Covering Surface Evenly at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

Glazing is sometimes produced by means of a spatter finish that consists of covering surface evenly the surface evenly with small dots of pigment that are complementary in hue to the surface color. This may be done by using a sprayer or by gently finger-snapping the hairs of a large paint brush toward the surface until the required effect is obtained. This treatment neutralizes the color of the original paint, but should be done most carefully and consistently, and never excessively. The dots should be very small and indistinguishable when viewed from a distance of six feet. Neutralizing done by this method leaves a more vibrant effect than when the paint is originally mixed with neutralizing pigments and the method resembles that employed by the Impressionist artists of the 19th century.

Paint is a mixture of a base, a pigment, and a binder or vehicle. The base, except for very dark paints, is white lead, which gives the paint its covering surface evenly quality. The pigment or pigments give the paint its color and decorative quality. The binder serves to cement the pigment to the base and to the surface to be painted, and to make the consistency of the paint suitable for spreading evenly over a surface. In interior paints linseed oil is most commonly used as a binder, although varnish, glue, or casein are also used for special purposes. A cheaper grade of paint is made by adulterating the linseed oil with fish oil. A small amount of turpentine or benzine may be added to a paint mixture to dilute it in order to create a thinner layer to cover a larger surface area, to increase its rate of drying, and to give greater penetration of the pores of the surface to be painted. Special drying chemicals that may be added in small quantities are oxide of cobalt, iron, lead, manganese, and metallic salts; these materials also produce a harder finished surface.

To secure even distribution you may find it advantageous to stretch parallel strings, six to ten feet apart (to suit your convenience) across the ground surface and to walk slowly down the center of each marked off strip as you sow, scattering the seeds from string to string. With a little practice you will have no difficulty in perfecting this technique so that you sow evenly. After the seed has been scattered, rake it into the surface so that the seeds are covered to a depth of half an inch or so. When the whole area is sown roll it slowly with a medium weight roller.