The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Furniture Finishing

Some combinations which suggest themselves over gold bronze are: red, brown and green; over aluminum bronze, blue, lavender and magenta. None should be applied full strength but softened by the addition of zinc white unless it is planned to antique glaze and dust. In this case positive colors may be used, nor need there be any bronze undercoat unless desired. Again all of the coloring may be done with metallic bronze powders.

The above may be accomplished entirely with a brush. With a spray a watered silk effect may be produced by adopting a driven base color such as aluminum bronze, then spraying green lacquer enamel from one side and red from the other side. Thus the object when viewed from one angle will appear a metallic green, from the opposite side a metallic red, both softened by the aluminum. Of course the lacquer should be sprayed on thin and the gun held very slightly above the level so as not to get on the other side of the ridges. Any number of harmonious color combinations may be procured in this manner, but the most delicate effects appear over aluminum.

FLAT BASE

Even where the surface is level and contains no irregularities in which to catch the color, it is still possible to procure a polychrome effect. The method is much the same as for flat stippling except that two, three, four and even five colors are blended together instead of two. Oil colors are preferable to japan colors as they are easier working and can be made to dry more quickly by the addition to the turpentine reducer of a little japan drier. The colors should be selected for their fineness and transparency; ordinary house painter's tinting colors will hardly do. It is also possible to secure very beautiful effects with metallic bronze colors and bronzing liquid, varnish type, and there is a wide choice of shades: pale, rich and old gold, lemon, orange, crimson, fire, magenta, green, blue and copper.

With a silk or very fine soft vegetable sponge a skillful hand may tap on the various colors and blend or stipple them into one another in such a way that they seem to drift into one another. By twisting the sponge a certain pattern may be introduced; any mistakes can be quickly rectified with a benzine rag. It is possible to spread the colors all over or deposit them here and there and then blend together or apply all color directly from the saturated sponge. Naturally the spray gun may be employed as well—it simply requires a different type of practice based on the same blending principles. (See Chapter IV.)