Earth as well observed that Country Fellow in Greece of a Painter whether it were Aristides or Pamphilus I do not well remember who had painted a Bird upon an Ear of Corn without making the stalk bend a jot In like sort the motions of other unsensible things as quivering of Feathers of wings and plumes the wreathing of ropes the knots of hands flying of straws dust c. must be expressed according to the violence done unto them to the end there may no occasion be given unto the meanest to tax and carp at Painters otherwise most excellent as not long since fell out in the work of a good carver vvho in the vvrong side vvhere he had carved Michael Angelo made a blind Beggar led by a Dog tyed with a string about his Neck which seemed to be so stretched that it was as stiff as a staff without any bowing which gave occasion to a waggish Boy to scoff at it saying that if the Dog had straitned the string so harde he had either been strangled or not able to go any farther which caused certain Painters which were there to break into an extreame laughter Many such blame worthy motions may be found in Pictures which would not so easily escape the hands of Painters if in every thing they Paint they did consider that it is their own disgrace be it never so small as the most diligent Leonard and Caesar Sestius did out of whose hands there never came any unperfect piece of work for in the smallest herbs you shall find their most true Proportion and Natural Motion Albertus Durerus was no less careful in this behalf as may sufficiently appear by his prints and coloured pieces in which you shall find the legitimate motions even unto the smallest hairs of the beard as in that of the Duke of Saxony which was also drawn again by Titianus and afterwards in the hairs of St. Sebastians dog in the print of the horses of sense and death and in the great leaves of Adam and Eve The motions of the Sea must be otherwise expressed by representing the divers agitations of the waters as likewise in rivers the flashing of the waters upon Boats and Ships floating up and down on the waters through the uncertainty of the surges and the Ships resistance We must also represent the motions of waters falling down from an high place but especially when they fall upon some Rock or stones where you shall see them spirting up into the Air and sprinkling all about Clouds also in the Air require to have their motions judiciously expressed now gathered together with the winds now violently condensated into Hail Thunderbolts Lightning Rain and such like Meteors Finally you can make nothing which requireth not his proper motions according unto which it ought to be represented but having hitherto sufficiently as I suppose discoursed of these kind of motions I will here shut up all with the most hot and vehement motions of the flaming Fire hastening towards an end as that doth naturally although it be diversly stirred and blown with the wind whereby notwithstanding gathering more force it is augmented and increased THE Art of Miniture OR LIMNING I Hope that no Ingenuous person will be so bold to attempt this Art before he can design that is to say further than Copying any Picture in black and white as Cole black Chalk black Lead or the like It is necessary to draw much after good Heads of plaister of Paris because the difference is much more difficult to draw after a round then a flat and after you have practised much by the Heads of plaister you must endeavour to draw much after the life in black and white before you undertake the Art of Limning The Colours to be used in Limning are termed thus Whites Flake white Serus Red Carmine Indian Lake Red Lead Indian Red Burnt Ocur c. Yellow Masticot Yellow ocur Eng. ocur Pinck Greens Sap Green Pinck and Bice Green Bice Terra Vert. Blews Vltra Marine Dutch Bice Smalt Indigo Browns Gall Stone Mumme Cullins Earth Vmber Rust Blacks Ivory black Sea-cole Lamp black Cherry Stone As for Vermillion Verdigrease Orpiment c. they are too course and gritty to use in water colours Turnsoile Litmus blew Rosset Brasil Logwood Saffron are more fit for washing prints then curious Limning The way and manner of preparing colours White Lead To make your white lead that it shall neither rust nor shine both which are no small inconveniencies in the Art of Limning therefore before you grind either of them lay them in the Sun two or three dayes which will exhale those greasy and salt humours that poyson and starve the colours besides you must scrape away the superficies of the white lead and only reserve the middle of it then grind it with fair water or rosemary water upon a Pebble or Porphire when it is ground have in readiness a chalk-stone with furrows in it into which furrows put the colour while it is wet and so let it dry in the Sun and it