vailian

This is what I have been doing during my odd time off over the past 2 and a half weeks. It may not look like much but it took a long time and was a lot of work.

The vellum I had to order from the last place in Germany that still does calligraphic skins. Then had to decide on a layout for the text, and also the type of calligraphy to use-- I settled on a quite conservative form of Fraktur because I thought it was the most appropriate for the occasion. The letters are all hand drawn (putting a big calfskin into my injet printer was just not feasable) and the decoration and sketch are also freehand. (You can click on the picture to get a closeup view)

I am sure real calligraphers do much more careful planning-- I tend to just sweep with the pen and hope it looks all right. 

Never having worked on vellum before, I was pretty nervous, as the skin cost over $100, and once started, you can't go back. Unlike a computer, it is not possible to erase or correct. Once the pen hits the surface, you just have to keep going.

The monks who used to do books before Gutenberg always said prayers that they wouldn't misspell before they started work every day.

# posted by vailian : 1:35 PM