GRAINING
NOTES
One hundred years ago this year, England's
most revered grainer Thomas Kershaw, died.
Thomas
Kershaw of Standish near Wigan, Bennet and Bogle of Glasgow,
Ramsay Hay of Edinburgh and John Taylor of Birmingham have all
left a legacy of utmost quality for today's painter to aspire
to.
The
art of graining, according to historians can be traced back
to the ti~ of the Egyptian Pharaohs, where common boards were
painted to mimic the luxurious exotic hardwoods of Ethiopia.
In
more recent times, the explosion in popularity for these techniques
was seen in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. We are now
indeed fortunate to be able to see these original masterpieces
in many of the well preserved buildings in the U.K. The complete
spectrum of techniques from the simple quick brush graining
to the difficult hardwood graining are more common than many
would believe.
Personally
I have noted the brush graining in the miners cottages of Wales
to Pollarded Oak graining in a private chapel in Somerset to
underline the two ends of the spectrum.
The
diversity of the wood grains executed is as diverse as the range
of tools and media used. New and more sophisticated brushes..
combs, mechanical devices, stencils and tools have been developed
for particular characteristics of each wood imitated.
The
development of the tools took place I believe in the heyday
of 1850 -1900, the proto-types were tried, modified and put
into production in a comparatively short space of time.
Brush
graining -the action of pulling a brush through the dark wet
glaze over a lighter colour -required little sophistication
but to create the 'Ticks' in the lines, a Flogger was required
to distress the parallel lines. The flogger is a brush with
hair out of no less than 6" making it long an whippy.
Combs
of leather and bone were replaced with rubber and steel, the
development of the steel combs being attributed to Ramsay Hay;
the steel combs are still being manufactured and haven't changed
in design since their birth.
The
Hog Hair softener -had the ability to soften hard lines of oil-glazes
without losing their identity and its flat end allows small
amounts of stippling to be done, the nature of the bristle design
would also allow the glazes to be dragged over previous work.
The brush is still in production in exactly the same style.
The
Badger Softener -the king of the brushes once again is produced
as it was at the onset. This brush is used for the finest of
softening and used widely in marbling techniques.
The
short hair and handle, mottlers, dapplers and cutters used to
create lights and darks once again are still in production.
The stipplers -used to break down brush marks and for shading
-exactly the same.
The
check-rollers -to create the pores in Oak -one of the mechanical
tools once again is still in production.
This
only confirms my feeling that due to the huge demand in that
era, the Grainers tools were brought to perfection and cannot
be improved on.
During
this period various transfer papers and stencils using absorbent
materials were used to create grains. The Oak Graining Roller.
the Mahogany Graining Roller, Engel's stencil graining plate
and Gransorbian paper all to produce faster work to meet the
demand. These tools I must admit have fallen to one side and
I suspect because any self proclaimed grainer could not envisage
any other way of graining than using his hands.
The
preservation of these methods whether executed in oil, stale
beer, distemper, inks or acrylics is of utmost importance and
can be achieved as it has on mainland Europe with greater Government
backing and financing of professionally run schools.
KEITH
WARWICK
THE TRADITIONAL PAINT FORUM
Hon.Secretary: Una Richards, Simpson & Brown Architects,
179 Canongate, Edinburgh, ER8 8BN
Journal Editor: Patrick Baty, Papers and Paints Ltd,4 Park Walk,
Chelsea, London, W10 OAD
Please
Note: SMUDGE is a regular news and information supplement to
the annual journal TRADITONAL PAINT NEWS. Each issue of SMUDGE
is written, in turn, by a member of The Traditional Paint Forum,
subject tothe control of the Committee. The information is provided
in good faith. It is not necessarily the view of other members
of the Forum; it is offered only as a contribution to the ongoing
debate.