will be exceedingly cleansed thereby after it is through dry it must be washed in spring water as for example Let one Instance serve for all Colours to be washed and how TAke a Pound of white lead finely ground put it into a bason of spring water stirr it a while together till the water be all coloured then let it stand and you will soon perceive a greasy scum to arise which scum blow off and powre the coloured water into a clean bason leaving the grosser Body at the bottome of the bason behind it being good for nothing but grosser uses let the purer part stand One howre or Two untill it is quite setled then powre off the water from the colour and put it in fresh water and stirr it as before mentioned then let it settle half the time that it did at first and then powre off the water into a clean bason leaving the courser part behind and when it is dry put it up into papers for your use then let the other water which you powred off settle and then powre off the water from it and take the colour when it is dry and paper it as before for your use colours thus refined five or six times over are the purest and most fit for the best use and when you use it spread a little of it about a shell with your finger and temper it with gum water Colours to be vvashed are these follovving Red Lead or Mene Masticot green Bice blew Bice Smalt Vltamarine Sap green Colours to be ground are these White Lead Serus Indian Lake Brown Oker Yellow Oker Pinck Indigo Vmber Cullins earth Cherry stone Ivory Lamp black Indian red Of the Nature of Colours in general English Ocur Yellow This colour lies even in the shell of it self and is of great use especially if well ground Pinck mixed with Bice a good green Green The Fairest Pinck is best well ground and tempered with blew
Bice allowing one quantity of Pinck to three of blew Bice to deepen this colour in Landskip or Drapery mix with it a little Indigo finely ground Vmber Brown This colour is somewhat greasy to cleanse it burn it in a Cruciple afterwards grind it and it will be good Indian Red. Dark Red Because this colour is very course you may use Vmber and a little lake tempered which is as good Black Black Ivory and Cherry-stone are both to be burnt in a Cruciple and so ground Cherrystone is good for Drapery for a black Sattin temper with it a little white Indian Lake and Indigo heighten it with a lighter mixture deepen it with Ivory black this was Hilliards way Ivory Black Black Grind Ivory with a pittance of white Sugar Candy which will preserve it from crackling out of your shel Indian Lake Purple Grind this with a little gum water and when it is ground fine before you put it into the shell mix a little powder of white Sugar Candy vvith it vvhich vvill preserve it from crackling after this temperature you may spread it thinly vvith your finger about the shell Observations in Grinding Leave not your colour too moist but thick and clammy if after your colour be dry in your shell you rubbing your fingers thereon shall find any to come off it must be better bound vvith gum and if too much gum it will shine and be apt to crackle off after it is used To wash Bice Blew Grind your Bice first very purely then fill a large shell with clean water put the Bice therein and stirr it then let it settle One hower take off the scum and powre off the water then reserve the bottome vvhen it is dry for use To deepen this use Litmus water How to choose your Pencils Choose such Pencils as are clear and sharp pointed not dividing into parts of these you must have in readiness a several Pencil for every several colour To prepare a Tablet to work on with Miniture for Pictures by the life Take an ordinary playing Card polish it with a Dogs Tooth and make as smooth as you can the white side of it cleansing it from all spots and extuberances then choose of the best abortive parchment a Piece proportionable to your Card which piece with fine and clean starch past fast on the card temper the starch before you past it on in the palme of your hand that it may be free from Knots let the card thus pasted dry then making your grinding-stone as clean as may be lay the card thereon with the parchment side downwards then with a Tooth burnish or polish the backside as hard as you can Note that the outside of the skin is best to Limne upon and must therefore be outmost The Ground colour for a Face Your card thus prepared you are to lay a ground or primer of flesh colour before you begin your work and that must be tempered according to the complexion of the Face to be drawn if the complexion be fair temper white red lead and lake if an hard swarthy complexion mingle with your white and red a little fine Masticot or English Ocur but Note that your ground ought alwayes to be fairer then the Face you take for it is a facile