After the whole of the decoration has been traced through the tracing paper should be carefully placed in position on the vellum. It should be fastened with drawing-pins down one side. The traced decoration can then be easily transferred to the vellum by rubbing the back of the tracing paper with a burnisher or paper-knife. Care should be taken that the paper does not shift about during this process. It should be held firmly, lifting it up occasionally to see if a clear impression is being made.
It is just possible that the illuminator may be asked to submit a rough sketch. He should bear in mind that the object of this is to give some idea of the finished work. This should be executed in a bold fashion on cartridge paper with a soft pencil. A few words may be written in the script that he intends to use, and it is as well to finish a small portion of the decoration in colours. This should enable his client to understand something of what the finished work will be.
A simple but very effective form of address is that having a coat-of-arms at the top, with the matter in plain lettering with a fine initial, as indicated in (d). A still simpler form might consist of a nice piece of lettering with a plain initial either in raised gold or vermilion, omitting the coat-of-arms at the top.
CHAPTER XXI
THE VARIOUS METHODS OF REPRODUCTION
It is essential that the artist who does work for reproduction should have some knowledge of the different methods employed. A lack of knowledge in this respect is responsible for a large number of drawings made which are quite unsuitable for the purpose. It is not necessary that the student should be able to reproduce his own work by the various methods used, but he should be familiar, in a slight degree, with the processes used.
For black-and-white work, the two processes largely used by publishers in magazines, etc., are known as Line Process and Half-Tone. The former is used for the reproduction of pen-drawings, and the latter for tone drawings.
The line process is the most useful for the class of work that the illuminator is likely to do. In this case the method of procedure is briefly as follows: The drawing is made with good black ink on white paper. It is then photographed. A piece of polished zinc is given a thin film of fish-glue in which some bichromate of potash has been dissolved. The effect of the bichromate is to make the fish-glue insoluble when it has been exposed to the light. The zinc plate is dried rapidly in a subdued light, and is then exposed behind the negative. The light, penetrating through the clear parts of the negative, renders these insoluble. The zinc is then given a thin coating of soft, greasy ink with a roller. It is then placed in a dish of water to develop. The effect of the water is to dissolve the fish-glue that has been protected, and is therefore still soluble. This leaves the design on the surface of the zinc in ink. While the ink is still tacky, it is dusted over with resin. This is fused over a stove, and the background of the zinc is etched away in an acid bath, leaving the design standing in relief.
This is, briefly, an outline of the process of making a line block. Of course, it must be understood that many details are omitted in this description. These, however, although most important to the block-maker, are not necessarily essential to the artist. The chief thing that he should be careful to ensure is that his drawings should be executed with an absolutely black line on white paper. By this means he will have done his part to help the block-maker to obtain a clear negative, which is unquestionably vital to the production of a successful process block. Drawings executed with a weak, washy kind of ink on yellow-toned paper do not give the block-maker a chance. The thing, then, for the artist to remember is to see that his drawing consists of firm black lines on a white surface, with no half-tones, unless these are produced by means of lines.