessary, and for certain kinds of interior work,
zinc white should be substituted. With these explan-
ations one cannot greatly err. It will be an easy matter
to substitute zinc for lead, when it is well understood
that the white lead base that is indicated in the next



238 MODERN PIGMENTS

chapter does not stand as meaning that especially, but
only a white base as the predominating pigment.

The white lead or zinc white or other accessory whites
must have been broken up, as is called the operation of
taking it out of its original package or keg in which it
was placed at the factory and thinning it with sufficient
linseed oil to make a rather stiff and smooth paste. It is
not such an easy matter as it may look, to a novice, to stir
up the lead and to get it into a smooth uniform mass
free from lumps. It is simple, but it means hard work,
requiring strength and effort to perform it properly.
Some use a little turpentine with the oil, to make it break
up readily, and the small quantity required will not
harm it for any purpose of outside painting. If possible,
the breaking up should be done the day before prepar-
ing the tints; if left over night many of the small lumps,
which seem to defy the paddle and constantly escape it,
and which are a cause of mental irritation, and thereby
of profanity, become soaked up by the linseed oil when
left in contact with it over night, and the next day the
mass is more easily brought to a uniform smooth paste.
The tub or tubs used for the breaking up of the lead
should always be ready to furnish the base in just the
shape described, as it will be found much better than
freshly broken up lead for the purpose of preparing
tints. Of course, it is not absolutely necessary that it
should be broken up ahead of the time it is needed, but
it will be found better, and the better way is what the
author is trying to inculcate.

2. THE COLORING PIGMENTS

These, too, should have been previously broken up by
the gradual addition of small quantities of linseed oil.
When the pigment has been beaten up with the oil, and



THE COMPOUNDING OF PIGMENTS 239

has absorbed all the oil, forming a smooth paste of uniform
texture, more is added and triturated with it, till again
that is absorbed, and a liquid is obtained which pours out
easily as thin as one would wish to apply with a brush.
It is only when in this condition that the coloring pig-
ments can be added to the base safely, as otherwise they
will not incorporate with it with anything like uniformity,
and the tint may be streaky, which is an abomination
and a sure sign of the incompetency of the tint mixer.

3. MIXING THE TINTS

The pigments must be added slowly to the base, so as
not to overshoot the intended tint. It is an easy matter
to add more pigment to the base, if it is needed, to bring
it to the intended tint, but it is impossible to take it out
if the addition has been overdone. This overdosing is
called, in painter's parlance, drowning the miller.

Tints made by the simple addition of one coloring pig-
ment to the base are readily handled by following the above
directions.

MIXING COMPOUND TINTS

If more than one coloring pigment is required to pro-
duce a given tint, the first in importance in the mixture
should be added to the base up to a point just short of
that which it is thought its due proportion should enter
into the compound. The next one in importance should
then be added to the base, and that, too, stopped short of
that which it is thought it should be, and the same process
continued for each pigment entering the compounding of
the tint. After the mass has been well stirred, and has
become uniform throughout, it will then be an easy mat-
ter to add a bit more of this or that color, if t'here is need
of it, to bring it to the exact shade of the tint that is to
be matched.



240 MODERN PIGMENTS

- If one has been careful to stop short of the quantity
thought to be required, as is easily seen, it will be readily
remedied; but if, on the contrary, one has not stopped
in time, and has overdone it, putting too much of the
pigment in it, then the mending will be more difficult.
It will require, in the first place, an increase in the quan-
tity of the base, proportionate to the excess of coloring
pigment used over and above the right amount, so that
one will be forced to mix up a larger quantity of the tint
than was intended or may be required, which means a
loss.

If one has poured in too much through accident, and
is aware of it, it is sometimes possible to dip out the color
so poured in, or the most of it, before it has been mixed
with the base; it will then not be necessary to add
much, if any, of the base color. The waste is then
reduced to a minimum. Then proceed to thoroughly mix,
after which add the other coloring pigments, as directed,
and lastly a portion of that which was dipped out just
so much as is needed to bring the tint to the desired
shade. The remnant will be so small a loss, that, in com-
parison with the other waste mentioned, it will be hardly
worth speaking about.

