Creating an illuminated letter is not easy. I came in with some basic ideas of what to draw, but when I changed my mind about what letter I wanted to do, I had to start fresh. I could not come up with any interesting ideas, so I flipped through books for a while to find inspiration. However, once I got started (and with Gregorian chants in the background), I felt very focused on my letter. During the process, I noticed that I began thinking about each piece of the letter as its own part, trying to perfect the curves and colors in that one area. This is why my letter turned out a little disconnected – it doesn’t flow like the ones we’ve seen in class.When it came to applying the gold leaf, I was hopeless. I’m sure the application process was different in the medieval times, but this was challenging! The gold wouldn’t peel correctly, and ended up sticking in areas I didn’t want it to. This part was of the process was difficult, but it made me laugh because I realized how much more difficult it must have been for an illuminator who took his work so seriously. I really enjoyed the scriptorium project and liked this different kind of class.
3 thoughts on “Gold leaf”
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YES! I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who had trouble with that “gold leaf”! I’m not sure if the traditional application methods for gold would have been easier, but I’m inclined to think the work would at least have been neater, since the traditional method (or one of the traditional methods) involved applying guar gum and letting it set/dry, breathing on it to make just the surface sticky again, applying the leaf, burnishing it and then finally peeling it off. Yes, the process was more complicated and took longer but I think it would have produced consistently good results. Plus gold is really malleable and would probably peel/stick better than the “leaf” we had.
I know, I can’t imagine having my livelihood depend on how well I painted such an intricate letter. It would get very frustrating.
I totally agree! This assignment was a struggle for sure. I just can’t image the pressure that the artists had to feel, knowing how much work they went into the collect and perfect the raw materials to even begin the process of painting. Knowing I spent so many hours manipulating an animal skin for a piece of paper would make me nervous to even put a splotch of ink on the page, let alone anything intricate or illuminated!