CHAPTER XVIII

ILLUMINATION WITH GOLD AND COLOURS

The best material for the illuminator to work upon is undoubtedly vellum. No paper has ever been made that is equal to it. The chief drawback that this material has is, of course, the expense. Parchment is cheaper, but not nearly so nice.

In selecting vellum for illuminating, the ordinary thick kind, generally known as illuminators’ vellum, is to be avoided. This presents too much the appearance of shiny cardboard, the surface being much too hard and horny. This kind is prepared calf-skin, and it is most objectionable to work upon. A very fine vellum, known as “Roman Vellum”--probably prepared lamb-skin--has an ideal writing surface. It is perhaps best to get a slightly heavier vellum if it is intended to cover it with a lot of heavy work.

A very curious statement has found its way into a number of books on illumination to the effect that it is impossible to remove pencil-marks from the surface of vellum. It has been stated that all attempts to remove a pencil-mark with rubber or bread result only in producing a greasy smudge. The present writer has worked on a considerable quantity of vellum, but he has never come across any from which he has experienced any difficulty in removing pencil-marks. Of course it is not advisable to use a very soft pencil, such as a 4 or 6B, very freely on a piece of vellum, especially if it is at all inclined to be greasy. The use of carbon-paper is often recommended for transferring a design to vellum, but, generally speaking, the use of this material is not desirable. It is generally somewhat greasy, and it certainly is difficult to remove these marks from the surface of the vellum. The best way is to cultivate the habit of working straight away on to the vellum. Work that is carried out in this manner is generally characterised as having more vitality and displaying more freedom than when it is traced off from another drawing.

Some of the fine hand-made papers, specially prepared for writing and illuminating, make excellent substitutes for vellum, although, of course, paper is never as durable as vellum. Cold tea makes a very good and quite harmless stain with which the paper can be tinted a similar shade to vellum. When tinting the paper with tea, it is best not to use too strong tea for this purpose, otherwise the result may not be altogether satisfactory. The paper should be carefully fastened to a board with drawing-pins. A broad, flat camel-hair brush is useful for washing the tint on, care being taken to get this quite even. If the paper is needed to be used for a MS. book, both sides should be tinted, but this is hardly necessary if one side only of the paper is to be worked upon.

When using paper for large, important work it is best to stretch it before commencing to work upon it. This is done by damping it freely until it becomes quite limp. The margin is then coated with paste for about half an inch all round. It is then stuck on to the drawing-board by means of this pasted margin while the paper is still wet. Care should be taken that the pasted margin dries hard before the rest of the paper begins to dry, otherwise, when the paper starts to contract, it will come away from the board. This is obviated by re-damping the centre of the paper, so that the margin has a chance of becoming firmly attached to the board before the paper begins to pull.

The beginner is not advised to attempt to stretch vellum in this manner. It requires considerable experience to stretch vellum satisfactorily, and it is quite easy to spoil a large sheet in an unsuccessful attempt at stretching it. The best way is to fasten it to the drawing-board with plenty of drawing-pins. If the sheet of vellum is placed in a damp place for some little time before pinning it on to the drawing-board, or placed for a short time between damp blotting-paper, it will, if stretched tightly on the board with the drawing-pins while it is slightly damp, be found to be stretched quite well enough for all practical purposes when dry.

Perhaps it would be as well here to have a word to say about brushes. The best kind for the illuminator are red sables. These are made both in quills and with metal ferrules. Some prefer one kind and some the other. Two or three of the smaller sizes should be selected, with a larger one for bolder work. The student will soon find out which size is most convenient for him to use. The present writer uses a No. 1, metal ferrule, for most of his work, using a larger brush for filling in broad masses of colour and larger work. To ensure getting the best service out of brushes they should be taken care of. After using, they should be carefully washed by shaking vigorously in a jar of clean water. Brushes soon spoil if they are put away dirty. The colour gets between the hairs and prevents the brush from coming to a point. If the colour dries in the brush it is very difficult to get it quite clean afterwards. One would think it was hardly necessary to state that brushes should not be placed so that they are resting on their points, but they are often left in this way by careless people. When a brush has been used for Indian ink it will be found that washing in ordinary water will be insufficient to clean it. In this case soap and water may be used, carefully washing the soap out afterwards with clean water.

Vellum is generally pounced before working upon it. A very good pounce may be prepared by mixing equal parts, by measure, of pumice powder and french chalk. When pouncing vellum it should be spread out flat on a board covered with a sheet of clean paper. The pounce is sprinkled over it and rubbed in with the palm of the hand. Care should be taken not to pounce too long, or the vellum will be roughened and spoiled. After the vellum has been well pounced, the pounce is shaken off and the vellum carefully dusted with a soft handkerchief.

