St. Nicholas has given us of late such precise directions for the
process of illuminating in color,[2] that it is not needful to repeat
them; but we should like to suggest an idea to those of you who have
begun to practice the art. This is to illuminate a border or "mount"
around a favorite photograph. The picture must first be pasted on a
large sheet of tinted card-board, pale cream or gray being the best
tints to select. You then measure the spaces for your frame, which
should be square if the picture is oval or round, and outline
them lightly in lead-pencil. Next you sketch and paint your
pattern,--flowers, leaves, birds, butterflies, or a set pattern, as
you prefer,--putting the designs thickly together; and, lastly, you
fill all the blank spaces in with gold paint, leaving the pattern
in colors on a gilded ground. The outer edge of the frame should be
broken into little scallops or trefoils in gold, and the card-board
should be large enough to leave a space of at least three inches
between the illuminated border and the frame, which should be a wide
band of dull gilding or pale-colored wood, with a tiny line of black
to relieve it. The ornament should, if possible, chord in some way
with the picture. Thus a photograph of a Madonna might have the
annunciation-lilies and passion-flowers on the gold ground.
[Footnote 2: SEE ST. NICHOLAS, Vol. IV., page 379.]