<id>p065r_1</id>
<head>Umbres</head>
<ab>Pourceque les noirs font diverses couleurs les uns un noir rougeas{tre}<lb/>
les aultres tirant sur le bleu aultres sur le vert Choisis ceulx<lb/>
qui retirent sur le jaulne pour faire beaulx umbres a <m>huile</m> Car<lb/>
lumbre mesmem{ent} des hommes est jaulnastre Et pour cet effect use<lb/>
de la <m>geiete</m> broyee bien fort laquelle tu mesleras dun peu d<m>ocre <add>jaulne</add></m> & de<lb/>
<m>blanc de plomb</m>. Ou bien apres que tu as broye ton <m>blanc de plomb</m><lb/>
<del>bro</del> et <del>nettoye p</del> ramasse avecq la <figure/> broyes y la <m>geiette</m> Ainsy il<lb/>
sera plus desiccatif & faisant de soy mesme un noir jaulnastre<lb/>
le peu de blanc mesle le rendra parfaict pour umbre dhomme<lb/>
Les noirs qui font un noir verdastre sont propres pour lOmbre<lb/>
des femmes Prens doncq du noir de <figure/> un peu de <m>verd de<lb/>
vessie</m> & du <m>bistre</m> & tu auras un parfaict ombre de femme a destremp{e}</ab>
<note>
<margin>left-top</margin>
La pouldre<lb/>
de <m>bled orbere</m><lb/>
est plus obscure>lb/>
que la <m>terre<lb/>
dombre</m> & en<lb/>
faulte de la<lb/>
<m>terre dombre</m><lb/>
ladicte pouldre<lb/>
serviroit mays<lb/>
elle nha point<lb/>
de corps</note>
Translation we have been given: 065r_1 Shadows
<id>p065r_1</id>
<head>Shadows</head>
<ab> Because blacks appear in different hues, some reddish black, others bluish, and others greenish, choose those verging on yellow in order to obtain beautiful shadows in <m>oil</m>, for shadows are yellowish, especially those of men. And for this effect use very strongly crushed <m>jet</m>, which you mix with a bit of <m>yellow ocher</m> and <m>white lead</m>. Or else, after you have crushed your <m>white lead</m> and gathered it with the <figure/>, crush the <m>jet</m> into it. Thus it <sup>the black</sup> will be more desiccative, and a yellowish black on its own. When mixed with a bit of white, it will be perfect for men’s shadows. Blacks which appear greenish black are appropriate for women’s shadows. Take then some black of <figure/>, a little <m>sap green</m> and some <m>bistre</m>, and you will have a perfect shading for [flesh tone] in distemper for a woman.</ab>
I need to take jet, and crush it strongly. Then I will mix it with yellow ochre. I will then combine these with led white. I can use the lead white that is already bound in oil as this will reduce the health hazard.
I can then paint this out onto the pre-prepared white board to see the kind of colour produced with this combination of pigments bound in oil.
How to grind black pigment from the stone
Cennino Cennini gives instructions for grinding black. But I do not know if this will work for jet, as it seems to be predominantly offered for other kinds of black.
Notes from Thompson:
‘ABOUT A STONE WHICH HAS THE CHARACTER OF CHARCOAL FOR DRAWING
Also for drawing, I have come across a certain black stone, which comes from Pidemont; this is a soft stone; and it can be sharpened with a penknife, for it is soft. And you can bring it to the same perfection as charcoal. And draw as you want to.’
‘THIS SHOWS YOU THE NATURAL COLORS, AND HOW YOU SHOULD GRIND BLACK
Know there are seven natural colors, or rather, four actually mineral in character, namely black, red, yellow, and green; three are natural colors, but need to be helped aritifically, as lime white, blues- ultramarine, azurite – giallorino. Let us go no farther, but return to the black color. To work it up properly, take a slab of red porphyry, which is a strong and solid stone; for there are various kinds of slabs for grinding colors, such as porphyry, serpentine, and marble. Serpentine is a soft stone and is not good; marble is still worse, for it is too soft. But porphyry is best of all; and it will be better if you get one of those which are not so very much polished, and a foot or more in width, and square. Then get a stone to hold in your hand, also of porphyry, flat underneath, and rounded on top in the shape of a porringer, and smaller than a porringer, shaped so that your hand may be able to guide it readily, and to move it this way and that, at will. Then take a portion of this black, or of any other color, the size of a nut; and put it on this stone, and with the one which you hold in your hand crush this black up thoroughly. The take some clear river or fountain or well water, and grind this black for the space of half an hour, or an hour, or as long as you like; but know that if you were to work it up for a year it would be so much the blacker and better a color. Then get a thin wooden slice, three fingers broad; and it should have an edge like a knife; and scrape over the slab with this edge, and gather the color up neatly; and always keep it liquid, and not too dry, so that it may run well on the stone, and so that you may be able to grind it thoroughly, and gather it up well. Then put it into the little jar, and put enough of the aforesaid clear water in this way, and well covered from dust and all contamination, say in a little chest arranged to hold several jars of liquors.’
‘HOW TO MAKE VARIOUS SORTS OF BLACK. CHAPTER XXXVII
Know that there are several kinds of black colors. There is a black which is a soft, black stone; it is a fat color. Bearing in mind that every lean color is better than the fat one (except that, for gilding, the fatter the bolde or terre-verte which you get for gilding on panel, the better the gold comes out), let us leave this section.’ Then he spells out the various kinds of blacks – vine twig, burnt almond shell or peach stone black, lamp black.’
From this I think I can grind the black jet on a stone.
It appears to be soft enough to grind.
Schematic Protocol for Making Men's Shadows (still need to make full workflow and safety protocol)
Take piece of jet jewellery and remove metal parts from the back with pliers.
Saw it into pieces with the jewellery saw.
Take the pieces of jet and wrap in linen cloth. Place the jet in the cloth on a towel. Hammer the jet into as small pieces as possible.
After hammering it into pieces, put the jet in a pestle and mortar. Pound into as small pieces as possible. Continue as necessary till crushed. Add distilled water to prevent dust forming and keep the small pieces together inside the mortar.
Put on 'porphyry' slab and grind with a muller.
Expect this to take at least half an hour - Cennino Cennini.
Continue to grind the jet on the slab with linseed oil.
Once the jet has been ground down sufficiently that it looks and feels like a pigment in oil, scrape it off the slab with a wooden slice, or the closest possible tool from the laboratory.
Grind some yellow ochre from Kremer with linseed oil. (or walnut?)
Add the jet black pigment to the yellow ochre and oil combination. Add lead white oil paint (this is bound in a tube so while hazardous, less so than in loose powder form).
Combine these three to form an oil paint with jet black, yellow ochre, and lead white.
Paint this out using one of the oil brushes onto a pre-prepared board covered with gesso priming and sealed with oil.
Also try just adding the jet black pigment to the tube paint of lead white, with additional oil if necessary.
Paint this out.
Compare the colours achieved with and without yellow ochre.
The author practitioner seems to suggest that it the jet black and white together will achieve a yellowish hue even without the addition of yellow ochre:
'
Or else, after you have crushed your <m>white lead</m> and gathered it with the <figure/>, crush the <m>jet</m> into it. Thus it <sup>the black</sup> will be more desiccative, and a yellowish black on its own.'
Gaiete or Jet Research