The trouble is because of the market for "rare prints" to frame and put on
people's walls, dealers do break up old books to sell the prints
individually. They are often worth more that way than as a whole book. So
even though you are only working on loose-leaf prints most of those will
have come from old books deliberately broken up for this trade. I don't
think we should be encouraging this trade.
In addition we modern artists use different colours to those used in the
past and you have no master painting to copy the colours that the artist
intended, unlike the colourists of the past. I got loose leaf prints from
that same book that I knew for certain had never been bound, meaning to try
colouring them but I was advised that all the original coloured copies were
done by the artists themselves, the Scott Sisters
http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/en/Find+out+about/Behind+the+Scenes/Scientific+illu
strations/Insect+illustrators/The+Scott+Sisters. Since I didn't have a
master for those prints later, I decided I should not go ahead. In the end I
was given a coloured copy anyway. I treasure it.
Geoff
-----Original Message-----
From: SciArt-L Discussion List-for Natural Science Illustration-
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cynthia Padilla
Sent: Saturday, 22 May 2010 3:04 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [SCIART] Antique Botanicals
Oh if I had a rare book I would not be presumptuous enough to hand-color the
pages. I am given, as you suspected, loose originals. Some with damages
exquistely repaired. That one even survived hundreds of years to end up on
my drafting table often freezes me with emotion. Then I take a deep breath
and begin to paint. I am a botanical artist and painter of rare antique
botanical engravings.
Cynthia
Cynthia Padilla, leading botanical arts workshops 2010:
http://artinstructor.blogspot.com/2009/08/workshops-2010.html
On Thu, 6 May 2010 06:49:33 +1000, Geoff Thompson
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>I was once given a rare book and loaned a coloured copy to work from by an
>old lady scientist but my librarian friends and colleagues said I would
>lessen the value of the book if I coloured it.
>Are you working on loose-leaf originals or on copies? I'm afraid I can't
>encourage the break up of old books for the print trade even if the
>colouring is done well.
>Geoff
>-----Original Message-----
>Wanted to share with you some of the work I do, in an even narrower niche
>than botanical painting. Hand-coloring rare, antique, botanical prints
&amp;
>engravings. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynthiapadilla/4497556054/
>Cynthia
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