PREPARING TINTS READY FOR USE

When a tint has been compounded to the perfect satis-
faction of the mixer, as when the lead has been well
broken up and used, as it should have been, in the form
of a very stiff paste, and if the tinting pigments have
been thinned well, so they could be easily incorporated
with the base, and the whole has been well stirred up so
that the paste is of a uniform consistency throughout,
it will be found rather stiff much too stiff for application
with a brush. But the condition it is in then is just the



THE COMPOUNDING OF PIGMENTS 241

right one for transportation, as it can be dipped out into
stock pails and transferred to the job where it is to be
used, without any danger of its slopping out, as it would
surely do had it been thinned out to the point needed
for its application.

It is, of course, impossible to give very definite direc-
tions about the thinning, as circumstances vary so much
that the experience of the man behind the brush must
be used here. No directions, other than the most com-
monplace ones, can be given, i.e., thin out more for first
and second coats than for third, and more all around for
spongy surfaces than for such as have little or no pene-
tration.

The above directions will suffice to enable anyone to
mix tints properly in oil.

For coach painting, the same care must be exercised
as directed for tints made in linseed oil in adding the
coloring pigments to the base, the main difference being
in the thinner, which is either japan or varnish and
volatile oils. There is little, if any, compounding of tints
in coach painting, the colors used for that work being
self ones, or, if compounded at all, that is usually done at
the factory.

For distemper painting, the pigments coloring the
base which is usually whiting should be mixed
separately as for oil colors, only that they should be
made more fluid ; otherwise , all that was said before
applies to them also. The thinning fluid being water,
instead of linseed oil, japan, or varnish. After the tint
has been finished to the satisfaction of the mixer, the
melted glue or the dissolved gum arabic can be added.
It is much more difficult to tint shades up to a given
sample in distemper than it is in the preceding vehicles,
for the reason that pigments mixed in water do not



242 MODERN PIGMENTS

appear the same as when dry, which in oily mediums
they do. In water they appear very much darker than
they are after drying. There are no exceptions to that
universal peculiarity, so that a tint mixed to the exact
shade of a dry sample, when first applied, would be entire-
ly too light when dry. The tints should be made very much
darker than the sample to be matched, and a small patch
should be painted over a piece of paper, and the same
placed in a warm sunny spot or over a stove so the water
will evaporate quickly, and, when dry, the tint can then
be compared to the sample, and if not deep enough more
of the tinting pigment must be added until the tint has
attained the same tone as that of the sample. This may
require several times testing it, by drying it upon the
piece of paper, but it is the only safe way, and any
other method would be but guess work.

It requires considerably more experience on the part
of the mixer to hit a tint just right in a quick way. Few
men can fall into it at once. In time, the experience
gained by many former failures will gradually work up
into intuition, for that is what it seems to the man who
has tried it a few times but could not do it.



CHAPTER XXV

A LIST OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL TINTS AND How TO
MAKE THEM

General Remarks

IT is deplorable that the English language has no
well-defined nomenclature to designate tints. As other
languages have not got any either, it is not behind them
any in this regard; but it is deplorable nevertheless.

If one is inclined to doubt this, let him procure the
color cards of a dozen manufacturers of mixed paints,
where the tints are known and sold by name, as well as
by number, and these names printed under the tints.
It will be found upon inspection that it will be rare if any
two out of the dozen look alike. This is especially true
of the neutral tints, or those tints which are neither
primary, secondary, nor tertiary. Owing to this lack of
uniformity, some persons may think that they have not
been successful in obtaining the right tint if they get
something which does not come up to their conception
of what the tint ought to be, and may think that the
directions given as to how to make them are wrong,
or that the colors used in the making were off; all but
the right conclusion perhaps that what they call a
gray may be somebody else's drab. If he follows the
directions for making a gray, and his own ideas of a
drab being that the gray fits them, it will certainly be
a hard matter to convince him that he is wrong, because
there is no accepted standard recognized to settle it

243



244 MODERN PIGMENTS

beyond dispute. Again, if the directions be given for the
making of a sage green, and the tint happens to be what
he conceives is a myrtle green, or an apple green or a light
olive, who will say that he is wrong? Surely, when
well-trained men differ so widely among themselves, how
can others, who have only given the study of color the
most superficial examination, be expected to do better ?
Nature itself varies exceedingly, and tints which are
named after the prevailing tones of green of certain
trees or plants are bound to form a subject of endless
and profitless controversies as to what is the proper tint.
Take instances, outside of the vegetable kingdom, out
of that of animals : Peacock blue where is the standard
for that? Let anyone undertake to furnish one, and out
of a dozen men, at least ten would demur to it! If the
whole dozen undertook to furnish the standard, there
would be precisely twelve supplied.

