I was notified near the beginning of the year, that a dear friend of mine was receiving the Order of the Golden Mantle at Panteria. I already had one project in the queue for him, but I got super excited and sent off an email to the Signet requesting to do his scroll. Now, I was a new scribe, and hadn’t quite proven myself but the Signet took a chance on me, granting me the request so long as my mentor was in the loop about my progress.
Originally, I had planned a bit of Book of Kells for him, but it didn’t end up working the way I intended. In talking a bit with my soon to be Laurel, we sourced some
pages from her books and the following one struck my eye from Nova Statuta Anglia.
Working in batarde for a hand was ridiculously hard. I didn’t think it would be as hard as gothic for me, but it was pretty damn close. Angles and swoops are a thing. I also learned a little more about spacing, and that’s a thing that you’ll see later on is a bit better. Invariably, the later period hands are just not what I enjoy, at least … not right now. But I’m sure I will get there. I really am. Maybe. (Also, maybe not. And that’s okay.)
The illumination for this piece was fun. I did a lot of freehand sketching around the edge to mimic the exemplar as best I could in the space I had. I learned a lot about swoops and angles of acanthus leaves while determining their paths and direction. When I began to paint, the shapes started to get more clear to me, which helped. To get the little finicky fine lines, I used a crow quill and watered down gouache. That was a self realized genius moment. I know others do it (now), but in the moment I thought I had a super genius idea. So go me!
Overall, I was really happy with all the things I learned while working on this piece. And as a final bit of fun, I had the recipient carry his own scroll to the event. Sorry, not sorry.
The process and final pieces can be found here:
Process: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8nUvxUfAWVDXTB2A7
Words provided by Edmund Beneyt
Calligraphy & Illumination: Me
Paper: Strathmore 300 series Bristol, Vellum Finish 11×14
Ink: Higgins Eternal
Nib: Mitchell #5
Paint: Holbein Gouache, Winsor & Newton Gold
The Voice of Audrye Beneyt 