surface of the earthenware dish (say a distance of two or three fingers away) and the smoke that emits from that small flame will struggle up to strike at clay. ‌ Strike till it crowds and collects in a mess or a mass; now wait, wait a while please, before you sweep this colour – now sable velvet soot – off onto any old paper ‌ or consign it to shadows, outlines, and backgrounds. Observe: it does not need to be worked up nor ground; it is just perfect as it is. Refill the lamp, Cennini says. ‌ As many times as the flame burns low, refill it.

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