Painting

1            Materials

• Windsor Newton Ultramarine
• Windsor Newton Permanent White
• 3 or 4 pipettes (A pipette or dropper is a laboratory tool commonly used in chemistry, biology and medicine to transport a measured volume of liquid)
• glass container of distilled water
• 2 glass containers of water to clean brushes as you work
• mixing brush or toothpicks
• painting brush
• white glove with thumb and first finger cut out
• paint tray
• paper (Pergamenata, Bristol Board, Opaline Vellum)
  

2            Before you begin

1.  Clear surface to paint.  Either have a flat or angled surface, but it must be free of things.    I clear the entire table for working and then slowly, but surely, things collect to me.  Paint, brushes, water, paper.  So start with a clear surface.

2.  Research the subject for the project.  Produce a layout.  Do the layout several times to make sure that the layout is pleasing.  Once painting begins it is more difficult to change.  Not impossible, but challenging.

3.  Lightly draw the art.  If appropriate, use pen and ink to outline.  One rule - crown quill pen and ink to outline prior to painting, black paint with a thin brush or crow quill pen after painting.  If ink is used after painting, the ink bleeds.

3             Step one - Mixing

• Mixing paint
• Consistency -light cream
• Use pipettes
• Dividing up paint to make shades

 
4            Painting

• 90 degree angle of paint brush to table
• Fill paint brush with paint, brush excess off
• Use only tip
• Don’t drag brush
• Wet on wet technique
• Don’t go back over places where you have painted
• Rewet the paint as needed so that it stays consistent
• Let the paint dry and examine
• Practice, practice, practice
  

 
5             Color matching

• Paper swatch
• Shades
  

6             Shading

• Practice shading technique
• Base color must be completely dry before starting shading technique using lines
• Base color can be wet for blending technique

 
7            Highlights
 

• Paint - consistency of light cream
• Fill paintbrush with paint
• Paint at 90 degrees with just tip
• Add water when paint starts to dry out
• Wet on wet technique
  
• Use of lines to shade

 
8           Where to get materials

• Paper Ink and Arts  http://www.paperinkarts.com/
• Dick Blick   http://www.dickblick.com/
• Scribblers  www.scribblers.co.uk
• John Neal Books   http://www.johnnealbooks.com

Painting can be intimidating.  Here are some guidelines and suggestions that will make it easier.  I recently had a paint day with Tola and she was gracious enough to take pictures during the process.

Before you begin:

1.  Clear surface to paint.  Either have a flat or angled surface, but it must be free of things.    I clear the entire table for working and then slowly, but surely, things collect to me.  Paint, brushes, water, paper.  So start with a clear surface.

2.  Research the subject will be painting.  Produce a layout.  Do the layout several times to make sure that you are happy with how everything is arranged.  Once you start putting down paint it is more difficult to change.  Not impossible, but challenging.

3.  Lightly draw the art.  If appropriate, use pen and ink to outline.  One rule - crow quill pen and ink to outline prior to painting, black paint with a thin brush or crow quill pen after painting.  If ink is used after painting,  the ink bleeds, although some artists have had some issues with inks bleeding/reconstituting once touched by paint.  Your best bet is always to do test pieces with your materials.

Materials:

• Windsor Newton Ultramarine
• Windsor Newton Permanent White
• 3 or 4 pipettes (A pipette or dropper is a laboratory tool commonly used in chemistry, biology and medicine to transport a measured volume of liquid)
• glass container of distilled water
• 2 glass containers of water to clean brushes as you work
• mixing brush or toothpicks
• painting brush
• white glove with thumb and first finger cut out
• paint tray
• paper (Pergamenata, Bristol Board, Opaline Vellum).
  

Above:  Clean surface, copy of researched art, paint brushes, paint tray with mixed paint, layout, practice paper, scrap paper for color matching, and pencils.

As you can see, more materials just keep on coming to the table.

Let's start.
  

