In priming wood, or preparing it to receive the oil colours, the same errors are generally committed: for the method almost universally practised is to clear-coat it, (as it is called) with size and whiting; and then cover it with white lead and oil: but the ill effects of such a method are still greater, in this case, that in that of canvas; as if any moisture find access to the wood, the paint rises in blisters, which are liable to be burst, and to cause a flaking off and peeling of the paint, in a very detrimental manner. For paintings of any value, the wood should, therefore, be brushed over with hot drying oil, as long as it will soak it in; and then covered with a coat of white lead, of flake, coloured according to what may be desired. Even in the case of house or coach painting, the clear-coating with size and whiting ought to be omitted; and, in its place, a coat of drying oil with some white lead and oker, but not so much as to make it stiff, should be used as the first priming, instead of the size and whiting; which method would both preserve the wood much better, and prevent both the blistering and peeling; and in some degree the sinking in of the colours that attend the common method.