This week, the scriptorium workshop allowed me to reconnect with my somewhat artistic side. I have always enjoyed working with and manipulating colors, but unfortunately, my ability to execute is subpar. However, that is beside the point because despite my sad attempt at an illuminated letter, I did learn a lot about the process. While deciding which letter I wanted to make, I was able to consider many of the aspects of what we have discussed thus far including geometry, patterns, and the meaning of what surrounds the letter. Interestingly, I found it difficult to even determine which letter was depicted in many of the examples I looked at due to the intricate design surrounding the letter. That being said, I saw some truly unique examples of illuminated letters while perusing the online resources. Just like the illuminations themselves, it is clear that the letters often have unique features of style. I certainly learned a lot about illumination in the scriptorium, but I also gained a new appreciation for the process.
During our class exercise in illumination, I was able to understand why these illuminations took so long. In class, I was able to finish about half of an illuminated letter in an hour. The intricacy and attention to detail in my letter paled in comparison to the examples we have seen in various manuscripts, not to mention I was making a letter several times the size of the typical manuscript example. I now understand why these manuscripts took so long to make. Not only does it require time to create something so perfectly detailed, but using particular colors wasn’t as easy as reaching for the set of watercolors sitting next to you. Looking back on our discussions in class thus far, I feel as though The Secret of Kells did an excellent job portraying the difficulty of illumination and all that goes with it. The scriptorium workshop was an opportunity to do what we have been speaking about all semester, and it was a truly “illuminating” experience.
I agree The Secret of Kells did a good job showing the process of illumination. Brendan had to go through a great deal of training before he was comfortable with illuminating, and even after studying how to illuminate properly it still took him years to finish the book. Our scriptorium workshop was a helpful reminder of the amount of time it takes to make art, as well as the difficulty. It was also a reminder for me of the individuality and creativity of illuminations, because we each designed our own letter and had our own individual styles and ideas for making them. I noticed some people used the whole page for their illuminations, while others used a much smaller section. I really liked the ability of our workshop to express ourselves however we chose in our illuminated letters.