Illumination: Other hints
Design
Design is alpha and omega. I usually spend about 50% of the time that goes
into making a scroll deciding what it should look like. Here are a few pieces
of advice:
Every document has a main point somewhere on the page. This is the place
where the whole thing balances, usually where the most massive illumination
is. Experience shows that the main point of balance should be somewhere
in the upper part of the page. For some reasom the upper left corner is
usually the best place, e.g. for an illuminated capital. There are other
places that can serve as well, but it should be somewhere on the upper half.
Don't put the biggest illuminations at the bottom of the page - it will
look as if they've fallen down!
It's important to balance text and illuminations against each other. Just
like text, illuminations can be thick and powerful or thin and oblique.
If your illuminations are heavy, use a broad nib for the text so that your
text also becomes powerful. Otherwise the text will be crushed by the massive
visual impression of the illuminations. This works the other way around,
too. An overly massive text can make small, weak illuminations look out-of-place.
Work guidelines
The primary axiom: "If anything can go wrong, it will." Reality
is actively hostile to art. It's just waiting for an opportunity to destroy
your scroll. Dirt, water, greasy food, children with crayons, drunken adults
with wine glasses, burning candles and other destructive elements are attracted
to calligraphy like flies to horse manure. Therefore you must take precautions
and never give reality half a chance. Here are a few rules to help you survive.
1. Fingerprints on the writing surface are very bad, especially if they
are there before you write on it. The grease and moisture from your fingers
will penetrate the paper, and when you write on the fingerprint, the ink
will be sucked into the polluted spot and become an ugly blob. Always have
a piece of scrap paper under your hand so that you never touch the paper.
2. It is a mistake to fill ink or mix colours anywhere near where you are
working. The ink bottle will fall over and spill its contents on the scroll.
Or you will get ink stains on your fingers that you won't notice until you've
made a large blob on the paper. Or your pen will explode - and spurt ink
all over the scroll. Believe me, it will happen. Thus, go into another room
when you fill ink in a fountain pen or mix colors. Wipe the pen carefully
with tissue. Wash your hands and dry them meticulously before starting work.
If you get ink or paint on your hands, go to the bathroom immediately and
wash with warm water and soap. It's not enough to wipe your hands on a piece
of tissue.
3. Roll up your sleeves.
4. Never put open ink bottles, glasses with soda pop or other fluid containers
on your table. Never shake your pen near the scroll, avoid all violent movements.
Don't smoke - ashes make horrible stains and fallen tobacco can set fire
to the paper. Don't eat chips, peanuts or anything else that contains fat
- the tiniest piece of potato chip dropped on a scroll will make a greasy
spot. Don't leave anything to chance.
5. Clear the table thoroughly before work. It's very annoying when your
ruler collides with a book or some other stuff that's lying around. Dust
your desk while you're at it.
6. If possible, turn down the ring volume on your telephone, or put it in
another room. A loud ring whilst writing can mean a twitch - and disaster.
Transport
Avoid rolling up scrolls. Once rolled they never become flat again. And
if there are thick layers of paint, they may crack. Art suppliers sell large
flat cases specially made for transport of art. A cheaper solution is to
take a couple of large pieces of stiff cardboard and tape them together
on three sides, like an envelope. One reason scrolls should not be too large
is that large flat papers are difficult to transport. Anything larger than
12 x 16 inches is a major problem, especially when there is a wind. You
may fly off if your scroll is too large.