So, when directions are given for the making of such
far-fetched named tints that fashion has given birth to,
such as baby elephant's breath, cataract's mist, etc.,
would many be found sufficiently aesthetic to forthwith
fall into the idea of it, or, if they did, would they coincide
as to the proper tints to represent them?

These precautionary words are necessary to warn the
reader that he must not expect too much (or the impossi-
ble) from the general directions given for the compound-
ing of tints by name. The quantity, by weight, of pig-
. ment to be used in producing them has been left blank
for the very purpose of enabling the mixer to suit himself
if possible as to the depth, and in more than two pig-
ment compounds to some extent as to the tone. This
will give the mixer a chance to use some judgment of
his own, and if he has noted the direction given, not to
drown the miller. He will have the tint light enough so



THE PRINCIPAL TINTS 245

that he can add more of the coloring pigments named
to produce the tint of such depth and tone as he requires
it to be.

There is still another very important reason why
weights are not given. It must have been made very
plain to the readers of this treatise, who have followed
the descriptions given with each pigment, that there is
a vast difference in the strength of coloring matter con-
tained in a given weight of various samples of most of
them. If one man took a recipe made up in pounds and
ounces he would obtain a tint that would bear no resem-
blance to that obtained by the very same recipe in some
other locality, where the coloring pigments were made up
by another manufacturer. Thus, if a recipe should say:

Take White lead . . . . . . . . 20 pounds

Venetian red 3

Medium chrome yellow . . 1 "

If operator No. 1, should use a pure chrome yellow and
a good-toned Venetian red; operator No. 2, of the same
town, using a chrome yellow, containing but 20 per cent
of color, and an indifferent Venetian red, would have an
entirely different tint, and it would be due to the recipe
giving precise weights. Had the same been left blank,
the chances are that the difference would not have been
so great at any rate, the mixer would have had some-
thing nearer to his liking.

LIST OF PRINCIPAL TINTS

For the purpose of easy reference in the finding of any
particular tint, they have been listed alphabetically.

The base pigment, or the principal one of the com-
pound, is invariably named first. The other coloring
pigments are named in the order of their importance



246 MODERN PIGMENTS

in the make up of the tints. Therefore, of the last,
frequently but a very small portion need be added.
As far as possible, where a simple tinge or reflection of a
color is needed this will be indicated :

Acacia. Lamp black for base ; color it up with Indian red and
tinge with Prussian blue.

v Acorn Brown. Similar to chocolate which see but lightened
with white lead.

Alderney Brown. Lamp black; orange chrome yellow; Fr.
ocher; white lead.

Amber Brown. Burnt sienna for base; add orange chrome
yellow, burnt umber, a trifle of lamp black, lighten shade to
suit by adding white lead.

Amaranth. Tuscan red and vermilion in about equal parts
for base; add enough ultramarine blue to suit shade of it wanted.

Anemone. Vermilion red for base; Prussian blue and a little
black and white lead.

Alabaster. White lead for base. Give it a very faint tinge
of medium chrome yellow.

Apple Green. White lead for base; add light chrome green
and orange chrome yellow.

Antique Bronze. Orange chrome yellow for base; add ivory
black ; lamp black can be substituted, but the shade will not be
so rich.

v; Apricot. Medium chrome yellow for base; Venetian red, car-
mine lake, if light shade is wanted lighten it up with white lead.

Armenian Red. Bright Venetian red for base ; lighten up with
French ocher.

Ash Gray. White lead for base; tinge with lamp black, add
a bit of French ocher.

Asiatic Bronze. Raw umber for base ; medium chrome yellow
to which add sufficient white lead to suit shade wanted.

Ashes of Roses. Light Tuscan red for base, to which add a
trifle of lamp black.

Autumn Leaf. White lead for base, to which add French
ocher, orange chrome yellow, a trifle of Venetian red, sufficient
to slightly redden tone with more of it, if a deeper-toned red
is desired.



THE PRINCIPAL TINTS 247

Azure Blue. White lead for base ; add Prussian blue to shade
desired of it.

Bay. Lamp black for base; add Venetian red and orange
chrome yellow.

Begonia. Lamp black ; vermilion red of a good scarlet shade,
tinge with Prussian blue.

Bismark Brown. Burnt sienna for base; add burnt umber,
orange chrome yellow. Lighten slightly with white lead to
suit.

