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Carta Lucida: Three Ways to Make Transparent Tracing Paper (Cennini, c. 1400)
Cennino Cennini's carta lucida, the painter's see-through paper for copying a master's outlines: parchment scraped almost to nothing and oiled, a thin sheet of glue cast on a greased stone, or thin white paper soaked with linseed oil.
Beginner
One hour of work, then 2 to several days drying
Instructions
1
1
The three modes
The three modes
Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2
2
Read the Book of the Art
Read the Book of the Art
"If you need this transparent paper, and cannot find it ready made, make it in the following manner."
3
3
Mode 1: scraped parchment
Mode 1: scraped parchment
Have a parchment skin scraped evenly until it scarcely holds together; it is transparent by itself. For more clarity rub it over with very clear, fine linseed oil on a piece of cotton and let it dry for several days.
Materials for this step:
Parchment1 piece
Linseed Oil1 piece
Cotton Wool1 pieceTools needed:
Knife4
4
Mode 2: boil the glue
Mode 2: boil the glue
Soften fish glue and pieces of glue in clean water, a porringer of clean water to six pieces. Boil it, then strain it two or three times.
Materials for this step:
Fish Glue1 piece
Hide Glue1 pieceTools needed:
Saucepan
Cloth (Straining)5
5
Mode 2: cast the sheet
Mode 2: cast the sheet
Grease a clean, well-polished stone slab (he used marble or porphyry) with olive oil. When the glue is cool, brush it all over the slab. When dry, lift an edge with a knife point and peel the skin off by hand like a sheet of paper. For a very clear sheet, before lifting go over it once with boiled linseed oil and a soft brush and let it dry two or three days.
Materials for this step:
Olive Oil1 piece
Boiled Linseed Oil1 pieceTools needed:
Flat Stone Slab
Glue BrushKnife
Soft Brush6
6
Mode 3: oiled paper
Mode 3: oiled paper
Take thin, even, very white cotton paper and oil it with linseed oil as in mode 1. It will be transparent.
Materials for this step:
Paper1 pieceLinseed Oil1 pieceCotton Wool1 piece7
7
Use it
Use it
Lay the transparent paper over the figure, fix it lightly at the four corners with a little red or green wax, and trace the outlines with ink and a fine pen or a small squirrel-hair brush. Lift it off and touch in lights and shadows as you like.
Materials for this step:
Beeswax1 pieceTools needed:
Soft Brush8
8
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Tracing paper troubleshooting.
Flow
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9
9
History and honest limits
History and honest limits
From Cennino Cennini, **Il Libro dell'Arte** (c. 1400), tr. Christiana J. Herringham, **The Book of the Art of Cennino Cennini** (1899), chaps. 23-26 (checked on the archive.org scan bookartcenninoc01herrgoog, pp. 19-21). He gives no glue weights beyond six pieces to a porringer; the tool heads are ours.
Materials
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