Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Golden Sun in Splendor Scroll

The lovely and talented Mistress Bethany of Windermere asked me to collaborate with her on a Golden Sun in Splendor scroll for Cathryn Anne of Newbury.  Bethany provided me with inspiration piece she wanted to use, and asked me to do the calligraphy in the space allotted on her layout.  Of course, I forgot to note what the inspiration was in order to tell all you good folk, but trust me, it's pretty.

Since the inspiration was in a columnar format, I decided to roll with it and divide up the space provided.  I practiced several times to make sure the nib size and formatting ended in a balanced piece of calligraphy. Aside from a minor spacing snafu, it turned out pretty decent.


Then it went back to Bethany for illumination.  Obviously, it turned out amazing, because that's all Bethany does.  Cathryn Anne is mundanely from Australia, hence the kangaroo and other little references in the illumination.
Photo by Valerie Scarbrough


If you were given an award, what little personalized references would you want hidden in the illumination that makes it "all yours?"

Monday, January 6, 2014

Gryphon & Candle Scroll

I took notice that Michelle of Harris upon York had been improving leaps and bounds in the arts, particularly when she showed me the blackwork partlet she was making as a gift for the Baroness of Loch Salann, Jennet, as a stepping down gift.  It's truly lovely and documented.

I wrote a letter of recommendation for her to receive her Baronial Arts & Sciences award as a result of my observations.  Being a sneaky person, I offered to do the scroll if his was deemed appropriate.  I had several days off for Thanksgiving, and worked hard to get this done quickly in order to focus on other things (like the napkins I already posted about).

This is based on a page in the Master of Mary of Burgundy.  With the exception of the pink ink, of course, which I had to do because it's Michelle's favorite color.  Authenticity gods will have to forgive me for that move.  It's done in Winsor & Newton Scarlet ink.  Which, as you see, looks like a lovely bright pink that does not resemble scarlet in the least.


Showing different angles of photos so you can see how shiny the gold is.  For the curious, no this is not gold leaf.  I wanted to ensure proper shading of the acanthus, and my skill at leaf is not to the level that I can do this.  So I used a combination of gold gouache and gold inks which simulate shell gold, and added shading with ocher and brown gouache.



Thank you, Bethany and Vilhelm, for allowing me to make this happen.  It had been far too long since I've painted (shame).