"Wolfmom" Pelican Scroll Progress

Initial layout plan.

Initial layout plan take 2.

First rough draft approximation of what I thought the scroll should look like.

The first problem I ran into was the vellum. It was badly wrinkled and warped. I tried SO MANY things to get it to flatten out. I put it under heavy books for days, I tried dampening it, I tried pulling it tight, I tried gentle hair dryer heat... There was just no saving this poor vellum sheet. Eventually, my teacher had to send me a new one.

The new vellum sheet was also problematic, because the original sheet was much larger than the new one. I had size-down the entire design and cut out some of what I had anticipated putting in.

Meanwhile, as you can see from the previous picture, I was working on designing the pelican. I started out with this more traditional look, but I wanted more of an Anglo Saxon feel.

That line of thinking led me to come up with this goofy-looking pelican. Which, I liked, but it looks pretty alien and didn't give quite the vibes I was going for.

Closer to the final take, here. I went back to the more traditional look and modified it to the look I was going for.

Next up was the first sketch of wolf mom and her suckling babies. Again, I wanted an Anglo Saxon design feel while still being obvious as to what it was supposed to be. A little inspired by the Capitoline Wolf and a little inspired by MS M.808 fol. 133r.

Based on House Books of the Nuremberg Twelve Brothers Foundation 

Based on A Man Warming by the Fire (detail) in a psalter by an unknown illuminator, Belgium, mid-1200s. J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. 14, fol. 3

Based on Östergötland, Risinge Author The rising master Dating First quarter of the 15th century Item ID 920710M2

Starting work on the birch tree. Sketching the leaves to make sure they look like separate types of trees.

Because I sketched all the pieces on tracing paper, I was able to cut them out and lay them on top of my paper with the borders. My teacher drew the arrows to help me decide on the layout order.

Beginning work on the orange tree.

Final sketch layout. Decided to add a snake and a knot to each tree to even out each side. 

The final ink on the vellum. Yes, I was stressing. This was the second piece of vellum and I was very worried I would mess it up somehow. But it turned out good!

Starting the painstaking task of painting. I was using all period pigments given to me by my teacher. This meant that most of the colors had to be custom mixed to get what I wanted. 

I typically use one color all at once throughout the painting before switching to another color. Thus, everyone with this skin tone gets their skin painted at the same time.

Adding more color.

Color progress. The only non-period pigment used was zinc white because I have kids at home and didn't want to use lead.