I "chatted" to Tim Noad by e-mail. He was saying that these days
even parts parts of the Peerage patents are printed
on parchment, and they don't have anything like the quality of the
handwritten illuminated texts.
he said: "As you know,
'parchment' is more often used for sheepskin which is indeed greasy and hard to
write on and not used much these days. I am certain that the speech is
printed, I can't imagine them paying someone to write it at short notice
and it would be harder to read (I have to admit!)"
I agree about how
difficult it would be to read fluently considering the content.
Now calf vellum is
wonderful to work on and when it has been properly prepared - called
"raising the nap", it feels velvety like a fine suede or velvet. The colour is gloriously intense
because of the light penetrating between the particles of paint on the velvety
surface. Also, you can erase mistakes completely.
Here is my very first
sample of a fine detail painting on prepared vellum - photographed from the
same set of books that you saw on Friday. I hope the photograph does the
colours justice. It is a copy of the tail of the Q from an illumination in the
Winchester Bible.
While I was doing the traditional skills course through CLAS in 2001, we had to make egg tempera.
I am convinced that egg tempera is applauded because in earlier years the intensity was much better than gouache. However I think that colourmen have made huge strides with colours so I wonder if egg tempera is still brighter. And this is only comparing Schmincke - there are still other fabulous makes such as Linel.
I did this panel about 10 years ago to see how the colours aged (albeit in a book).The big plus with egg tempera is that the white highlights do not bleed. Also it feels amazing to make paint! If you visit Cornelissens in London you will see the large jars of coloured pigment powders. Alas, I only buy Armenium Bole to make transfer paper and to colour gesso.
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