Black Slate. Lamp black for base; Prussian blue, slightly
lightened up with white lead. %

Bordeaux Blue. Lamp black for base; orange chrome yellow,
Prussian blue.

Bottle Green. Prussian blue and lamp black for base, and
lemon chrome yellow. To obtain this tint at its best, it should
be glazed over afterwards with a yellow lake.

Brass. White lead for base; add medium chrome yellow;
French ocher to tint wanted.

Bronze Red. Vermilion red for base; orange chrome yellow;
lamp black.

Brown Stone. Tuscan red for base; add orange chrome yel-
low; lamp black; lighten up to suit with white lead.

Brick Color. Yellow ocher for base; add Venetian red to
suit, for very light shades add white lead in very small quantity.

Bronze Green. Extra dark chrome green for base; add lamp
black. This makes a fair bronze green. If extra dark chrome
green is not obtainable, use the dark or even medium chrome
green with more of the lamp black to darken the tint.

Another recipe is given for a richer tone of it ; medium.chrome
green for base; add ivory black and a trifle of raw umber to
shade wanted.

Bronze Yellow. Medium chrome yellow for base; raw umber;
lighten up with white lead.

Browns, all shades and Brown Drabs. Venetian red for base;
add French ocher and lamp black in various proportions accord-
ing to the shade of brown wanted. For the brown drabs add
white lead to the above brown tints, to the desired shade.

Buttercup. White lead for base ; add lemon chrome yellow
to suit.



248 MODERN PIGMENTS

Cambridge Red. Vermilion for base ; add Prussian blue to suit.

Cafe au lait. Burnt umber for base; add white lead; French
ocher; Venetian red.

Carnation. English vermilion for base; add some good
madder lake or carmine. If desired very light, add some zinc
white.

Cerulean Blue. Zinc white for base; add ultramarine blue,
but better use cobalt if procurable and genuine.

Cherry Red. Vermilion for base; add burnt sienna;
crimson lake; ultramarine blue.

Chamois. White lead for base ; add French ocher ; medium
chrome yellow to suit.

Chatnoline. White lead for base; add raw sienna; lemon
chrome yellow to suit.

Chartreuse. White lead for base; add medium chrome
yellow; medium chrome green.

Chestnut. Venetian red for base; add medium chrome
yellow; French ocher and lamp black.

t/ Chocolate. Burnt amber for base; add some rich crimson
vermilion or madder lake.

Another way is French ocher for base; add lamp black and
a little Venetian red to suit.

Canary. Use the chrome yellow sold under that name.
Another way is to take lemon chrome yellow to which add
zinc white to reduce to tint wanted.

Claybank. French ocher for base; add orange chrome
yellow; lighten up to shade wanted with white lead.

Claret. Madder lake and ultramarine blue for base, to which
add some English vermilion and ivory black.

Clay Drab. White lead for base; medium chrome yellow;
raw and burnt sienna.

Cinnamon. White lead for base; add burnt sienna; French
ocher; medium chrome yellow.

\J Cobalt Blue. This is a solid blue. Use blue sold under that
name. If not obtainable, take good ultramarine blue for base,
to which add sufficient zinc white to lighten it to shade required.

Coral Pink. Vermilion for base ; white lead ; medium chrome
yellow.



THE PRINCIPAL TINTS 249

Colonial Yellow. White lead for base; add medium chrome
yellow; orange chrome yellow to tinge it

Cocoanut Brown. Burnt umber for base; lighten up with
white lead.

Cotrine. White lead for base; add orange chrome yellow and
lamp black.

Cream Color, and all the buffs. White lead for base; add some
good French or Oxford ocher to tint wanted ; this will make all
the cream and buff tints from very light to very dark by adding
more or less of the ocher.

Copper. Medium chrome yellow for base; add Venetian red
and a little of lamp black.

Citron. Venetian red for base; add medium chrome yellow
with some Prussian blue just to tinge. If too dark, lighten up
with white lead.

Crimson. Dark English vermilion or any of the dark shades
of vermilion reds. If desired very rich toned, add some good
madder lake or carmine.

Dove Color. White lead for base; add ultramarine blue;
Indian red and lamp black.

Dregs of Wine. Dark Tuscan red for base; lamp black and
a trifle of zinc white.

Electric Blue. Ultramarine blue for base; add white lead
and raw sienna.

Ecru. White lead for base ; add French ocher ; burnt sienna ;
lamp black. This tint varies greatly. Its meaning is raw
and is intended to represent the color of raw flax, before it is
bleached.

