Tips Towards Better Whitework

copyright 1998, E. Boucher

In certain periods of manuscript illumination, areas of flat color were embellished with white patterns. Since it is easier to show than tell, we'll look at a detail of Kentuckiensis V-fol. 58v. This image at the University of Kentucky website shows a fairly typical example of Franco-Flemish 15th century whitework. Notice the white patterns surrounding the inital letter and the white line on the bar (click here).

Back? Good. This is an ever-evolving article, set up to list tips for improving your whitework. Thus, in writing this article, I am presuming that you already have two very basic, extremely important things. 1) You have some experience in illumination and so are not unfamiliar with using, at least, brushes and paints. 2) You have a picture or other visual reference available to you. As any who know me have heard, over and over again, I firmly believe that you should never work without a good visual reference. Picasso was right when he said "Good artists copy; great artists steal." �

This, then, is a numbered list of things that you might find helpful when trying to do your whitework.

1. Be sure your "white" is sufficiently thinned to flow off of your brush--about the consistancy of melted ice cream, warm honey, or nectar drinks. Be sure that you are using an appropriate "white" to do the work. White-Out is Right Out. White ink is not stong enough to cover the base color you are working upon. In gouaches, I'm not fond of Chinese white--it has a pinkish cast--and have tried Titanium White with various degrees of success. Several companies make a product called "Bleedproof White", described as "bleedproof opague watercolor", which is intended to cover gouaches, and thus, is perfect for doing whitework in illumination. Despite the manufacturer's statement to the contrary, this can be slightly thinned with water, and can be reworked once dry. Bleedproof White is my personal favorite.

2. Preventing contamination from the base color can be difficult; gouache is not waterproof, and so application of a second layer can cause the base layer to loosen and contaminate the white. There are a number of solutions.

• Learn to add the minimal amount of water to your white. The white should flow from your brush, yes, but it should not be so wet that the paint will take more than a short time to dry once applied.

• Use a different paint as your base. Egg tempera is easily made. You might also try the "Old Holland" brand of egg tempera in the tube (which has the curious advantage of being produced by a company that has been making artist's materials since 1664), but this can be very difficult to find--and make sure you are buying EGG TEMPERA. Casein, another paint made with a period binder, also works well, and is a bit easier to find. If you don't have the courage to try to make your own paint, and you can't find casein or egg tempera in the tube, you could use acryla-gouaches or acrylic paint as your base colors in those areas that will be whiteworked. Egg tempera and casein are water resistant as soon as dry (eventually becoming waterproof) and acrylic paints and acryla-gouaches are waterproof as soon as they are dry.

• If none of the above paint alternatives appeal to you, some being too complicated and the others too modern, try ading a few drops of egg yolk to gouache, mixed in well, prior to applying the base color. This will increase the paint's water resistance.

• And, if even that is too much trouble, try applying spray fixative before whitework. I strongly recommend, however, that, if you choose this option, you make sure that a) your calligraphy for the piece is absolutely done before you apply spray fixative, as ink on fixative bleeds (and, conversely, application of fixative will make some inks bleed), b) all stray marks are off the paper and all ruling guides that you do not intend to be permanent are erased, as once the fixative is applied, they will NEVER come off, and c) areas of paint requiring reworking (blending, et cetera) have not yet been applied, as once the fixative is on, reworking is impossible. If you are not familar with spray fixative, it is a product ment to make certain types of mediums less prone to disaster (keeps charcol from rubbing off, makes non-waterproof inks water-resistant--not waterproof--makes pencil marks permanent, makes gouache water-resistant, and so forth); any good art supply place will carry it.

3. Applying perfect lines can be difficult. There are several ways to get that competent line going:

• Never underestimate the power of a good brush. The quality of your tools will have a noticable effect on your work. You want to use a brush that comes to a fine point and has a sort of spring or resilience. Try this test. Dip the hair end of your clean brush into a glass of water. Upon removing the brush from the water, give the brush a quick flick--really snap your wrist. A good round will refrom with the hairs standing in a straight line from the ferrule and the hair will come to a very fine point. If their are hairs that don't join the main body, clip them off. If the hair as a whole leans to the left or the right, if the tip is split, or if the brush assumes any shape other than a well-formed, straight, fine-pointed mass, don't use it for whitework. When you load your brush with white paint, pull (or roll {1}) it against the side of your well, bringing the brush hairs back to that fine point.

• Use your fingers to move the brush only in small areas. Otherwise, operate from the wrist. Your wrist will move in a natural curve (try it! grab a pencil, hold it firmly, and, pressing the pencil to paper, move your wrist back and forth.), increasing your chances of getting a steady curve. For straight lines, lock your fingers and your wrist, and move your arm side to side (or up and down, whatever is most comfortable to you).

• Try other tools. While a 3/0 brush is unbeatable for several whitework applications, technical pens, crow quills, and ruling pens can also be used in whitework. I find that a ruler and a ruling pen is the best combination when I want to make long, consistant, straight whitework lines; an elevated ruler (i.e., has three or four pennies taped to each end to make a sort of bridge) and a 3/0 brush also work well.

• Don't try to do whitework when you are nervous, jacked up on java, distracted, trembly, or anything but calm, alert, and unpressured.

5. When working with green as your background color, note that the pattern painted upon it is not white, but yellow.

6. Some whitework is extremely fine. Many scribes make the mistake of attempting to make extremely delicate lines by using extremely small brushes--10/0, for instance. However, a 10/0 brush doesn't hold enough paint to really do much white work--you'll be frequently reloading your brush. Instead, try using a larger brush that comes to a sharp point (see above), and, when using it to paint, make a couple of practice strokes above the work before actually touching the brush to the paper, just above the surface. This will help you in making the strokes with extreme restraint; really delicate whitework requires a very light touch.

7. Later period whitework is not just lines and geometric forms, but also flowers and faces and other natural formations. Instead of doing outlines and filling in, try painting these things with sumi-e techniques--judicious application of pressure and so forth. The smallest of sumi-e brushes are actually quite good for all types of white work, but especially nice for white work applied with brush manipulation to produce the forms. {2}

Got a great whitework tip you'd like to add? Email me with your tip, and we'll add it to the list. I will credit any tips sent to me. :)

{1}Personal communication, Helen Schultz
{2}Personal Communication, "Kris Girbaldi."

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