This was either my 6th or 8th Golden Lily scroll. That is why is it a good idea to scan the final product and keep a journal record so you don’t forget things like that.
I usually try to match this scroll to the person’s persona but, due to multiple obligations, I did not have time to find anything from the early Scottish period. Instead, I opted to go for something that I know I can do reasonably well without worrying too much about how it will turn out. This was not actually based on a specific piece – just more or less a stylized combination of 2 early 14th century books of hours shown the Pierpont Morgan Library “Painted Prayers” book. Essentially, red & blue bar with gold.
The piece was done on 8″x10″ pergamenata with the illuminated area being only 5″x7″. [Side note – when an 8×10 matte says it frames down to a 5×7 area, it lies. It actually frames down to 4 3/4 x 6 1/2 or so. Just something to keep in mind for next time.]
I originally intended to do the calligraphy with a 3/4 or 1/2 mm nib but picked up a 1 mm nib and didn’t realize it until I was several lines into the scroll. By that point, it had the look and size I wanted so I just went with it. For the ink, I used purchased iron gall ink. I was going to use the oak gall I made back at Christmas time but it seemed a bit too thick. I think I ended up adding too much gum arabic.
The gilding was done as raised gilding. See the previous post on the things learned in this session. The gilding was done in 4 1/2 hours. Outlining was done using 005 technical pen.
Gouache paints.