The shading or coloring of drawings by tints is more employed in large drawings than in small ones, and in Europe than in the United States; while on the other hand tinting by means of line-shading is more employed in the United States than in Europe, and more on small drawings than on large ones.

Many draftsmen adopt the plan of coloring the journals of shafts, etc., with a light tint, giving them the deepest tint at the circumference to give them a cylindrical appearance. This makes the drawing much clearer and takes but little time to do, and is especially advantageous where the parts are small or on a small scale, so that the lines are comparatively close together.

For simple shading purposes black tints of various degrees of darkness may be employed, but it is usual to tint brass work with yellow. Cast iron with India ink, wrought iron with Prussian blue, steel with as light purple tint produced by mixing India ink, Prussian blue and a tinge of crimson lake. Copper is tinted red. On plane surfaces an even tint of color is laid, but if the surfaces are cylindrical they are usually colored deeper at and near the circumference, and are tinted over the colors with light tints of India ink to show their cylindrical form.

If a drawing is to be colored or shaded with India ink the paper should be glued all around its edges to the drawing board, and then dampened evenly all over with a sponge, which will cause the paper to shrink and lay close to the surface of the drawing board. If, in applying a color or a tint, the color dries before the whole surface is colored, the color will not be of an equal shade; hence it is necessary before applying the color to dampen the surface, if it is a large one, so that the color at one part shall not get dry before there has been time to go over the whole surface; a more even depth of color is attained by the application of several coats of a light tint, than with one coat, giving the full depth of color. But if the paper is not allowed to dry sufficiently between the coats, or if it has been made too wet previous to the application of the colors, it will run in places, leaving other hollows into which the color will flow, making darker-colored spots. To avoid this the paper may be dried somewhat by the application of clean blotting paper.

To maintain an even shade of color, it is necessary to slightly stir up the color each time the brush is dipped into the color saucer or palette, especially when the coloring is composed of mixed colors, because the coloring matter is apt to separate from the water and sink to the bottom.

So, also, in mixing colors it is best to apply the end of the color to the surface of the palette and not to apply the brush direct to the cake of color, because the color is more completely mixed by contact with the palette than it can be by the brush, which may retain a speck of color that will, unless washed out, make a streak upon the drawing.

To graduate the depth of tint for a cylindrical surface, it is best to mix several, as, say three depths or degrees of tint, and to first use the darkest, applying it in the direction in which the piece is to be shaded darkest. The width this dark application should be is obviously determined by the diameter of the piece. The next operation is to lighten or draw the part, line or streak thus dark colored, causing it to get paler and paler as it approaches the axial line of the piece or cylinder. This lightening is accomplished as follows: The dark streak is applied along such a length of the piece that it will not dry before there has been time to draw it out or lighten it on the side towards the axis. A separate brush may then be wetted and drawn along the edge of the dark streak in short strokes, causing the color to run outwards and become lighter as it approaches the axis. It will be found that during this process the brush will occasionally require washing in water, because from continuous contact with the dark streak the tint it contains will darken. When the first coat has been laid and spread or drawn out from end to end of the piece, the process may be repeated two or three times, the most even results being obtained by making the first dark streak not too dark, and going over the drawing several times, but allowing the paper to get very nearly dry between each coat. In small cylindrical bodies, as, say 1/4 inch in diameter, the darkest line of shadow may be located at the lines representing the diameter of the piece, but in pieces of larger diameter the darkest line may be located at a short distance from the line that denotes the diameter or perimeter on the shadow or right-hand side of the piece, as is shown in many of the engravings that follow. It is obvious that if a drawing is to have dimensions marked on it, the coloring or tinting should not be deep enough to make it difficult to see the dimension figures.

The size of the brush to be used depends, of course, upon the size of the piece to be shaded or colored, and it is best to keep one brush for the dark tint and to never let the brush dry with the tint in it, as this makes it harsh. In a good brush the hairs are fine, lie close together when moistened, are smooth and yet sufficiently stiff or elastic to bend back slightly when the pressure is removed. If, when under pressure and nearly dry, the hairs will separate or the brush has no elasticity in it, good results cannot be obtained. All brushes should be well dried after use.

The light in shading is supposed to come in at the left-hand corner of the drawing, as was explained with reference to the shade line.

Excellent examples to copy and shade with the brush are given as follows:

Figure 300 represents a Medart pulley, constructed by the Hartford Steam Engineering Company; the arms and hub are cast in one piece, and the rim is a wrought iron band riveted to the arms, whose ends are turned or ground true with the hub bore. The figure is obviously a wood engraving, but it presents the varying degrees of shade or shadow with sufficient accuracy to form a good example to copy and brush shade with India ink. Figure 301 represents a similar pulley with a double set of arms, forming an excellent example in perspective drawing, as well as for brush-shading.