CHAPTER XXII

CHRISTMAS CARDS

In the application of illumination for purposes of reproduction, designing for Christmas cards occupies a prominent place. Although these are not all necessarily of the illuminated type, a great number are of this kind. All varieties have lettering as an important part of the design. There is plenty of scope for the illuminator in this direction. If he can produce effective designs that can be easily printed, and are likely to be saleable when reproduced, publishers of Christmas cards will always be pleased to see his work.

When designing, there is no necessity for using permanent colours, as the original is seldom kept after it has been printed. The same thing applies to the use of gold-leaf for gilding. This can be done with bronze powder. Gold paint can be readily made by mixing the powdered bronze to a stiff paste with gum-water, then thinning it out with water so that it flows freely from the brush. Care should be taken to get the right amount of gum in it, as if there is too much it will present a shiny appearance and will turn black quickly. If, on the other hand, there is not enough to bind the particles of bronze together, it will rub off when touched. The best way is to test before proceeding with the work, by painting on a small piece of paper and noting the effect when dry.

When it is desired to produce raised gold, this also can be done with bronze powder. For this purpose some raising preparation, of the kind sold in the form of a thick paint, should be used. A little should be placed in a small saucer, and a drop of honey added to it with some water. It should then be carefully rubbed up with the finger until it is about the same consistency as cream. Care should be taken not to add too much honey, otherwise the raising will not dry at all, but will remain a sticky mass.

The parts that are intended to be raised should be filled in with this, in the same manner as described for leaf-gilding in a previous chapter. After this has become dry on the surface, it should be breathed upon until it becomes tacky. The bronze powder is then dusted over it with a small piece of cotton-wool. After leaving for a little while, the superfluous bronze is dusted off with a clean piece of cotton-wool. Any parts where the bronze powder has not attached itself can generally be covered by again breathing upon the surface and applying the bronze. No attempt should be made to burnish gilding done in this way.

Christmas cards are nearly always produced by means of chromo-lithography, as described in the previous chapter. Occasionally they are produced by means of line and three-colour blocks, but, generally speaking, chromo-lithography is the process employed.

When about to make a design, the student should endeavour to visualise the completed design before commencing work. If he cultivates this habit he will find it much better than worrying a design into existence--a method very often employed.

It is a good plan, when setting out to design, to ask oneself a series of questions: “How is it to be reproduced?” “What style of design is needed?” “What is the general taste of the buyers of this kind of thing?” etc. If one asks oneself a number of similar questions to these, it should, at any rate, be the means of ensuring that the design is suited to its purpose.

A very common fault in designing Christmas cards is making them too heavy in treatment. It is essential that the finish should be light and dainty.

Designs may be either for the complete card or merely for the outside cover. Several suggestions are shown in Fig. 35. Of course, it will be understood that these are only rough sketches. They do not pretend to be designs.

The one represented by (_a_) is for the general type of illuminated design. This is for the outside cover only: a short greeting with an illuminated initial and decoration. When selecting words for this purpose, one should be careful to choose something not too trite. On the other hand, it is as well to avoid using some copyright quotation.

The designer must be up-to-date: he must not expect to sell his designs if he gets his ideas from Christmas cards that were published twenty years ago.

There are no special sizes to work to, as cards of all shapes and sizes are produced. It is best, however, not to get them too large.

The style of card indicated in (_b_) is a very usual kind. The centre is left blank for a small picture, or a monogram, to be inserted.

If the artist is able to paint little landscapes or girls’ heads, he could insert them himself as shown in (_c_). He should, however, avoid getting these heavy or crude in colour.

The designer will always find that he is much more likely to sell his designs if they represent new ideas. The publisher is always on the look-out for something new.

For example, the idea might be a small booklet containing a brief anthology on “Happiness,” or some other like subject.

If a small booklet is designed, it is as well to remember that all the pages should not be fully illuminated. The cover and the opening page might be illuminated in gold and colours, while the rest might be in black and red only. If the booklet was executed with all its pages fully illuminated it would probably be rejected on the score of expense of reproduction. It is little things like this which, if taken into consideration, would prevent a good number of the disappointing refusals that are so often received.

A very attractive form of card is shown in (_d_). This has a cover design, a greeting with a space for name, and a quotation. When a card of this type is designed it should be arranged as shown in Fig. 36. By this means the card, when opened out, has the design all on the same side of the paper, and is much more convenient. Some may be made upright and others oblong in shape, as in Fig. 36.

The prices paid for Christmas card designs may be anything from 10s. 6d. to £3 3s. Of course, higher prices than these are often paid for good work, when there is a demand for the work of the designer. A good average price for a design, however, is £1 1s.

It is a mistake to mark designs at a low figure, with the idea that the publisher will be more likely to take them. This is quite a wrong impression, as, if the publisher wants the designs, he will not be slow to make an offer if the price is too high; while, on the other hand, if they are not suitable for his purpose, he would not take them as a gift.

When sending designs, it is as well not to write long letters of explanation. Letters should be as brief and pointed as possible.

Apart from designing for publishers, the illuminator ought to be able to produce a series of hand-written Christmas cards. There ought to be a demand for cards well written in fine script on nice hand-made paper. A little simple decoration might be added in colour, and the modern illuminator ought to be able to produce these quite quickly, and therefore cheaply.

Invitation cards for select parties are amongst numerous other things that suggest themselves for production in this manner. Of course, for large gatherings, where a good number of invitations are sent out, writing them by hand is out of the question. But when this is the case, one copy could be nicely written in black and a zinc line block made from this. The edition could then be printed off. An invitation card written in well-formed lettering would make a pleasant change from the usual type of card.

Possibly a number of other opportunities will suggest themselves where fine pen-formed lettering might be substituted in place of the ordinary style of thing.