Doing old colors refers to dyeing paper and silk with the same color as an original or similar to the colors of ancient paintings and calligraphy that are usually seen.
Make old pigments
The pigments commonly used to make old colors are mainly Chinese painting pigments. Such as gamboge, cyanine, ochre, rouge, tricolor, etc. , tubular, block and powder. It is characterized by transparency, hydrophilicity and colorfastness, and the dyed color is lasting. Followed by chemical pigments, generally used less, only used as a last resort, its characteristics are relatively new and easy to pan-color. In addition, there are some indigenous methods, such as smoking and sunbathing. Boil the juice with yellow tillers, tobacco leaves, tea leaves, gardenia, rubber bowls, etc. And then dyed directly.
No matter what kind of pigment is used to make the old one, it should be colored in advance. If you dye with traditional Chinese painting pigment, first grind the pigment into liquid state, and then filter it with gauze to remove the precipitation residue (because although the fineness is enough when making pigment, there is polymerization between particles). After that, you can try to add alum solution for dyeing. For example, dyeing with boiled juice of tobacco leaves. The isochromatic solution is cooled before dyeing. Because the color of the colored solution boiled with these raw materials is monotonous, other colors are sometimes added as needed to obtain satisfactory results.
Method of making old pigments
1, direct dyeing method is to spread the dyed object on the table, and then directly color it from right to left with a combination brush. This method is suitable for tissue paper with strong water absorption.
2. Pull dyeing method is to use a rectangular tank with the same specifications as the dyed object to hold the coloring liquid. Then hold the two corners or the upper end of the dyed object with both hands and slowly pull it out of the color solution. This method is suitable for paper with high strength and tension, such as leather paper and mounting parts.
3. The dip dyeing method is aimed at silk. Because silk belongs to silk fabric, the spun new silk has oil. If it is difficult to hang on the table and wrinkle easily, soak it in the color solution, rub it a little, and then take it out in a few days to get the color of the old silk. If you pass alum, you will get cooked silk with old color.
4. Matching dyeing method is also aimed at silk. Because silk is not easy to hang, a layer of rice paper is put up in advance and then dyed. The coloring method is the same as the "direct dyeing method".
In addition, some are yellow due to the sun and wind, commonly known as "weathered paper" and "weathered silk".
Discrimination method
Understand some methods of coloring old colors, and you can distinguish their authenticity from the following aspects.
1. Generally speaking, the old colors of antique paper and silk should be natural, peaceful and "clean", with even positive and negative colors and clear textures. The new and old colors look angry and uneven, and the surfaces of paper and silk are not clean, clear and fuzzy. The old colors of genuine paper are generally brown, tan and light gray. Silk imitations are generally dark brown and brownish yellow. At first glance, the old and new colors are indistinguishable, but you can see that they are yellow-green.
Old colors are divided into painting and calligraphy cores (before painting and calligraphy) and mounting pieces.
Use the old color before painting and calligraphy, the handwriting is clear after painting, and the ink color, color and printing oil remain the same.
After writing and painting, if you use the old color, you can see a faint color in your handwriting or painting, and sometimes you can see the brush marks left by the use of the old color.
It's an old color frame, which is easier to distinguish. The most obvious is uneven color. Because the mounting sheet consists of at least four layers of paper, the color is not easy to penetrate all four layers of paper. As long as you open the paper wrapped on the winding rod, you can find that the color of the paper inside is uneven or white and yellow, and the winding rod is also polluted. The author has been exposed to banner landscape painting, and his painting skills are good, and his old level is also high. Moreover, it is old, and after a period of use, the picture has already appeared mildew spots and oil stains. Without rich experience, just from the paper color, they will really be mistaken for genuine products. When the roller was uncovered, the truth came out. The wrapping paper inside is spotted like sika deer skin, and the roller is also polluted. It is obviously the old color of the whole body. The color of the paper and winding rod of the genuine mounting piece is naturally clean.