Easy does it

I've got another scroll commission, and the best part about this one is that it's not anything crazy! Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun doing those Black Hours pieces, and the fancy stuff before that. But it's nice to come up for air once in a while and do something that's not too complicated, something I don't have to worry about too much. 

This is a second scroll for a client, but all she requested was that I make it pretty to go with the first piece she had. I decided to keep the two column layout of her original piece, but a change in style meant that I had room to add more wording. 

I also got to employ a nice batarde script from about 1475 to 1490 here. I like it because it's fairly cursive and therefore quick to write, but still elegant. 

Instead of gilding, I opted to go with my Coliro/ Finetec metallic paint for all the initials and capitals. It saved a little time in the short term since I was able to skip a step (usually it would paint adhesive, then gild), but in the long term, I'm not sure it really saved me anything. Painting around gold is pretty easy because the metal resists the paint. Painting around painted letters doesn't have that advantage, so I had to slow down and make sure I didn't get sloppy. 

All in all though, the slowest part of this piece has been the decision making process! The vines I had originally planned were going took take up too much space and not really leave room for leaves, so I'll be changing styles a little from what my first vision of this piece was going to be. 

The new vines will be done in ink, with smaller, more delicate leaves. They fit the time period of the alphabet a little better, as well as taking up less room on the page. 

Anyway, there's where I am as of a couple days ago. I hope to get more time to work tomorrow!

I hope your days are peaceful and that you are surrounded by beauty wherever you go.