A Primer of the Art of Illumination for the Use of Beginners / With a rudimentary treatise on the art, practical directions for its exercise, and examples taken from illuminated mss.

by F. Delamotte

A slab or palette for the colours, and a separate saucer or slab for Indian ink should be provided.

It will be necessary also to have an ivory point for tracing off, and a small agate for burnishing and other purposes; both are to be procured at the artists’ colour shop.

Of course tracing paper will be required—the French is the best—as well as a sheet of red paper for tracing off. Red paper, though readily procurable in the artists’ colour shops, and perhaps most conveniently so, is nevertheless simply and easily constructed. Any one who is desirous of making his own, has merely to take a sheet of foreign post paper, scrape a piece of red chalk over it, and then rub in with a piece of soft chamois leather or wadding, until the paper is evenly covered, not making it too thick, or it will trace off clumsy lines.

The beginner being now furnished with all necessary materials, the shortest and most comprehensible way of instructing him in the use of them, will be to take two or three of our own examples, and ask him to follow us through the process of executing them. To take a very simple one first, we will select any one of the letters in No. 3. The piece of cardboard is supposed to be laid on the drawing board, and kept steady by a single pin in the centre of its upper side, there being no need for perfect rigidity as there are no squaring or parallel lines in this illumination. Proceed to trace the initial from the example by laying a piece of tracing paper over it, with weights to steady it, the same weights may be easily so arranged as to keep the book open as well. Run over every line with your softest pencil with a fine point, and a light hand. Remove the tracing paper, and adjust it over the cardboard, so as to bring the tracing over the desired spot. Adjust the weights, slip the red paper underneath, take your ivory point and begin tracing off; and of this, let it be remarked, that nothing but practice can give the beginner the requisite skill to make a good tracing. A heavy hand, or a broad point will produce a coarse tracing; too light a hand, too faint a tracing, and too fine a point will cut through the tracing paper. It will be well to make a few trials first, and even during the progress of a tracing, especially if it be an elaborate one, to lift the lower corner of the tracing paper carefully now and then, so as not to disturb the weights, and to see that all is going on as it should. The tracing being complete, proceed next to outline it in Indian ink, with a pen. For this purpose prepare some ink in the manner already described, on its separate slab. The ink outline should be complete—strong and weak where needed, as in the outline illustration of our specimen, and should be clean and firm—all this while keep a clean piece of paper under the working hand.

The outline being completed, the next thing will be to prepare the colours. For either of the initial letters in Example 3, red, green, and gold are the only colours needed; and this may be the most suitable place for introducing a few words about what is technically called ‘body colour.’ Body colour is very largely used in all ancient illumination, whether English, French, Italian, or Oriental; but is most prominently observable in the Italian. It is obtained by simply mixing a small quantity of some opaque substance with the colour. Zinc, or Chinese white, are most commonly employed for the purpose; and the best mode of construction is to have the white in one of the metal tubes, squeeze a drop about the size of a pea on to the slab, and then rub the colour over it. Of course it will be necessary to introduce some colour a little darker than the hue desired, as the white will lighten it: thus for instance, in order to obtain an ordinary blue, it will be necessary to add a touch or two of permanent blue, or the ultramarine will turn out too pale. The advantages of body colour are twofold—first, any body colour will lie flat; next, being opaque, it can when needful be worked over other colour.

For the purposes of the illumination now under consideration then, it will merely be necessary to rub in scarlet vermillion and emerald green. Be careful to rub plenty, for it is a rule in illuminating that the colours should be laid on thick and powerful; there are no faint transparent tints, as in water-colour drawing, but even in miniature scenes, light colours are obtained not by diluting the colour with water, but by adding white to it. Another rule is, to lay on the largest body of colour first: thus in the instance before us—first put in the reds, taking care to lay on plenty of colour, to keep within the ink outline carefully, close to it but not encroaching on it, and to see that your colour lies evenly or ‘flat.’ Next, put in the greens, observing the same rules, and finally the gold, for it is another rule to leave the gold to the last to avoid rubbing as much as possible.

Our next example will be No. 7. Trace and outline as before. Proceed next to put in the ultramarine blues in the acanthus and flowers; next the permanent blue in the darker hues of both as well as in the initial, taking care, both in acanthus and flowers, to keep the curves clean and bold. Now colour the green leaves with emerald green, the darker lines as directed with permanent blue. The reds in the flowers follow next—all, except that in the right hand lower corner—with crimson lake, the darker hues being touched in with permanent blue, which, combining with the lake, will produce the neutral tint before referred to. The excepted corner flower will require crimson vermillion, shaded with sepia and lake. Crimson vermillion will also furnish the colour for the red flowers in the initial. Lastly, put in the golds, shading with sepia and lake.

The last Example we select is No. 9. Here, as in No. 3, proceed to trace, &c. as directed, only in this case the T square and set squares will come into play for the outlines of the border, both in tracing, tracing off, and in outlining—use the drawing pen for the last. The fruit, flowers, &c. must next be carefully executed with the requisite colours, according to the table given above; the gold then laid on, and afterwards the shade worked over the gold with a neutral tint, made of sepia and lake, as directed.