I think this workshop was very eye-opening. I could barely figure out how to trace a pre-made historiated letter, let alone sketch it by hand. If it took so much time and concentration just to do my one, silly little letter, how much more difficult must it have been for the monks who had to blend their own paints, make their own paper, craft their own writing utensils, draw their own designs, and sit in the middle of a freezing room?
Can you even imagine how frustrating it would’ve been to mess up? Every action must have been carefully thought through. We’re so lucky that we have resources that make messing up irrelevant. We can just grab another piece of paper or remix some paint. These days, so much of the creation process is streamlined that even when we create we’re only doing half the work. Of course, it’s unlikely that one scribe would make all of his supplies, paper, and paint every time–we learned about how they divided up the work. But they definitely knew the value of their materials.
Meanwhile, we can’t even be bothered to throw unused paper in the recycling bin.
