I'm working on another calligraphy project, but I'm not sure how many photos I'm allowed to share of it. I couldn't resist a little, though, so here we are.
Back in 2015, I participated in a collaborative project called "Calf to Codex", along with about 75 other poets, flax growers, parchment makers, chicken farmers, a silkworm farmer, calligraphers, pigment grinders, illuminators, bookbinders, and leather workers; we took about five years from start to finish altogether, and successfully crafted a beautiful book of stories and poems from our Society's history.
This year we're beginning Codex 2, which will actually comprise two slim volumes. Unlike the first codex, these are being written on handmade paper from Twinrocker Paper in Brookston, Indiana. The style of the first codex was modeled after the early 1400s, while this one is mid-1500s Italy.
Since the book isn't finished, I'm not sure what I'm allowed to share yet. But I figured it wouldn't be a breach of privacy to show you the whitevine initials from a few of the pages.
You'd think I'd be sick of gilding after the previous project, but I still enjoy it... especially in the smaller doses that today's gilding presented. It's just so much fun to go from this:
... to this!
Following that, as always, comes the paint. Unlike a lot of other illumination styles, whitevine is actually more complicated to draw than it is to paint. Once you've got the vines figured out, all you have to do is color in the areas around them to help them stand out.
Outline in blue, fill in with red and green...
And you're almost done. Once these are dry, I'll probably go back and soften the larger areas with little white dots arranged in triangles. Then there's an optional step where you shade the vines to give them a little more depth, which I'm thinking about skipping... but knowing me I'll probably do it anyway.
I did four initials today, and have three more to go. I'd have liked to do them all today, but being on loose book pages means I have to let these letters dry, so that I can flip the paper over and work on the other side. Here are pages 1, 3, 6, and 8, all together:
The text exemplar is a writing manual originally published in 1522, which is currently available as a PDF. It's a new script for me and has been fun to learn; the biggest challenge has been getting used to writing the letters on a slant, instead of straight up and down like I'm used to with every other alphabet I write. Love those flourishes, though!
As always, I welcome your questions and comments. Cheers!
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