Special painting techniques necessary for calligraphers are dealt with here including painting on vellum and paper, design, composition and use of paintings in manuscripts and broadsheets and on the painting of heraldic achievements. The use of different techniques for different types of colour, and the techniques necessary to achieve the texture of fur, feathers, petals etc are included. As well as explaining her own methods, Marie Angel includes a section on the work of contemporary scribes with their own notes on their varying techniques and methods of work. Many of the illustrations have been specially done for the book - others have been drawn from historical sources and the work of other scribes as well as from Marie Angel's own work.