If the surface of vellum is examined very carefully it will be noticed that one side is different from the other. The side which was originally the hair side of the skin is rougher than the flesh side. The smoother side is nicer for writing upon, although, when using one side of the vellum only, it is not advisable for the beginner to use the flesh side, as it is so difficult to make an erasure on this side, without spoiling the skin. Of course, it is much better to endeavour to avoid making mistakes, but still it is almost impossible to prevent them occasionally. When it is necessary to make an erasure a _very_ sharp knife should be employed with the least possible pressure. For erasures on the flesh side of the vellum the kind of rubber known as kneaded rubber is very useful. This erases very slowly, but at the same time very efficiently. When using a knife for erasures on vellum it is essential that it should be extremely sharp and that scarcely any pressure be put on it. It is best, however, to avoid the use of the knife on the flesh side of vellum.

A simple but effective style of illumination is shown in Fig. 31. This is based, to a large extent, on pen-work. The block of the initial P may be blue, with the centre red. The initial itself is of raised gold, as also are the buds and centres of the small flowers in the surrounding decoration. The fine scroll-work may be in black or brown, the decoration on the initial being white.

After the lettering is completed, the decoration should be drawn in carefully with pencil. The scroll-work may then be drawn in with the pen. The page should then be carefully cleaned with a piece of soft rubber, removing all pencil-marks that will not be covered with colour. The next step is the gilding. Various preparations are sold by different artists’ colourmen for this purpose. When buying gold-size, however, the student should see that he gets the kind specially prepared for illuminating. There are many varieties on the market, some of which are useless on vellum. For example, it would be foolish to try and gild on vellum with oil gold-size or japanners’ gold-size. Also the different kinds of water gold-size, used by decorators and picture-frame gilders, are difficult to use on vellum, as the gold is laid by flooding the surface of the size with water and then applying the leaf. The result of this is to cockle the vellum in a most unpleasant fashion.

Most dealers sell raising preparation and water gold-size. The raising preparation is generally sold in two distinct forms by different makers, one in the form of a thick paint and the other a thick jelly, which requires heating to liquefy ready for use. The former kind will be found the most satisfactory.

A small ichneumon brush may be used for applying the raising preparation. Before filling in the parts that it is desired to raise it is not a bad plan to roughen the surface of the vellum slightly in these parts. This will help to prevent the raising from scaling off when it dries.

Difficulty is often experienced through air-bubbles in the raising preparation. In drying, of course, these show as tiny holes. In this case prevention is better than cure. These bubbles are generally introduced into the preparation by means of the brush. The brush being full of air is used to stir the preparation, and the air leaves the brush in the form of bubbles, which mix with the raising preparation. The best way to use the raising preparation is to take a small quantity out of the bottle and place it in a small saucer. It should then be carefully worked up with the finger-tip with a little water until it is about the consistency of cream. It is much better to use the finger-tip to mix it up with rather than a brush. Using a brush for this purpose is a fruitful source of air-bubbles, besides spoiling the brush. Before using the brush to lay on the preparation with it should be shaken vigorously in water and squeezed out, thus displacing the air and preventing the formation of bubbles. All the parts that it is desired to gild should be given a fairly substantial coating. It should be almost dropped from the brush. It is not desirable to raise it too high, or the effect will be somewhat tawdry. The student should use the work of the mediæval artist as his guide in this direction. When this is all filled in, the work is placed in a room free from dust for the raising to dry firm and hard. The surface is then scraped carefully with a knife until it is quite smooth, all little irregularities being removed.

It is then given a coat of water gold-size, and when this appears dry on the surface it is breathed upon until it becomes tacky. The leaf is then cut to size and laid on at once, pressed down with cotton-wool and left to dry. The superfluous gold is then brushed away with a camel-hair mop. On the following day it may be burnished. If the burnisher does not work freely on the surface, its action may be facilitated by rubbing the surface of the gold with a soft cloth that has been slightly smeared with beeswax.

When using the water gold-size it is most important that this should be kept free from dust, and especially small hairs and pieces of fluff that often float about in the air. It is impossible to gild successfully if the size is full of these. After painting on the size it should not be allowed to get thoroughly dry before laying the leaf--it should only _appear_ dry on the surface. If it is allowed to get properly dry it will be next to impossible to make it tacky by breathing upon it.

It is just possible that after the gilding has been done it will be noticed that the gold-leaf has adhered to the surface of the vellum in parts where it was not intended. Brushing the surface with the camel-hair mop is not sufficient to remove this. It, however, can generally be cleaned by means of kneaded rubber. There is no need to use any friction; if it is pressed on the parts and lifted again it will pick up the leaf from the vellum. Care should be taken, however, to avoid touching the surface of the raised gold, as it is very liable to spoil the appearance of it.

After the gilding is completed, the colouring should be proceeded with. The large masses of colour are laid in first, then the white lining on the colour, and finally the outline. If the surface of the vellum is at all inclined to be greasy it may be advisable to use a little oxgall with the colour.

The various other suggestions shown in Fig. 31 practically explain themselves; (_b_) and (_c_) are different methods of spacing the decoration. Two more initials are shown, also the construction of the decoration and other suggestive details.