matter to darken a light colour but a difficult to lighten a deep one for in Limning you must never heighten but work them down to their just colour Your ground thus prepared you must lay it on the card ordered as before with a Pencil bigger then ordinary lay it on as smooth even and free from hairs of your Pencil as 't is possible which that you may do fill your Pencil full of colour rather thin or watrish then thick and gross and with two or three dawbes of your great Pencil lay it on in an instant the nimbler it is laid on the evener the colour will ly Note that you ought to cover rather too much then too little with this prime cover somewhat more of the card with the ground colour then you shall use for the Face This done take a pretty large Pallet of Ivory and before you begin to work temper certain little heaps of several shadowes for the Face which you must temper with your finger about the Pallet The Order of Shadowes for the Face In all your Shadowes remember to mix Shadows some white exempli gratia for the red in the Cheeks Lips c. temper Lake red Lead and a little white for the blew as the Veins c. a little Indigo and white for blew Bice is never used in a Face for the faintest and weakest colour or shades Lake and white a little Ocur and a little Indigo adding thereto if you will a small pittance of Pinck or Masticot for the deeper shadowes white English Ocur Vmber for the darkest and hardest shadowes use Lake and Pink mixt with Vmber Note that black must not by any means be used in a Face for other shadowes your own observation must direct you for it is impossible to give a general Rule for the shadowes in all Faces unless we could force nature to observe the same method in composing and modelling them so that one in every punctilio should resemble the other For your Light to draw by a Northern is accounted Light best which if it fall slooping down from an high window is best Place your self to your Desk that the Position light may strike in sidelong from the left-hand to the right and observe that in all your works it will shew to the best advantage when it is turned and seen by the same light it was drawn by Let a Saucer or clean Shell of fair Water be Necessaries in Limning ever on your right hand wherewith you may temper your colours and wash your pencils together with a brush pencil dry to cleanse your work from dust also a sharp penknife wherewith to take away such specks or hairs as may casually mix with your colours or fall into your card you may also conveniently cover your picture with a piece of paper whereon to try your pencils before you begin to work To begin a Face Having these accommodations draw the The first draught lines of porphile i. e. the outmost stroak of a Face with lake and white mingled very faint by this you may conveniently mend the draught if false with a deeper mixture of the same colour the lines being exactly drawn and true proportion observed which is the chiefest thing of concernment next observe the deeper and more remarkable shadowes and with the same faint Crimson colour of lake and white give some slight touches and marks somewhat roughly of these shadowes which afterward you 'l finish The Order to be observed in drawing by the life First you must only dead colour the Face The Order of drawing first sitting as the Oyl-painters do and not meddle with the rest and this first sitting commonly takes up two hours The
with a knife in the palme of your hand spread it over instantly lay on a piece of abortive parchment let it be prest in a book till it be almost dry then smooth it on the back-side To preserve Colours fresh grind them with the gall of a Neet To prepare White Excellently Take some Serus which being grosly bruised and White put into a fine earthen Bason put to it a good quantity of running water distilled wherein wash the Serus till it be throughly clean and purged which you shall know by the Taste of the water which is drained from thence Is made thus take of Oyl of Turpentine one Vernish pound Sandrake one pound Oyl of Spike one pound mixt the Oyles together and let all stand over the fire till the Sandrake be dissolved if the fire should chance to catch hold on this clap a pewter dish over it Concerning Wax-work or Moulding to make the Moulds Take a good big lump of plaister of Paris and The Mould burn it in a Cruciple till it be red hot let it cool then beat it very fine and searse it through a Tiffany Sieve be very cautious that the wind come not at it for that will hinder its hardening after it be tempered keep it wrapt up in a clean brown paper use it thus take any Earthen or Pewter Vessel that is shallow and put ten or twelve spoonfulls of fair water in it then prepare your fruit and bind a rag round it like a cord in a wreath long wayes on the