It is well first to make the letter,[40] and then to apply the background to it (as though it were a sort of mosaic). The background is packed tightly round the letter, and the letter occupies the background, [p190] so that they appear to be in the same plane (a, fig. [117]).
Such “flatness” is secured even more certainly and effectively by using two colours (e.g. red and blue) in the background—one inside and one outside the letter (see [Plate XII.]).
The curves of the gold letter may with advantage slightly project, and so break the hard, square outline of the background.
The letter should not have the appearance of being “stuck on,” as it is apt to if the background is large and empty, or if the ornament passes behind the letter (b, fig. [117]).
In the case of letters with projecting stems or tails: the tail may be outside the background (a, [p191] fig. [118]), or the background may be prolonged on one or both sides of the tail (b and c), or the whole “field” may be enlarged to take in the complete letter (d).
There is no limit to the variety of shapes which backgrounds may take—symmetrical or asymmetrical, regular or irregular—provided they fit the initial or the ornament (which may itself partially, or entirely, bound them), are properly balanced (see [Plate XII.], and p. [419]), and take their right place on the page.