Parchment
- Thread starter Tengu
- Start date
Cowley's.
www.williamcowley.co.uk
We made palimpsest examples by using oak gall and iron ink and pumice to scrape it clean enough to be re-used. It needs to be prepped again to make a fine surface though. I just used finer and finer stones (slate worked well to smooth the surface, and then used chalk.
William Cowley Parchment Makers - Our Parchment & Vellum is used for: Calligraphy and Illumination, Bookbinding, Botanical Art, Heraldic Art, Memorial Books, Drum Making and Lampshades. Bespoke vellum covering service for furniture and wall & door pa
Our Parchment & Vellum is used for: Calligraphy and Illumination, Bookbinding, Botanical Art, Heraldic Art, Memorial Books, Drum Making and Lampshades. Bespoke vellum covering service for furniture and wall & door panels. Document printing service for Certificates, Diplomas, Family Trees
www.williamcowley.co.uk
We made palimpsest examples by using oak gall and iron ink and pumice to scrape it clean enough to be re-used. It needs to be prepped again to make a fine surface though. I just used finer and finer stones (slate worked well to smooth the surface, and then used chalk.
Tengu, some really old texts are read by reading the holes left where the ink ate it's way through the parchment.
It's remarkably easy to make ink, but remarkably hard to make good ink balanced enough that the iron doesn't rot the membrane.
Carbon based inks can be 'washed', sort of, but they fade and they lose their clarity fairly quickly. They leave stains rather than dye. That's why despite the problems with corrosion that the people in the past persisted with iron gall ink.
Iron gall ink is a rich self mordanting dye, and it doesn't wash out.
Good vellum/parchment/membrane is defined by either a whole skin or split skin. (cultural mores sometimes dictate which is used, and what animal is used too ) it can be fairly thick and it will take scraping and re-use, with care.
Practice on offcuts is the best advice before you try on a bigger sheet.
For the record, I found the easiest iron gall ink was to crush oak galls and soak them in red wine (if you're doing this with children, Ribena works
) add to rusty iron and let it steep for a week or so. It was usually thickened up with resin of some variety, I just used gum arabic.
A little ink goes a long way, you don't need to make up pints of the stuff just to try it.
Don't get it on your fingertips, it's almost impossible to get it out from around your nails, and beware drips or splashes.
M
It's remarkably easy to make ink, but remarkably hard to make good ink balanced enough that the iron doesn't rot the membrane.
Carbon based inks can be 'washed', sort of, but they fade and they lose their clarity fairly quickly. They leave stains rather than dye. That's why despite the problems with corrosion that the people in the past persisted with iron gall ink.
Iron gall ink is a rich self mordanting dye, and it doesn't wash out.
Good vellum/parchment/membrane is defined by either a whole skin or split skin. (cultural mores sometimes dictate which is used, and what animal is used too ) it can be fairly thick and it will take scraping and re-use, with care.
Practice on offcuts is the best advice before you try on a bigger sheet.
For the record, I found the easiest iron gall ink was to crush oak galls and soak them in red wine (if you're doing this with children, Ribena works
) add to rusty iron and let it steep for a week or so. It was usually thickened up with resin of some variety, I just used gum arabic.A little ink goes a long way, you don't need to make up pints of the stuff just to try it.
Don't get it on your fingertips, it's almost impossible to get it out from around your nails, and beware drips or splashes.
M
They're the same thing. Chinese ink is just the dry mix, usually of lamp or bone black and a resin of some kind.
It is very good on paper.
Parchment/vellum/membrane/skin isn't paper.
Paper doesn't last as well as vellum, well, not in our climate. Paper does fine in dry dry areas. Generally Europe isn't dry and you did say 'insular art'.
That said, the Govt is now recording our laws on very high quality parchment paper, and hoping it'll last like the rest on vellum....no doubt they'll find out in five hundred years when they can or cannot read the paper
Chinese ink doesn't wash out either. Good quality Chinese ink that is, the poor stuff fades.
Lot of work making good Chinese ink, it can be made using the soot from so many different mixes. Oil, tar, bone, pine, and the binders vary from hide glue to resin.