Put a small dollop (see picture below) of blue into one well, and a dollop of white into the other well.  Take a pipette and add three drops of distilled water to the blue.  Use mixing brush until the water and the blue are mixed together.  The desired consistency is that of light cream.  If it is too dry, add one drop at a time and continue to mix until the consistency of light cream is attained.  If is too wet, add a little bit more paint a little at the time until the paint is the consistency of light cream.   Using the pipette will guard against adding too much water at the beginning.  This takes time and practice.   Start with a little bit of paint first until you get the hang of it.  Don't be afraid to stop and throw out the paint and start over. 

Once the blue is mixed, clean out the mixing brush thoroughly using soap and water or get another toothpick.  Dry the brush and start mixing the white the same way that the blue was mixed.

Voila, paint.

One should not use the paint as it comes out of the tube.  Unless for some crazy reason the color matches perfectly, an artist will need to mix up matching colors.   We will discuss color matching later in this blog.

Take some of the blue and divide it into two more wells in your paint tray.   Then add one portion of white to one, two portions of white to the second, and three portions of white to the third.

 This will produce three shades plus your white.

This procedure will allow for practice in portioning colors and mixing.  Always make sure that the paint is the consistency of light cream.  If it start to get thicker, add water.   This will happen over time as the paint drys normally.  I found that during the winter (when the humidity of the air is lower) that the paint dries in the paint tray very quickly, so I will continue to add water as I paint.

Start practicing painting:

First make some circles on a piece of paper.  Make sure water is added with the pipette if the paint is beginning to dry up.  Dip the brush into the paint, getting a decent amount of paint on the brush. This is called filling the brush.  Wipe off the brush on the way out of the paint tray.  With the brush at a 90 degree angle to the table, start to lay the paint down with the tip of the brush.  The procedure is to work wet on wet.  It is always a temptation to outline, but don't do it.  What should be felt is that the paint is pulled to the places that the artist wishes it to go.   This will sometimes make the brush change the angle, but try to maintain the upright angle with only the tip coming in contact with the paper.  Try not to drag the brush.  The tip should glide across the paper.   If it feels like it is scratching the surface, refill the brush with more paint.  Continue to work from one side of the circle to the other until it is full.  Then let the paint dry.  The paint should look like smooth glass if you have done this right.

What will be seen is a couple of things.  Paint dries unevenly so watching the paint dry can be educational.  That does not mean that the procedure was done incorrectly, only that artists need to wait until the area dries completely.  Some cautions.  Don't try to repaint over areas that look uneven at this point.  Re-painting will make those icky brush strokes that are to be avoided.  Wait until it dries completely and then assess.  If the procedure has been done correctly (filling your paintbrush, wet on wet, making sure that the paint is still cream consistency) the paint will dry in a consistent color with no brush marks.

Things to look for:  If you have bare patches, or little spots where the paper can be seen, you probably didn't have enough paint in your brush or the paint was too wet or too dry.   If brush strokes can be seen, the paint was too dry, or the brush was not in the 90 degree angle to paint.

Repeat the exercise with the remaining circles.  Remember the mantra, fill the brush, 90 degrees, wet to wet, rewet the paint.

For color matching, start with an estimate/guess of the correct shade to the original adding white, black, grey, or a complimentary color (see color wheel for more information on colors to add in order to match a particular color) and make the paint marks.  Continue to add white, black, grey or complimentary color a little at the time and paint each shade on the edge next to the previous shade.  This will do two things.  The color change will be clear, and you can tell what is color needs to be added next.  Each shade is then painted on the edge, and the edge is easily put next to your original to see if it matches.   Color match after each change in shade.

Also for shading, to make different tones of the shades needed there is either high contrast or low contrast to chose from.   (This website explains nicely the difference between hue, tints and shades).     The picture below shows the difference between low contrast and high contrast for shading.  Which is chosen depends upon the original source material.

Time to lay down some shading.   There are several ways to do this, but one method that is used by medieval artists is the idea of shading with lines.  Look closely at the below example below of the demon illuminated from A Hellmouth Structure from the "The Hours of Catherine of Cleves" 1440.  All of the shading is by very fine lines.

