Please also visit my other website at:
Art For Sale - Saint Michael Miniature Pen and Ink Drawings
including:
 |
Our Lady of Guadalupe, stippled ink on genuine sheep skin, a (finished) Work In Progress |
As war escalates around the world, please remember each day to pray for Peace.
including:
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Inc.
The Society of Tempera Painters
Marians Of The Immaculate Conception
Dyeing Parchment and Vellum
On the first page for parchment and vellum, I wrote "Parchment and vellum were, and are today, made from animal skins. After quite an extensive tanning process, the skin is further refined to accept ink and pigments in (most commonly) a gum arabic binder. " On this page I will demonstrate how to dye animal parchment, modern vegetable parchment , and paper with the traditional purple dye made from brazilwood. I learned how to do this from reading "Writing & Illuminating & Lettering" by Edward Johnston (ISBN# 0-486-28534-0).
The recipe below is loosely adapted from the paragraph Mr. Johnston writes on using brazilwood for a dye. This recipe has worked for me on a regular basis. I do not know at this time what the pH level is of this mix or how it might affect the paper or parchment. I do know that the dye is affected by light over a long period of time, and work should be framed under glass to prevent fading.
Materials needed:
|
Brazilwood chips or pieces |
|
Alum |
|
Potash |
(All three above available from Kremer Pigments)
|
One pint water |
|
Disposable gloves and dust-quality protective mask |
|
Tray for dyeing (I use a white butcher tray) |
|
Wooden spoon |
|
Double boiler |
|
Strainer |
|
Method for hanging paper sheets to dry or animal parchment to be stretched |
|
Vellum, parchment |
The Steps:
This recipe is for information only, I can't be responsible for results, and of course, this is toxic so use care when making this in a kitchen, and use completely separate utensils and pots from those used for food.
1. In a double boiler, combine one pint of water, 2 teaspoons alum and 1 1/4 cups brazilwood chips. I wear a dust mask and disposable "surgical" gloves. The brazilwood can be dusty and I don't like inhaling it, and the gloves protect from the chemicals, but also from ending up with purple fingers. :)
2. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occaisionally. At this point the brazilwood mixture will be a red-brown color. After 20 minutes, turn off heat and let stand for five minutes or so.
3. Add 1 teaspoon potash, and stir into the brazilwood mix. The potash will turn the mixture to a purple hue, and the amount of potash added will determine the resulting color tone. If too much potash is added, the dye will be too blue, so add the potash slowly until you get the hue you like. (The potash will make the whole mixture foam up quite a bit - this happens whether a glass or aluminum double boiler is used. Make sure you have some "top room" in the pot or everything will temporarily overflow.)
4. Let cool for five minutes or so and then strain through a strainer. The resulting liquid is the dye you will place in a tray for dyeing.
5. The color parchment that you end up with will depend on the material and the length of time you leave it in the dye. I have listed the dyeing times above the photos of each result below. The goat skin was the thickest material, and also absorbed the most dye. While you have the paper or skin in the dye, it's a good idea to do test swatches at different times to see the resulting color. Also- I used the dye recipe above at full strength for all but one example below. The dye can be diluted after straining for a lighter look.
6. If you are using animal skins, they have to be stretched to dry. At first I was going to tack them down to heavy cardboard or wood, but that didn't work as well. Traditionally, they are stretched by lacing through their edges and stretched on racks. My "rack" was unavailable, but I improvised with this set by using an inexpensive metal weaving loom for my 5 x 7 skins.
Goatskin, wet
The set-up on the left would have worked better if I had used wood, I think. I would have continued to place tacks closer together all the way around the skin. I decided to use the metal loom, and sewed heavy-duty hand quilting thread through the edges of the skin, and wrapped the thread around a loop point as I went. Care needs to be taken to make evenly spaced needle holes, so that the skin dries flat. The threads can be further tightened by looping a previously looped thread over two or three points instead of one.
The animal skin (s) will be a lighter color when completely dry, and this is something you have to guess at until you get your own preferred recipe and tint strength in your dye.
For the paper products, during colder months, I hang them from wire coat hangers with clothes pins, and then hang the coat hangers in the shower for them to dry. I tend to do large batches in the summer, when I can hang all the paper sheets on the outdoor clothesline. The papers dry quickly, and the papyrus and vegetable parchment will crinkle somewhat as they dry. This can be smoothed out with a dry iron and a low setting. I simply iron the pages and then keep them stored between sheets of wax paper under some heavy books. Skins cannot be ironed in this way, and the heavier papers generally don't need to be ironed..
Papyrus, dyed, wet, and crinkled:
Papyrus, dry and ironed
Each of the papers or animal skins below is shown first prior to dyeing, and then after dyeing.
Goat skin
Below is a scan of the texture of goat skin. This is actually the smoother side, and although it looks bumpy, it isn't. The markings are from the skin pores.
Right after dyeing, still wet, 2 hours in dye bath
Dry, smooth side
Sheep skin
The sheep skin is less marked with skin pores, and below is the smoother side.
After dyeing (2 hours in dye), and dry
Papyrus
Made from plant fibers, cut into strips and thrashed until usable, papyrus is then interwoven to make what is generally thought to be the oldest "paper" made.
After dyeing (1 hour in dye), and dry
Stonehenge "vellum"
Stonehenge, with the "vellum" surface is one of the nicest papers for many different techniques.
Stonehenge is on the left, a warm white, as compared to papyrus which is on the right..
After dyeing (1 hour in dye), and dry
Winsor and Newton 140 pound hot press watercolor paper
This watercolor paper is 100% cotton rag, a very high quality paper. I use it for many different applications.
After dyeing (1 hour in dye), and dry
Vegetable Parchment
This paper is a sulphite paper and is a very nice paper for calligraphy.
After dyeing (1/2 hour in dye), and dry
After dyeing (1 hour in dye), and dry
This was a diluted solution I used for the vegetable parchment paper, with 1/3 water being added to my original full strength solution. There isn't much difference in hue even though the dye times were different.
I hope the above examples give you some idea of how to dye paper or animal skin parchments with a traditional dye. I will be posting a photo of some artwork done on one of these as soon as I have one to post (see below)
Note: Prior to writing on the parchment, it should be further prepared by rubbing with pumice, or "pounce". I use facial grade pumice, available from Le Melange Home Fragrances.
|
|
Saint Michael, Archangel, Guardian Angel Prayer
Ink on Goat Skin Parchment
5 x 7
Hand-dyed and stretched goat skin (traditional brazilwood dye), Higgins waterproof black and FW acrylic inks, Daniel Smith Pale Gold pigment
(This piece of goat skin had become bruised and I used the graphic areas of the piece to cover the worst of the bruising)