The practice now is, to prime the cloth with oil colour, changing the mode according as the canvass is of closer or more open texture. When the canvass is very open, and lets the colour through, it must be saturated with size made of glove parings, laid on with a large palette knife or trowel, the edge of which should be blunt, and as straight as a rule, that the couch of size may be laid as evenly as possible; when the priming is quite dry, it must be rubbed with pumice stone, to make it free from lumps; then with the knife, a couch of ceruse is applied; when dry this is also pumiced; a second couch is then put on, and sometimes a third, to obtain a perfectly even surface.,,,