fruit then take some linsed Oyle or which is more cleanly Oyl of sweet Almonds with which in a pencil besmear the Lemmon or what other fruit it be on the one side which lay uppermost your Lemmon thus prepared take some of your sifted plaister of Paris and temper it in the fore-mentioned water to a pretty thickness then as speedily as may be with the help of your spoon cast it on the oyled Lemmon lay it on very thick least the thinness of the Mould spoil the work when 't is hardned which will be in a small time take away your rag leaving the linnen still fast in it's half mould which done turn the hardned side downward then Oyl the other half of the Lemmon together with the edges of the mould which the rag did cover then wash your porringer or vessel where the former plaister was clean and prepared and cast on more plaister of Paris as before observe it must not be too thick when you cast it on and after 't is hardned you must put no more water to it for then it will crumble when you have done the moulds so and made a notch that one may fall fitly into the other tye them close together having before well Oyled them and keep them for use To cast in these Moulds Use the whitest and purest Virgins wax To cast To colour the wax answerable to the things you mould For a Raddish your ground is Serus which must To colour be afterwards painted over with Lake the top of the Raddish painted with Verdigrease all other such colours must be tempered with gum water gum water is thus made dissolve a lump of pure gum Araback about the bigness of a Walnut in two spoonfulls of fair water herewith temper your colours Note that every thing Mouldable is either all of one and the same colour as a Lemmon or striped and particoloured with different colours as a Pear Pearmain c. Now such as are of one colour may be easily cast all of the same colour but such as are varicated must be kept out afterwards by colours tempered with gum water as above you colour your wax by putting into it whilest it is hot and melted in a Gally-pot a little linnen bag of that colour you use provided that the colour be before bruised very fine As to particulars for the Lemmons or Apricocks take only Turmerick in a bag for Oranges turmerick and red Lead well tempered Apples Pears or Grapes turmerick and a little Verdigrease Wallnuts and Figs mix turmerick and English Ocur and Vmber all in a bag together Cucumbers or Hartichoaks Peescods or Filbirds turmerick verdigrease Eggs and Serus all put into several baggs and steept in the Virgins wax when 't is melting as before mentioned for Damason bruise Charcole Indigo and blew starch in a bag together for flesh colour white Lead and vermilion mixt c. To counterfeit Rochcandid sweet meats Dissolve the quantity of a walnut of gum Araback Rochcandy in two spoonfulls of clear water let it be very thick then take any piece of broken Venice glass the thicker the better beat it in a morter so small as you please that it may serve your occasion daub over some cast sweet meats with the fore-mentioned gum water strew this powder on them and t' will with much delight satisfie the expectation Additional Observations out of a Manuscript of Mr. Hilliards touching Miniture When you begin to Limn temper all your colours fresh with your Finger in your shell or on your pallat Pearl Your Pearl must be laid with a white mixture with a little black a little Indigo and Mastick but very little in comparison of the white not to the hundreth part that dry give the light of the Pearl with a little silver somewhat more to the light then the shadowed side then take a white allai'd with Masticot and underneath the shadowed side give it a compassing stroak which shews a reflection then without that a small shadovv of Seacole undermost of all But note your silver must be laid round and full The manner how to draw vvith Indian Ink. To draw with Indian Ink after the manner of vvashing or instead of Indian Ink take Lamp-black or Bread burnt temper a little of your Indian Ink with fair vvater in a shell or upon your hand your outlines being drawn with Cole or black Lead take an indifferent long sharp pointed pencil dip the point into fair vvater then dip the pencil into the Indian Ink and draw all your outlines very faint Note that all the temperature of Indian Ink must be thin and vvaterish and not too black when it is dry take a little crum of stale vvhite bread and rub out the outlines which you drew with the Cole if too black then dash on your shadows very faintly and deepen it by degrees as you think convenient then finish it with stipples it being most advantagious to any one that shall practice Limning beware of taking too much colour in your pencil which you may prevent by drawing the pencil through your Lipps in laying on your shadows never lay them to deep but deepen them down by degrees for if too deep you can never heighten them again How to prevent your colours from sinking in Take Roach Allum and boyle it in spring vvater then take a bit of a spunge and dip it into the vvater and wet the back-side of your paper that you