So now to practice the technique.

The circles of paint have dried, now you are going to use a lighter shade and paint tiny lines. 

The circles on the left side have darker shade at the top, and the circles on right shade have lighter shades from the top to a darker shade on the bottom.  Again, practice, practice, practice. 

With On Saturday, February 13, 2016, a good friend of mine and fellow Sharc was elevated to the Pelican. I could not make the ceremony, but I asked to be able to do his scroll for the occasion. 

I sent out emails to Alys for suggestions on what Mael Eoin might like, and she sent me some ideas.  I also contacted Alexandre Lerot d'Avigne, who is Mael Eoin's Pelican, to see if he would be willing to do the words.   He was and had some thoughts on the scroll choice.  So while I began researching, Alexandre started working on the words.   They were beautiful words, with Alexandre asking how my Middle English use of thorns was.... :-)

 Wording, research and notes from Alexandre.

THE SONG OF MAEL EOIN MAC ECHUID
 
1          Now gude kyng and nobles alle
            Herken and hearen to this calle
            It is righte gude to heryn in geste                                          
            Of what maner of man is in all ways the beste,
5         Like Duke Rowlande and like Sir Olyuere,
           And also like euereylke a duȝȝepere.                                              
           Like Alexandere and like Sir Gawayne,
           Like King Arthure & like Sir Charlemayne,
           How they weren gude and also curtasye,
10     Like  Bischope Turpyn & Sir Ogere Danays.
           And therefore nowe I will ȝow rede
          Of a man that was doughty in dede.
           In Bhakail he labored and the folke did him lufe
          And gave hym in tyme this herty profe:
15    They besoughte the kyng with their own accorde
          To raise him to baroun and make hym their lorde.
          Than worked he the harder to serve his folkes alle
          To be as their targe or cite walle.
          His wisdoum was great which won him reknownn
20    In eke shire and eke townn.
          His praise travelled far, telle ȝow I can,
          It came to the ears of those called Pelican.
          Þat order considered his vertues
          And they were so many pardeus
25    No man bi southe ne ȝitt by northe
          Ne couthe acownte what they were worthe.
          Þe Pelicans pleyned all with lowde steuenn
          That he should be one of them by grace of heuenn.
          The kyng and the quene herkened to their cry
30    And saw fit to grant it of their mercy.
          They summoned hym here into this place
          To make hym Pelican by their special grace.

Done the feast day of Saint Modomnoc anno societatis L in the Shire of Caer Adamant.
Brennan Righ and Caoilfhionn Bean-Righ.
 
 
Words by His Highness Alexandre Lerot d’Avigne
Calligraphy and Illumination by: Natalia Anastasia Fortuna (ne Nataliia Anastasiia Evgenova)


RESEARCH

Wording Inspired by (and containing some phrases lifted directly from) the romance of Richard Coeur de Lion, c. 1300. http://www.middleenglishromance.org.uk/mer/45  The edition I'm using is an unpublished thesis by Dr Cristina Figeuredo.   - Alexandre d'Avigné/Jeff Berry, 2 Jan 2016
 
 
FOR THE HERALDS – TO HELP WITH PRONUNCIATION
 
Pronunciation -
This is down and dirty, and if the herald speaks Middle English probably unnecessary.
Generally the yogh (ȝ) takes a 'y' sound - ȝow -> you or yow.
Thorns (Þ) take a 'th' sound - Þe -> the.
Usually a terminal e has an unstressed vowel sound, a schwa.  'rede' becomes 'REED-uh'.
A lot of the v's are spelled with u's. steuenn->stevenn, etc.
 
