Not Holy but still Cow! Or more precisely, cow skin. Vellum or parchment depending on who you ask.

Back in April, I had done about 8 weekends in a row that I was either at an event or otherwise not at home. It was definitely time for a break. I was not going to another event until Lusty Month of May. I heard that Bryn Madoc was hosting an Iron Scribe at their Dreamstone event. It sounded so cool but I really needed a break so I was not going to go. I needed a break!

Then I heard that the prize for the Iron Scribe competition was going to be almost a full hide of vellum. A full hide of vellum!!!! I decided I could take a break the next weekend. 🙂

The rules for the contest were you had to start with a blank sheet of paper and end with an illuminated piece that was at least 5″ x 5″. The contest started at 10am and ended at 3pm.

I am a wee bit of a competitive person (wee b

eing probably a bit to the excessive side) and I really, really, really wanted the vellum. I did do a bit of pre-prep work: found a source piece, enlarged a photocopy to the proper size to get an 8″x10″ (5″x7″ illumination area) scroll, and made certain the text of a GOA would fit in the space.

The source piece is a late 14th or early 15th century French (Paris) Book of Hours. The original was 215 x 155 mm (text 110 x 72 mm) on Parchment. Page 74 of the book “Western European Illuminated Manuscripts.”

The design was traced on the paper (Pergamenata) using a light box and 01 technical pen. Calligraphy was done with .75 Brause nib using iron gall ink. Calligraphy style was textura quadrata.

I used gesso that I started re-hydrating the night before. The gesso is from the original batch I made years ago. (Ingredients: slaked plaster, hide glue, honey, Armenian bole, water) It turns out there was about twice as much gold to put on as I had originally thought when I looked at the picture. The gilding process took about an hour and a half longer than I had originally planned for.

I used gouache for the illumination. Holbein light ultramarine and alizarin crimson for the blue and red. The painting was finished at 4 hours and 57 minutes. Because of the extra time spent on the gold, I was not able to get the white work on during the contest.

This is what was done for the judging

I put the white work on during the 4th Wednesday scribal night meeting and have since turned the final product in to Their Majesties. Total time on the scroll – approximately 8 hours.

The final product

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.