Ollam Faílenn Chu ingen uí Fháeláin
Laurel
9th day of January A.S. LV at Atlantia’s 12th Night Catalan Court at Castell de CardonaI have to say this was the my most intimidating assignment to date. Creating a scroll for any scribe is a task, but for a scribal Laurel?! It was a great honor to create this for the incredibly talented Meisterin Faílenn.
I turned her arms into a pendant in the style of Jewel Book of the Duchess Anna of Bavaria. I practiced gilding and painting the pendant (images below) to experiment with how to add value to metallic paint. I decided to change from using blacks and whites to browns and lighter golds for modeling on the final, as it more closely resembled the original work.
It ended up taking at total of 31 hours, which does not include time doing research, practice, or planning the layout.
Drawing - 3:00
Instacoll (the gold glue) - 3:45
Gilding - 0:45
Painting - 11:15
Calligraphy Practice, Planning & Writing: 12:15
Total - 31:00
Calligraphy & Illumination
K ValravnRoxbury MillAtlantiaText
"Ach Faílenn, liebe Faílenn,without your skillful hand,Our riches would lie hidden,in shores of salt and sand.Our Opals glitter brightly,Pearls shimmer on the strand,our gilded crowns gleam rightlyfor gold leaves you command.
Ach Meister'n, liebes Meisterin,Your golden leaves we'll trade,For Anton King and Luned Queen,Would see a Laurel made.
We affirm by these Letters Patent Faílenn Chu ingen uí Fháeláin has exclusive right to bear the arms following: Per pale vert and argent, two sea-wolves respectant counterchanged maintaining between them two tridents in saltire sable, a point pointed counterchanged, on this 9th day of January, Anno Societatis LV at Atlantia’s 12th Night Catalan Court at Castell de Cardona."
Magistra Iselda de NarbonneRoxbury MillAtlantia
Materials
Noodler's Heart of Darkness Ink - mixed with gouache for purple backgroundWinsor & Newton GouacheInstacoll23k gold leaf - borderPearl Ex by Jacquard - pendantFineTec Gold palette - pendantNeuberg-Ebel - Extra Brilliant Rich Pale Gold #9 - Metallic Powder - pendantParchment given to me by Mistress Aine from Elephant and BeeDr. PH Martin's Iridescent Copper Plate Gold Ink - calligraphySubstrate Size
11" x 14"Completion Date
31 December 2021Script
FrakturSource
Jewel Book of the Duchess Anna of BavariaMielich, Hans, 1516-1573Around 1552 - 1555MunichGermanKleinodienbuch der Herzogin Anna von BayernIII + 65 + I pages ; vellum and paper : illustrations ; 20.5 x 15.4 centimetersBSB shelfmark: Cod.icon. 429Bavarian State Library
Progress
The idea sketch and practice gilding & painting.
The leaves that didn't look good and most definitely did not erase. It's a chance I took because I knew the ink/paint mixture would cover it easily. This parchment was very velvety.
Instacol and Gilding
Check your lids before shaking, folks. LUCKILY this only got all over *me* not *the scroll*.
The benefit of having the purple background? When you write "shimer" rather than "shimmer". M's have too many strokes and double m's should never be used. Also, this calligraphy is very tiny.
Also, I had to clean my nib every other word because the paint/ink kept getting gunked up in the nib.
Gold is hard to photograph. Especially when you use so many different *kinds* of gold.
Ambient/diffused light for the win (took it to my garage during the day and opened the door).
Scroll text paper for scale.