The cheaper ones use gelatine, which is why it doesn't fix so well.
They do need care in the preparation to make properly, you can just add a bit of water and basically that'll only make paint, but you need to 'grind' the ink on the stone to get the resins in the mixture too to make proper ink, with all the ingredients suspended in a liquid.
There's a difference, paint and ink, iimmc ?
There's bound to be someone on Youtube doing tutorials on ink and vellum.
I haven't done any calligraphy in years apart from a few bits on cards for family and friends at birthdays and Christmas, etc.,
The vellum I used over ten years ago when I was working for H.S. doing Medieval stuff in castles. I left the samples with them since I had no other use for them.
I noted at the time though that the traditional bookbinders occasionally had scraps/offcuts. Might be worth having a look on their sites ? Still not cheap, but if you want to work with and recognise the real stuff, it's more economical than buying a skin from Cowley.
Of course, you could always make your own
I've done that, it's a lot of work, it's an awful lot of work.
You migtt ask Man of Tanith, he's making good skins just now. If he has a white skin he might spare you a few edge scraps to process for vellum.
M
It is very good on paper.
Parchment/vellum/membrane/skin isn't paper.
Paper doesn't last as well as vellum, well, not in our climate. Paper does fine in dry dry areas. Generally Europe isn't dry and you did say 'insular art'.
That said, the Govt is now recording our laws on very high quality parchment paper, and hoping it'll last like the rest on vellum....no doubt they'll find out in five hundred years when they can or cannot read the paper
Chinese ink doesn't wash out either. Good quality Chinese ink that is, the poor stuff fades.
Lot of work making good Chinese ink, it can be made using the soot from so many different mixes. Oil, tar, bone, pine, and the binders vary from hide glue to resin.
The cheaper ones use gelatine, which is why it doesn't fix so well.
They do need care in the preparation to make properly, you can just add a bit of water and basically that'll only make paint, but you need to 'grind' the ink on the stone to get the resins in the mixture too to make proper ink, with all the ingredients suspended in a liquid.
There's a difference, paint and ink, iimmc ?
There's bound to be someone on Youtube doing tutorials on ink and vellum.
I haven't done any calligraphy in years apart from a few bits on cards for family and friends at birthdays and Christmas, etc.,
The vellum I used over ten years ago when I was working for H.S. doing Medieval stuff in castles. I left the samples with them since I had no other use for them.
I noted at the time though that the traditional bookbinders occasionally had scraps/offcuts. Might be worth having a look on their sites ? Still not cheap, but if you want to work with and recognise the real stuff, it's more economical than buying a skin from Cowley.
Of course, you could always make your own
I've done that, it's a lot of work, it's an awful lot of work.
You migtt ask Man of Tanith, he's making good skins just now. If he has a white skin he might spare you a few edge scraps to process for vellum.
M
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Cromarty Arts Trust promotes a series of dynamic and varied events from music concerts, art workshops, exhibitions, applied craft workshops like silver smithing and stone letter carving. We also hold annual weekend events - Crime and Thrillers with well known Scottish authors and our Harp...
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Oh lovely, wonderful find, Tengu ? are you going to sign up ?
They do some wonderfully interesting courses, etc., there, it's a beautiful place.
That course is late on in the year though, the days are short up there then. You'll only get about eight and a half hours of daylight, and it's cold too. Around 5 or 6˚C through the day.
It's a long way to travel for a weekend's course and not have time to do anything else while you're there.
I hope that if you do go that it's a rich experience, fun and full of good stuff that sticks in the mind
M
They do some wonderfully interesting courses, etc., there, it's a beautiful place.
That course is late on in the year though, the days are short up there then. You'll only get about eight and a half hours of daylight, and it's cold too. Around 5 or 6˚C through the day.
It's a long way to travel for a weekend's course and not have time to do anything else while you're there.
I hope that if you do go that it's a rich experience, fun and full of good stuff that sticks in the mind
M
Are you going to sign up? Oh, come on. I signed up allright. I couldnt miss an opportunty like this.
Im not bothered by the dark or the cold...and its worth it for the journey.
Im not bothered by the dark or the cold...and its worth it for the journey.