intend to draw on very thin whilest the vvater is hot in the vvetting of it be as nimble as you can and this will prevent it from sinking The manner how to draw vvith vvater colours upon Sattin Take Izing glass and steep it Four and twenty hours in water then boyl it in spirit of vvine untill it be very clammy which you will perceive by dipping your finger into it then after your outlines are drawn upon the Sattin take an indifferent big pencil and wash it thin over as far as your outlines are which will prevent your colours from sinking or flowing A farther observation in grinding of colours Observe in grinding ultramarine and other colours that your motion be not too swift but grind it gentle and slow because the swiftness of the motion causeth the stones to heat by which consequence your colour will starve or loose something of it's Lustre especially if it be a colour of no great Body as Pinck and Indigo c. observe in grinding white that you grind it not too much least it prove greasy or oyly or of a dirty colour How to prepare Vmber Take Vmber and grind it very fine put it into an earthen pot or gally pot of fair water cover it over and keep it from dust and in frosty weather let it freeze untill it thaws of it self then power off the water and when it is dry put it up in paper for your use And when you temper it in your shell use a drop or two of white Onyon water which will preserve it from crackling The Art of Etching The Grounds and Rules of Etching BEfore that you begin to Etch upon copper it is very necessary to practise the Art of drawing till you be able if need require to draw any head after the life or to draw a design for if you intend to practice the Art of Etching you will find it very profitable to draw after good prints which are well designed and graved and when you have practised so long that you are able to coppy any print or drawing very exactly then draw after good Heads of plaister or figures according to your own fancy which will learn you to shadow according to Art if well observed therefore be sure when you draw after plaister to observe very exactly to take the true outlines or circumferences and then take notice how the shadow falls then shadow it very faint and soft vvhere need requires The prints which I recommend unto you as absolutely the best to learn to Etch or Grave after be the prints of Henry Goldshis and Hermon Muller therefore it is very convenient to leaan to hatch vvith the Pen exactly after either of the aforesaid prints of Goldshis or Muller and when you have brought it to that perfection and can draw very well after plaister you may practise to draw after the life but before you draw after the life you must be very exact and true in your outlines or circumferences The Instruments with their particular names which are used to Etch withall A Copper plate polished a piece of ground bound up in a piece of Silk or Taffatae and preserved from any dust or grease and about twenty Needles of all sizes the best are made at Cleafe then take the Needles and set them indifferent deep into some round slender sticks about a span long with a Needle at one of the ends of the sticks and a pencil at the other a scraper a polisher and two or three good French gravers well ground and whetted and a pair of Compasses a Ruler some green wax a Bottle which holdeth some half a pound of single Aqua fortis stoped close with soft wax some white Lead a Stift a hand Vice to hold the Plate over the fire an Oyl stone The use and property of every particular Instrument The Copper Plate is the only matter to Etch upon the ground is to lay upon the Copper Plate when they are both warmed your Needles are to hatch withall upon the ground the pencil is to wipe away the bits of ground which rise when you hatch upon the ground with your Needles the scraper is to scrape out any thing that is amiss the Polisher is to make smooth any place that is rough so that you can mend any place that is amiss according to your own Mind the Gravers are to mend here and there a stroak where need requires But note that your Gravers must be ground and whet very sharp and smooth upon an Oyl stone before you use them your Compasses are of very little use in Etching except it be to measure a distance or strike a Circle the Ruler is used to hatch all the straight hatches or Lines upon the Plate The green vvax is used to make a Wall round about the edges of your Plate to keep the Aqua fortis from running off from the Plate the Aqua fortis is the