The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Coloring Finishing And Painting Wood
Hue is not the only characteristic of a specific color. It hc.3 already been pointed out in the section on Color Harmony that each color has a number of values which are known as tints and shades, and that brilliancy and partial neutrality must also be considered in arranging a pleasing color combination. In general, color combinations are most pleasing when one hue is dominant, and when shades, tints, and partial neutrality are all considered.
The wood-finisher of the present day should have a list of pleasing color combinations, a very good eye, and taste if he is to be successful in the use of paint enamels or lacquer enamels because colors are often demanded in various color harmonies for finishing close-grained woods that are now frequently used in making certain types of furniture. Let us suppose our colorist has an end-table that he wishes to finish with a body color of blue. The "List of Good Color Combinations" will indicate several possible colors that can be used as trimmings. Such a list indicates that greater freedom can be used in some cases than would be apparent from a slavish following of the combinations indicated on either of the color-circles. Many other satisfactory color combinations in pairs or triads might be added to the list just given. The list, while not complete, suggests harmonies that are accepted by color critics in general.
68. Palette of Colors for Staining.—The wood-finisher can secure practically any color effect that he wishes by having a palette of the twelve hues shown on the color circle. The colors most used at the present time are browns, greens, reds, oranges, and blacks, in various combinations, sometimes in tints or shades, and again in tones that approach neutral grays." Such primary colors as brilliant yellow and blue are not usually put on wood in their full strength and hue; nevertheless, they are valuable in mixing with other colors. It is necessary to have the primary colors, red, yellow, and blue, in full chroma or brilliancy if any of the mixed colors are to be intense and brilliant. Ivory-black is commonly used to darken or make shades of the various colors.
Dyes Useful As Stains
69. Sources of Dyes.—It is well known that the animal and vegetable worlds have been the sources of materials for dyestuffs for many centuries. The development of chemistry as a science, and the wonderful discoveries in this new field, have recently brought a wealth of new material to the dyer that has enabled him to produce all the hues, shades, and tints of the rainbow, and at small cost.
Chemical discoveries have come one after another since 1856, when it was found that a beautiful aniline dye could be made from coal-tar. This discovery proved to be a revelation which opened the way for the making of several hundred aniline and other coal-tar colors of many shades and tints.
