New(old) Project, Verdigris, & Garlic Juice

I started over on a quote project for a friend that I was asked to start working on last year.  I wasn't happy with how it was turning out at the time, something was off and I couldn't put my finger on it at the time.  Then came my son and he's kept me very busy, but I've gotten back to the quote project.  I was able to put my finger on the problem pretty quickly this time around, it was the proportions, they were way off.  Back to the drawing board and so far this time around it's turning out really well.

The quote  will be the one from the movie Kingdom of Heaven and it's the one about A King may move a man...  The completed size will be 16 x 20 and I'm doing a "2" page layout.  The "first" page is 6 of the 7 virtues, and the "second" page will be at least a large illuminated initial and quote.

Verdigris just past week 9.

Garlic Juice, a mordant for flat gilding.  "It's easy, just go to a health food store, and they should have it." Well after going to 5 different health food stores in the area, it looks everyone's gone to a garlic extract or a mix that's primary not garlic juice and has no stickiness to it.  So I decided to make my own.  I peeled a bulb of garlic and blended it into a paste.  I took the paste and worked it through a strainer to extract the juice.  So now, I have about 5 ml of garlic juice ready for use.

Going ons

I've been working on several different things lately.

The verdigris experiment continues and it looks like the verdigris is getting darker.  From what I can see, the copper tubes are covered in a dark blue-green color.

I finally finished the Mother's day gift, framed it, and give it to Mom before I realized I hadn't gotten a picture of it yet. I'll have to do that next time I go over there.  It turned out pretty well over all.

After having a bunch of egg whites left over from making ice cream, I decided to make glair.  I now have a bunch of glair sitting in the fridge for when it's needed.

I've also started over on drawing out a piece that a friend requested last year and said on hurry on.  The original drawing just didn't look right and after picking it back up and checking over the proportions, it was drawn to tall and skinny, so I'm redrawing it.  So far, it's turning out a lot better.

The monthly classes with the local scribal guild progresses.  I'm currently researching and writing a handout on gilding for later this month. Only a few classes/handouts to write up, Pen Work & Puzzle Initials, Mixing Pigments into paint, Painting in Layers, and Miniatures and grotesques.

My local group's webminister posted up an A&S page for individuals work to be shown off.  I spent quite a long time compiling and writing up stuff for them to post about what I've done.

I've also been going through the book Trade in artists' materials: Markets and Commerce in Europe to 1700. I've been making extensive notes from the various papers in it and taking pictures of the various charts as they contain so much information.  The information about the trade of pigments and other supplies of artists is pretty much from 15th century on, so it's later then most of the styles I work with the most, but it is a very interesting read.  I wish the book wasn't so expensive as I would love to add a copy to my book shelf.

Verdigris Week 3

Now on week three of the verdigris experiment and my pieces of copper are pretty much covered in green.  Looking at them through the glass, they appear rough and a bit crusty.

Mother's day Gift 2012

I started my Mom's gift for Mother's day a while back and have been keeping a photo record of it's progress.  Mom talked about liking a quote but not the calligraphy from an art piece in a catalog.  So I decided to try and come up with a better bit of calligraphy and some illumination to fit the quote.

 The quote is "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."

After a lot of research, I ran across some white work "rain" that would fit with the style I was looking at doing the project in.

I showed my Mom the project after just starting it, so she knows about the gift and that it'll be late.

Completed Design

Lead-tin stylus on white Pergamenata

Calligraphy done, out lining using a walnut ink.

I didn't have the quote in front of me when I sat down to do the calligraphy.  I messed up the quote a little bit by replacing the word storm for word rain. 

Out lining done.

Laying down paint in layers.

Adding details by using more layers of paint.

Playing with Science!

Started a few experiments the other day. 

The first is trying to make some verdigris to eventually turn into paint. I have two copper pipe sleeves sitting on a plastic cap that has holes drilled into it to allow any fumes to flow through.  The jar is a simple glass jar picked up from the local retail store.  I decided on glass, so I can watch it and see what happens as time goes on.

After a few days.

The other is a friend and I set out to make some oak gall ink for the first time.  Over all it turned out ok, a little watery but hopefully with some time and leaving the lid off, that will be fixed. We also made Gum water to use as a binder for the ink.

Crushed Oak Galls simmering in water for almost an hour.

After hours of simmering, the iron is added.

After a simple stir all the liquid is black

Ground up some egg shell to help with the acid levels

First straining

Second straining.