finisher of the vvork vvhen you have hatched the design upon the Plate with your Needles The white Lead is used to scrape upon the back-side of the drawing or print that you Etch after The Stift is used to draw through all the outmost Lines or circumferences of the print or drawing which you Etch after The Oyl stone is to vvhet your Gravers upon having these things in readiness Note that if it be a black Ground that lyes upon the Plate then you must take white Lead and rub it upon the back-side of the print or drawing which you intend to Etch after but if it be a vvhite Ground then you must take black Lead or a piece of Charcole and rub on the back of your print as aforesaid The manner and way to make the Ground Take a quarter of a pound of Virgins wax and half a quarter of a pound of Expoltum burnt of Amber One Ounce of Mastick One Ounce Having all these materials in readiness you must take the Mastick and the Expoltum and beat them very fine in a mortar this being done take a new earthen Pot and put the wax into it and set it upon the fire let not the fire be too hot which if you do it will burn the ground therefore when they are throughly melted take it off from the fire and pour the ground out into a Pot of fair water and make it up into a Ball and preserve it from dust and when you will use it take a quantity of it and bind it up in a piece of Taffatae or Silk and use it as hereafter A red Ground Grind red Lead very well tempered with Vernish A white Ground Take of wax one Ounce Rosin two Ounces melt them together add thereto a quarter of an Ounce of Venice Serus finely ground A black Ground Asphaltum two parts Bees wax one part melt them Spaltum together being warm lay it thinly on with a Lawn rag Another Ground Grind red Lead with Linseed Oyl Note your ground must be laid very thin The manner and way to lay
thus much for the second sitting The manner of finishing at the third sitting The third will be wholly spent in giving Third sitting the strong touches and observations necessary for the rounding of a face which you will now better see to do the apparel hair and ground being already finished In this sitting curiously observe whatever may conduce to similitude which is the chiefest thing as Scars Moles c. glances of the Eyes descending and circumflections of the Mouth never make your deepest shadows so deep as they appear in the life Thus much of the Face and three sittings For Ornaments thus Armour silvea for colouring armour first lay Liquid Ornament silver flat and even which dryed and burnisht with a Tooth temper the shadows with Silver Indigo Litmus and a little Vmber work these shadows on the Silver as directed by the life For the gold armour lay gold as you did silver Gold Armour for the Shadow Lake English Ocur tempered with a little gold To express roundness and lustre of Pearls your Pearls ground must be white and Indigo your shadow black and Pinck Diamonds are exprest with a ground of flat Liquid Diamonds silver the deepning is Cherristone black and Ivory the deeper the shadow the fairer the Diamond Lay a ground of silver burnisht to the bigness Rubies of the Ruby then take Turpentine of the best and purest and temper with it very neat a little Indian Lake then taking a needle or some small Iron instrument heated in a Candle lay or drop a little of the composition upon the silver fashioning the stone in a round or square or what fashion you please with the point of your instruments you must let it lye a day or two to dry if it be too long in drying add to your composition a little powder of clarified Mastick This receipt is not commonly known For any green stone temper your Turpentine Emeraulds with Verdigrease and a little Turmerick root first scraped with Vinegar then let it dry then grind it to fine powder and temper it Mix Turpentine with Vltramarine c. Saphires Note that the ground to all must be Liquid silver polisht A true Receipt to make liquid gold Take of fine leaf-gold the Value of 2s 6d Liquid gold grind this gold with a strong and thick gum-water upon a reasonable large stone which you must grind very fine and painfully as you grind it still add more of your strong gum-water and though the gold look never so black and dirty 't is never the worse having brought it to a competent fineness wash it in a great shell as you did Bice c. Being very clean add to it a little quantity of Mercury sublimate with the point of your Knife which you must temper with it and a very little gum to bind it in the shell and as it settles and begins to dry in the shell shake it together and remove and spread the gold about the sides of the shell that it may be altogether of one colour and fineness use with fair water as you do the other colours So for liquid silver only observe and 't is a secret Note