Emerald. Paris green as it is or an imitation of it made from
a very pale chrome green of a bluish cast or slightly tinged with
Prussian blue.

Egyptian Green. White lead for base; add raw umber; lemon
chrome yellow; Prussian blue to suit.

Fawn. White lead for base; add medium chrome yellow;
Venetian red; burnt umber.

Flesh Color. White lead for base; add medium chrome yel-
low; French ocher; and Venetian red.



250 MODERN PIGMENTS

French Gray. White lead for base; add ivory black with a
faint tinge of ultramarine blue and madder lake or carmine.

French Red. Indian red for base; add English vermilion to
brighten it, then glaze with madder lake or carmine.

Gazelle. French ocher for base ; add dark Tuscan red ; Vene-
tian red; lamp black; lighten up with white lead.

Geranium. Vermilion red for base; add Indian red and
lamp black.

Gobelin Blue. Ivory black for base ; a.dd white lead ; Prussian
blue; medium chrome green.

Gold. White lead for base ; add medium chrome yellow ; some
good French ocher; and a very little vermilion red or English.

Golden Brown. French ocher for base; add orange chrome
yellow; lamp black; lighten up with white lead to suit.

Gray Green. White lead for base; add ultramarine blue;
lemon chrome yellow; lamp black.

Grass Green. Extra light chrome green just as it comes from
the can. For an extra fine job glaze with Paris green.

Green Stone. White lead for base ; add medium chrome green ;
raw umber, and French ocher.

Gray Stone. White lead for base; add lamp black; Prussian
blue; Venetian red.

Gray Drabs. All shades of them. White lead for base ; add
lamp black or ivory black with a little burnt umber in various
proportion according as a light or deep shade of drab is desired.

Greys. Light ' to dark shades. White lead for base ; lamp
black in various proportions to suit shade wanted.

Hay Color. White lead for base; add orange chrome yellow;
light chrome green; Indian red.

Heliotrope. Zinc white for base; add bright Venetian red;
ultramarine blue.

Indian Pink. White lead for base ; add Indian red.

Indian Brown. Indian red for base; add lamp black; French
ocher.

Iron Gray. Lamp black for base; add white lead and a trifle
of orange chrome yellow.



THE PRINCIPAL TINTS 251

Ivy Green. French ocher for base; add lamp black; Prussian
blue.

Jasper. Lamp black for base ; add white lead ; medium chrome
yellow; light Indian red.

Jonquil. White lead for base; add medium chrome yellow
to which should be added a tinge of red with English pale ver-
milion to enrich it.

Lavender. White lead for base ; add ivory black ; ultramarine
blue; tinge with carmine or madder lake.

Lead Color. White lead for base ; add lamp black and a trifle
of Prussian blue. The latter can be omitted, if the lamp black
is good.

Leather. French ocher for a base; add burnt umber. If a
warm tone of it is desired, add some Venetian red.

Lemon. Use lemon chrome yellow just as it is.

Leaf Buds. White lead for base; add orange chrome yellow;
light chrome green.

Lilac. White lead for base; add dark Indian red to suit.

London Smoke. Yellow ocher for base ; add ultramarine blue ;
lamp black; lighten up to suit with white lead.

Magenta. Vermilion for a base; add carmine or madder lake
with a tinge of ultramarine blue.

Mauve. Yellow ocher for base; add Venetian red; lamp
black; lighten up to suit with white lead.

Mastic. White lead base; add French ocher; Venetian red,
a trifle of lamp black.

Maroon. Carmine or madder lake for base; add ivory black
and a small part of ' orange chrome yellow another way ;
Tuscan red for base; add orange chrome yellow with a trifle of
ivory black.

Manila or Deck Paint. White lead for base; French ocher;
medium chrome yellow.

Marigold. Medium chrome yellow for base; add white lead;
orange chrome yellow.

Mexican Red. Bright Venetian red for base; red lead.

Mignonette. Medium chrome green for base; add Prussian
blue; medium chrome yellow; lamp black.



252 MODERN PIGMENTS

Moorish Red. Vermilion red for base; add rose pink or,
what is much better, madder lake.

Mouse Color. White lead for base; add lamp black, a tinge
of Venetian red and burnt umber.

Moss Rose. Lemon chrome yellow for base; add medium
chrome green; lighten with white lead to suit.

Mulberry. Ivory black for base; add vermilion red; trifle