Construction: Stage 1...

The Hexateuch since it was never really finished shows off the various steps of it's construction beautifully. Ruling off page into different sections is the first step.  This page will need a box for illumination some where in the center and two areas of text, one on the top of the illumination the other below it.

The artists of the Hexateuch used a dry point method for doing their layout and general composition. I'll be using a mechanical pencil to do mine on the water color paper for my first attempt.

After everything is lined out, the Old English calligraphy is added.  The page below contains lines 210 to 234 of Beowulf. They talk about Beowulf's journey and the Watchman that first meets him at the shore.

Next I'll add the illuminated scene.

The scene contains elements from several different folios in the Hexateuch all drawn together to illustrate what's going on.  The ship is found on folio 14v & 14r, the tower is on folio 22r, the horse rider can be found on folio 47r, the armor to help separate Beowulf is the kings armor from folio 24v, and the group around Beowulf is taken from members of the army found on folio 25v.

Isaac