that when your silver either with long keeping or moistness of the Air becomes starved and rusty you must to prevent this inconveniency before you lay the silver Cover over the place with a little Juice of Garlick which will preserve it Of Landskip In drawing Landskip with water colours ever begin Landskip with the Skie and if there be any Sunbeams do them first For the Purple Clouds only mingle Lake and Purple Clouds white The Sun-beams Masticot and white Yellow Work your blew Skie with smalt only or Vltramarine Note 1. At your first working dead colour all the piece over Note 2. leave nothing uncovered lay the colour smooth and even Work the Skie down in the Horizon fainter as you Note 3. draw near the Earth except in tempestuous skies work your further Mountains so that they should seem to be lost in the Air. Your first ground must be of the colour of the Earth Note 4. and dark yellowish brown green the next successively as they loose in their distance must also faint and abate in their colours Beware of persection at a distance Note 5. Ever place light against dark and dark against light Note 6. that is the only way to extend the prospect far off is by opposing light to shadows yet so as ever they must loose their force and vigor in proportion as they remove from the Eye and the strongest shadow ever nearest hand A Dark Green For a dark green for Trees mingle Verduter Pinck and Indigo the deepest shadows of all in green are made with sap green and Indigo A Rare secret to preserve Colours Take Rosemary water double distilled and with a few drops of it temper your shell of white and you shall see it become instantly perfect white however dead and faded it was before besides this water allayes the Bubbles in white and umber which are usually very troublesome in the grinding them Some general observations in Miniture 1. If your colours peel or by reason of the greasiness of your Parchment will not lie on mix with them a very little Ear wax and t' will help them 2. Sit not above two yards from him you draw by 3. Draw not any part in the face of a picture exactly at the first neither finish a Mouth Eye or Nose till the rest of your work come up and be wrought together with it 4. When you have finished the Face make the party stand up to draw the Drapery by him 5. Let the Party you draw be set in an higher seat then your self that draw To make Crayons or Pastils To instance one for all if you were to make Pastils a Pastil for a brown complexion grind on your stone serus red lead or vermillion English ocur and a little pinck to this add a proportionable quantity of plaister of paris burnt and finely sifted mix this with the other colours and you may role it up Mix white Serus with all your other colours and Note some instead of Serus use Tobacco pipe clay To make white Take two parts of ordinary chalk and one part Serus of Allum grind those together fine make them up in a lump burn them in a Cruciple and use them To make white Lead Take a Cruciple where into put several smal White Lead plates of clean Lead cover them with white wine Vinegar luit the Pot close and dig an hole in a dunghill where let it abide for the space of six weeks Take it it up and scrape off the superfluities of the white Lead and so use them To prepare a Card for a Picture Wet a card all over with a great pencil so soone as the water is sunck in burnish it smooth on the back-side having tempered some starch
from the Plate very clean then take some Oyl and rub over the Plate to clean it and if you perceive that the Aqua fortis hath not eaten as deep in some places as it should be then it must be helped with a Graver Observations by which you may know when it is deep enough When the Aqua fortis hath lain upon the Plate a little more then a quarter of an hour or half an hour there being no certainty in time because sometimes the Aqua fortis will work stronger then at another therefore when you think it is deep enough pour off the Aqua fortis from the Plate into a glass then wash the Plate with a little fairwater then take a Knife and scrape off a little piece of the ground where it is hatcht and may be least prejudicial to the Plate and if you perceive it not to be deep enough take a little candle tallow and melt it in a spoon and while it is warm take a pencil and cover the plate with it where you scraped the ground off then pour the aqua-fortis upon it again and let it lye till you guess it to be deep enough then pour the Aqua fortis from the Plate as aforesaid and at any time when you perceive that the Aqua fortis doth not work strong enough you pour off half the old and refresh it with some new for when the Aqua fortis hath been upon the Plate about half an hour it will be much the weaker because the strength of it doth evaporate away and