Specific vocabulary and pronunciation notes by line are below -
3          geste; heroic tale
6          duȝȝepere; the (French?) twelve peers.  This may be a unique usage, as the word does not    appear in the Middle English Dictionary.  I suspect it is pronounced with the double yogh   giving a 'z' sound so that duȝȝe sounds like the French douze for 12.
13        lufe; love
14        profe; proof
18        targe; a shield
24        pardeus; by God.
27        steuenn; voice
 
 
Lines 5-10 are taken almost verbatim from Richard Coeur de Lion lines 11-16, with a bit cribbed from earlier.   Lines 5-16 are:
It is righte gude to heryn in jeste
Off his prowesche and his noble conqueste.
Also full fele romance men makis nowe,
Of gude knyghtis Þat were stronge & trewe,
Of Þaire dedis men redys romance
Bothe in Yglonde and eke in Fraunce:
Of Duke Rowlande and of Sir Olyuere,
And also of euereylke a duȝȝepere.
Of Alexandere and of Sir Gawayne,
Of Kyng Arthure & of Sir Charlemayne,
How they weren gude and also curtayse,
Of Bischope Turpyn & Sir Ogere Danays.
Lines 25-26 are verbatim lines 2087-2088
I used spelling from the romance whenever possible.

Now for the Illumination part!

I then started researching through the suggestions that Alys sent to me, and decided that the calligraphy and illumination based on the Winchester Bible, MS 17, a Romanesque illuminated manuscript produced between 1160 and 1175 in Winchester, England would do the trick.   I needed a Pelican to match this, so researching again.

Original source material here:    
 With further research here and here.
Pelican research: Here was one example,
Another
Both of which were French, which was close.
The one I eventually chose from Flanders.
More information on it

My main difficulty was matching a Pelican example that was early enough and in England.  The one in Flanders was aesthetically more pleasing to me so I eventually went for that.   It came from the Grootseminarie Brugge, MS. 89/54, (Ter Duinen Aviary),  Flanders, ca. 1190-1200.

I printed up all the examples and posted them as references.

I also used Opaline Vellum for the first time.  Opaline Vellum is a processed material made from real vellum.   This is a step up from using Pergamenata (which is vegetable pulp based paper, translucent and closer to the feel of real vellum), to a paper that is processed with vellum pulp, but less expensive than Vellum.  I liked working with it, but I may need to do some side by side comparisons to really see the difference.

First step:  setting up the preliminary layout and practicing the calligraphy.  I'm going to show you the dirty underside of art.  There are many practice sheets which don't make the final cut.   Practice, practice, practice.

I also printed out the text and made notations and posted that.

After several practices, now the final layout.

The calligraphy followed by the  mock up of illumination pieces within the scroll.  First the Pelican, then the Illuminated Capital H.  You can also see on the right side that I have made some notations about where the rubrications would be and the initial letters. 

Mael Eoin's favorite colors are black and white.  So I used artistic license to make sure that his name and the Title of his Scroll would be in black and white.   I mixed up the palette that I would be using, all with blends of Windsor Newton and Holbein colors.    I also took the time to sketch in the figures.  The story behind the figures would be Mael Eoin reading from a book on the deeds of his Barony to his Seneschal and below Mael Eoin protecting his Barony with his people surrounding him.

 Working on the capitals and adding in the Pelican words to make them stand out.

Rubrication at the end, pulling all the colors used in the capital letters together.

Applying the mosaic gold to the illuminated H and Pelican. 

Finishing with the Mosaic gold on the H.

Close up of the Pelican.   Taking pictures while I am painting the illumination is hard, as I get going and the next thing I know, the illumination is painted.   My strategy was to paint the grey undertone first, then layer the darker grey, then the black.  I then came in with white highlights and blended the white and grey together in spaces like the wings.

A step back to see how the Pelican looks in relation to the rest of the scroll.

The painting of the H.   Again, painting in layers.  Ultramarine first, then the reds, pinks, browns, whites, facial tones and then details.

Close up of the Initial H.

Reflections:

I liked working on an earlier time period illumiation than I am used to, and my calligraphy is slowly improving.  I would like to do more general research when I am not under the gun to make up a bank of examples.  I also am committed to getting more pictures and information on painting and layout with details.  I am hoping that this will be my very next blog report. :-)