There is no need to confine one’s nature study to actual plant-drawing. If one’s powers of perception are trained to observe, there is a great deal to be learned from a walk in the country. Attention should be given to the pattern that abounds everywhere in nature; flowery banks and hedgerows are rich in suggestion. The meadow spangled with buttercups and daisies is a delightful example. A field of barley when it is just beginning to change colour offers a wealth of possibilities both in pattern and colour. Then take trees, their different structure and foliage. No two species of trees are exactly alike in the arrangement of foliage, etc. One should not, however, give too much attention to detail to the neglect of considering things as a whole. For example, a tree as a whole should be noted, attention being given to the way in which the trunk springs from the ground and the general massing of the branches and foliage.
The use of a sketch-book for noting things down is very useful, but too much reliance should not be placed on this. If one’s powers of perception are trained to observe, the memory will be stored with an abundance of suggestions and ideas from the study of nature that has been going on almost unconsciously day by day.
Fig. 33.
As well as nature study, the student should also make careful study of some of the best illuminated work of the mediæval period, especially on the lines indicated in the chapter on the Initial Letter. The use of a note-book will prove to be very serviceable for this purpose. Quick sketches of the arrangement of the pages, as suggested in [Fig. 33], should help the student very much in arranging the decoration of the page. Of course, the drawing of details is also useful, as by carefully copying some of the initials and decoration he is able to gain some experience of the mediæval artists’ methods of working.
A Roll of Honour.
By kind permission of
Miss Harrison, of
Little Waltham Hall.
Possibly it may be as well to say a few words about miniature painting in connection with illumination. As has often been explained, the term “miniature” when used with reference to illuminated MSS. must not be confounded with the modern idea of miniature painting, i.e., painting on a small scale in a minute fashion, as the word “miniature” is derived from the Latin word minium, the red pigment used in the decoration of MSS., therefore the original meaning is writing or painting with minium. There is also no reason at all why miniatures, when painted on vellum and used in conjunction with illumination, should be stippled and worked up in the minute fashion that is usual with the ordinary miniatures on ivory.
It is not advisable to paint these in a similar way to the ordinary water-colour painting. It is very difficult to paint on vellum in this way. Undoubtedly the best way is to paint fairly direct, using body colour. The miniatures should be nicely finished without any excessive laboured finish produced by stippling or other similar methods.