by a little practice you will come to the certain knowledge when the Aqua fortis hath eaten deep enough Another way to know when it is deep enough Take a little piece of a Copper plate and lay a ground upon it as you before mentioned and make a wax wall about it then hatch it with several hatches as you think best and when you pour the Aqua fortis upon the one pour it upon the other and when you think they be eaten deep enough pour the Aqua fortis from the little Plate and wash it with some fair water as aforesaid then take a Knife and scrape off a little piece of the ground from the little Plate where it is hatcht and in case you percieve it not deep enough cover the place again with some warme candle tallow and then pour the Aqua fortis upon it again till you guess it be enough then pour the Aqua fortis from the little Plate again and try as before and if you see it to be enough pour the Aqua fortis from the great Plate and wash it with a little fair water before you warm it or else the Aqua fortis will stain the Plate A way to lay a white Ground upon a Black First you must understand that most grounds are black and when you lay a white ground upon a black you must not smoak the black with a Link and you must lay the undermost ground the thinner when you lay a white ground upon it and if you would lay a white ground upon a black take a quantity of Serice as much as you think will cover the plate and grind it very fine with gum water and temper it very thin then take a pencil and wash the plate all over very thin and even The way to lay a red Ground upon a black Ground Take the red Chalk and grind it very fine with gum water then take a pretty big pencil and wash the plate all over with the red ground very thin and smooth as before mentioned A Receipt for a ground taken out of a Manuscript of Collots Take a quarter of a pound of Virgins wax and half a quarter of a pound of the best Expolium burnt of Amber and half a quarter of a pound of Mastick if it be warm weather because it doth harden the ground and preserve it from injury when you lean with your hand hard upon it if it be cold vveather then take but an ounce of Mastick this being observed then take an ounce of Rosin and an ounce of Shoomakers pitch and half an ounce of other pitch half an ounce of Vernish having all these materials in readiness take a new earthen pot and put the Virgins vvax into it and when it is melted stir it about and put in the other materials by degrees as before mentioned and when they are throughly mingled and melted take the pot off from the fire and pour it out in a clean pot of fair vvater and vvork it into a Ball and preserve it from dust and grease and when you have occasion to make use of it take a quantity thereof and bind it up in a piece of Silk and make use of it as before mentioned The Ground of Rinebrant of Rine Take half an ounce of Expoltum burnt of Amber one ounce of Virgins vvax half an ounce of Mastick then take the Mastick and Expoltum and beat them severally very fine in a Mortar this being done take a new earthen pot and set it upon a Charcole-fire then put the Virgins vvax into it and melt it then shake into it the Mastick and Expoltum by degrees stirring the Wax about till they be throughly mingled then pour it forth into fair vvater and make a Ball of it and use it as before mentioned but be sure you do not heat the plate too hot when you lay the ground on it and lay your black ground very thin and the white ground upon it this is the only way of Rinebrant The way to preserve any Ground which is laid upon a Plate in Frosty weather Take the plate and wrap it very warm in a wollen cloth and lay it in the warmest place you can convenient for if the frost is gotten into the ground it will break up when you pour the Aqua fortis upon it A way to preserve the Plate from injury of the Aqua fortis where the Ground breaks up If you perceive the ground to break up in any place pour off the Aqua fortis from the plate and wash it with a little fair water then take a quantity of Candle tallow and melt it in a spoon and while it is warm take a pencil and cover the Plate which is broken up with the said tallow and so far as the tallow is spread the Aqua fortis will not eat some make use of Vernish instead of tallow and when you have covered the place that is broken pour on the Aqua fortis again and let it lye upon the plate till you guess it hath eaten enough then pour the Aqua fortis from the plate and preserve it then take the wax Wall and preserve it also and wash the plate with a little fair Water then rub off your ground as aforesaid and for the places which the ground broak up in it must be helped with a Graver Therefore it will be necessary for one that desireth to learn this Art to practice graving a little so much