CHAPTER XXIX
CONCLUDING REMARKS
It may be as well again to emphasise the fact that it is imperative, if one desires to succeed in the art of illumination, that it should be taken up in a serious manner and not merely as a pleasant pastime. It is an art which is worthy of the best that time and careful study can give to it, and it may serve as useful a purpose in the present day as it has done in the past.
There is no royal road to success: this can only come through steadily plodding along the lines suggested. The methods of study that have been outlined in the previous chapters are the result of what the writer has learned in the hard but excellent school of experience.
Good, well-formed writing comes first and foremost, making use of the reed and quill pen in the formation of letters. The method of practice, commencing with simple pen-strokes, that is given in the early part of this book, ought to enable the student to produce good lettering if he works with the exercises in the manner suggested. After he has become familiar with the use of the pen in this way he will be able to study the various forms of lettering that were used in the past in a much more intelligent fashion than would be the case if he had no knowledge concerning the manner in which the letters were formed. He should continue this study on the lines suggested in [Chapter 6], and should not be content with the examples given here but should study the original manuscripts for himself.
Careful attention should be given to the way in which the lettering is arranged and the manner in which the letters and words are massed together. The student cannot have too much practice with the reed and quill pen.
The many good historical forms of Roman lettering should not be neglected. Roman lettering is, without doubt, the most useful form of lettering for general inscriptions, and it is necessary that the modern illuminator should be familiar with the beautiful forms of this style of lettering. He should note the general arrangement of these letters when used in inscriptions, etc. He will experience no difficulty in getting photographs of some of the important Latin inscriptions that were executed with letters of this style.
He should endeavour to form these letters in a direct manner with the pen and brush, and, if he has worked consistently with the quill and reed pen in the manner described, he will find that he will soon acquire dexterity in forming these letters. The practice that he gets through forming these letters with the brush will be most helpful to him when the time comes for him to make use of the brush for painting in decoration.
It is hoped that the very brief sketch that is given of the history of illumination may arouse some interest, so that the student will study this subject for himself, going into detail that is quite impossible here. Even if the whole of this volume had been devoted to the history of this art it would have been impossible in this limited space to deal with it in an efficient manner. The object of this short survey has been merely to act as an introduction to the study of this important subject.
Making use of a simple colour scheme such as red and black, as is suggested in [Chapter 12], is likely to act as an excellent training in taste. If the student starts straight away with a full array of colours, the chances are that the result may be anything but pleasant and agreeable. If he is able to produce good pattern with black and red, he will probably be able to do good work with gold and colours. However, if he cannot make good pattern with these, he will find it difficult to do it more successfully with less limited means.
The student will never regret the time spent in the study of the best work of the Middle Ages. By this means he is brought face to face with examples of the work of artists who were masters in this particular craft. The study of the best work that the mediæval artists have produced, combined with plenty of study from nature, is, without doubt, the finest training that the modern illuminator could possibly have. One would hesitate to recommend the one without the other, as the general tendency of the illuminator who neglects nature study, going to ancient examples only, is to produce weak imitations of mediæval work. If this is the case, there can be no opportunity for real living art. On the other hand, if the study of the best work of the mediæval period is neglected, he loses the benefit that may be gained by a close study of the methods of working employed by the artists of the Middle Ages. The same problems that confront him were before the mediæval artist, and, although there is no necessity for him to produce imitation thirteenth-and fourteenth-century illumination, he is able to build on the foundation that these artists have laid and help to carry forward the traditions of the craft in the best way that he is able.