Aryanhwy's Calligraphy and Illumination: nasr and eleanor

Showing posts with label nasr and eleanor. Show all posts

Friday, November 21, 2014

AoA for Thora Greylock

I chose the initial, Codex Gottwicensis 30 (2), f. 206v, on Nov. 1. The design was influenced by other folios in the same codex, specifically f. 204v, f. 235v, and f. 85v. I started sketching things out the same day, and finished the lining on the next.

I waited awhile uncertain what color to do the silver/grey bits in -- silver leaf? (don't have any.) cerulean? (don't have any; and what I found on line just didn't look right). ultramarine? (it would work as a color combo with gold and vermillion, but wouldn't really match the exemplar). And then Nov. 4 I found this grey/blue that I'd mixed for another scroll, and decided it was a good choice, and painted in the "N". After finding my gold size (hurrah!) on Nov. 8, I put down the first layer on Nov. 9. The next few days were busy with birthday celebrations for one important now-3-year-old, but on Nov. 12 I got out the gold. Shiny! Even more shinier Nov. 13, after I cleaned up the gilding and painted in the red. Nov. 20 I did the calligraphy. I think I picked the wrong nib. There was not enoug white space.

The text was composed while writing, and reads:

Nasr and Eleanor prince and princess of insula draconis to all those seeing, reading, or hearing these words shall likewise know our will. Thora greylock has, for all her contributions as archer, scientist, and artisan, for all her enthusiasm and inspiration, made our lands better. We for our part better her by awarding her all rights to her arms. Witness ourselves at coronet tournament xxix november xlix.

Nov. 21 was finish-up day: I did the red punctuation and the two smaller initials.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

AoA for Alays de Lunel

The exemplar is Codex Plagensis 127 (454 b. 49), f. 47v, and I picked it Nov. 1. Not having the right paints to work on Thora's, I spent the evening of Nov. 3 sketching out the initial, and painting in crimson in the initial. Nov. 4, I painted the seafoam; it wasn't quite as green as I would've liked, but I had this paint already mixed and I wasn't confident I could mix the shade I wanted. Nov. 6 I mixed up some ultramarine + white to get that bright popping blue, and painted in the rest of the letter. Nov. 8 I found my gold size (yay!), so Nov. 9 I painted in the white dots and put down the size for the gilding. Nov. 12 I had a brief panic where I couldn't find my gold, but it was short-lived, and I was able to do all the gilding that evening (minus the cleaning up bits...that's for another night.) On Nov. 13 I cleaned everything up, and then realized I'd forgotten to pencil in the lines, so that was next. Nov. 19 I inked in the lines and all the detials on the initial. Really pleased with how this turned out!

The text was calligraphed the same night and reads:

All gentles seeing, hearing, reading these words shall hereby likewise know the will of the right radiant princes of Insula Draconis Nasr and Eleanor who by common report and the testimony of many trusted nobles are truly advertised and informed of the deeds and doings of our subject Alays de Lunel who by these words is proclaimed a lady of our court. xxix nov xlix.

I should've used a smaller nib. There isn't enough white space.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Fox for Catlin le Mareschal

The exemplar is Codex Altenburgensis AB 13 C 4,f. 134r , and I picked it out Jul. 14. I decided the next evening I wanted to do an unusual shape, to accent the "F", and luckily had a long narrow piece of perg on hand which was just right. So on Jul. 15 I started sketching everything out, and even was able to begin painting in the initial, completing the vermillion and most of the blue lake. The evening of Jul. 16 I mixed up the pale peach and painted it in. On Jul. 22, I completed the rest of the base coats and some of the whitework. A mistake in painting the inside of the initial settled the matter as to whether I'd do gold paint or gold leaf. The night of Jul. 24, I sketched out the lines for the calligraphy, and put down the size. While waiting for the size to set, I did some of the blackwork and whitework, and even managed to put down about half of the gold before bed time. I completed the goldwork on Jul. 25; curiously, the bit where I had to put down two coats of size to make sure all the blue got covered up worked just fine, but the other bit I had problems with. I tried to put down more size and then gild again, but it didn't really work so well. So I decided not to push it. I also finished the white work.

On Ju. 29, I realized I needed to draw out more lines before I could calligraph. Grr.

I wrote the text on Jul. 14 and Jul. 29, taking full advantage of Ari Mala's help finding more words beginning with "f". It reads:

Full fleet and fast fares the fox fort wily and sly. Far fleeter and fairer is the vixen with the blade Catlin le mareschale. Fain are we, faithful princes of the isles, to fulfill our free and royal right to make fabled vixen into a true fox. Witness ourselves at Ffair Raglen and dated below:

Monday, April 14, 2014

Fox for Irminric æt Eoferwic

I picked out the exemplar on Mar. 25. It's BL MS Burney 216 f. 14, http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=3612, and I sketched the layout and initial on Apr. 10, and inked in the initial. Then I wrote the text, which reads:

Nasr et Eleanorae, prin cipium insulenses draconenses, haec verba sunt.

1. It is, in the laws of the is lands, that people go by rank, each according to his condi tion, Martlet, Ffraid, Fox.

2. And if there a scholar is, who through learning thrives, so that he has good education and art, then is he thence forth Martlet-right worthy.

3. And if a gentleman thrive, so that he serves the prince, then is he then ceforth Ffraid-right worthy.

4. And if there a fighter is, who through diligence thrives, so that he attains the acclaim of his fellows, then is he thenceforth Fox-right worthy.

5. And one such fighter is Irminric æt Eo forwic, and we the aforenamed princes enscribe him as a member of the order of the fox during the Oxford Roll Tournament, xxv aprilis anno societatis xlviii.

The text is based on extracts from early Anglo-Saxon laws concerning people's ranks.

While at the Scriptorium Nordmarkensis over the weekend, I was able to complete the painting of the initial, on Apr. 12. I also took "before white-work" and "after white-work" pictures, because it's always good to be reminded of just how awful the before versions are, and how much improved the after ones are:

I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but I cannot articulate why, which is part of why I am unsatisfied with it! I did the calligraphy the evening of Apr. 14, and overall, I'm actually rather pleased with the result, even given the misspelling and the misplacement of the "iv", and my reservations about the initial.