Illumination typically refers to medieval illustrative arts. Technically, the word illumination refers specifically to art with gold or (very infrequently) silver, but the use of illumination to refer to any decorated or illustrated art is so widespread in academic circles that the broader definition is widely accepted.
There is much and more to learn about illumination, but as this class is short, we will hit on only a few topics. White work, Bar and Ivy, Interlacing without Erasing, Diapering, Acanthus Leaves and Ornamental Balls are some widely useful tools.
Pergamenata or Bristol board are recommended substrates for illumination. Pergamenata is more forgiving when it comes to mistakes, and easier for calligraphy.
Palette
Optimal palettes are as diverse as scribes. Some form of red, blue, yellow, white, green, and black are essential. Brown is highly recommended as well, as consistent mixing of the same color takes time and practice. Purple and orange do not crop up very much, and individual shades can easily be mixed with a narrow palette.
Highly recommended additions: Walnut ink, gold watercolor (Finetec).
Sable or taklon paintbrushes are recommended. Most prefer a brush that comes to a fine tip but holds a lot of paint. A few prefer fine brushes that require more dipping.
A water dish that does NOT resemble a drinking cup is highly recommended.
Layout
Most of the essentials about layout can be found in the Atlantian Scribe’s Handbook, including information about displaying heraldry. Leave one inch margins on full sized scrolls, preferably with 1.5 inches of margin at the bottom. Most exemplars are off-center, due to book gutters, but this is far from a rule.
To keep the face of your work clean, pencil in your illumination on the back. Even if you don’t have a light board, pergamenata is transparent enough that you can see a lot of the pencil from the front.
Study Your Source
There is no requirement that you use a particular source, but it is highly recommended that you study multiple pieces from the same time and place to get an idea of how certain styles work. That knowledge gives you more room to be creative while still keeping a period feel.
White work
White work can be used as both a space filler and for highlights. Many scribes will tell you they don’t like their illumination until they get to the white work. It adds a LOT. Titanium white has the opacity of lead white, while zinc white has a tendency to “hide”. Checkerboard patterns, circles, uniform wavy lines, and spirals are all highly typical. White work also refers to white highlights on leaves.
The bar is simply a rectangle, about as wide as a single letter. The ivy branches off from the bar. A narrow band typically runs along the edge of of the bar, and the ends typically terminate with an ornamental edge with an organic shape. The bar typically alternates between a flat red and blue, with white work of varied patterns, and gold stops between colors. The ivy vines typically sprout from these connections.
Bars, without ivy or end spikes, are common fillers in certain manuscripts to visually “fill in” where lines of text are not full.
There are a few very common leaf shapes, but the easiest is a c and v leaf. The colors of the leaves vary between documents. Common variants include all gold, red and blue, and red, blue, and green. The leaves are typically finished with white work.
Imperfection is OK
Imperfection is period, and many forms of marginalia arise from a need to cover errors. It is even period for holes or tears in vellum to be sewn together (though that is an advanced technique).
Interlacing Without Erasing
Interlacing without erasing is a space filling trick, best used in conjunction with other ornamentation. It takes some extra time and practice to adapt the technique to curved spaces (such as the inside of an an ornamental letter), but it is a deceptively simple process that tends to look very pleasing.
Make a grid of dots.
Put a dot in the center of each square of dots.
Add in lines for any stops in the interlacing.
Keeping the “cord” a consistent width, fill in parallel lines in one row of diamonds.
On the next row over, the lines are perpendicular to the first row.
Repeat until the pattern is filled.
Connect the ends. Loose ends can be made into animal heads or ended with a spade or club shape.
Fill in the background.
Paint the cord.
Diapering
Diapering is a space-filling pattern. It is usually made with squares or diamonds. Diapering is often achieved with white work, either on a single color backdrop or on a gold, red, and blue backdrop. If you are doing a background that has alternating colors, pencil the pattern on the back, and paint every square with the dominant color (often gold). Only after the first color is done should you paint the secondary colors. If this is not done in a very orderly fashion, it is easy to lose the pattern. When all the backdrop colors are painted, then add whitework on top. Some diapering patterns have a color that should be added after the white work (a red speck in the center of every circle, for instance.)
Highlight Colors
Keep your highlight colors in mind! Sometimes, white work isn’t white, but is a bright yellow instead. Some styles have yellow or shell gold highlights for green and red. Red is a very common outline and shading color for shell gold as well. Blue, however, is usually highlighted with white. (Yellow ochre is a poor highlight yellow.)
Acanthus Leaves
The spiraling leaves are another common illumination option. This starts at the layout phase. Draw your base swoops. Add in others for structural balance. If you are adding in flowers or fruits, pick their spots. Then you start fleshing out your leaves. Some styles of acanthus leaves are very spikey, while some are more rounded. A combination of the two can result in a very polished look. Acanthus leaves usually change colors throughout a piece. Sometimes, it is two main colors, sometimes three.
Ornamental Balls
Many manuscripts feature spikey gold balls. Gold dots are lined with walnut ink, then surrounded with walnut ink “hairs”. Longer hairs from these dots are tipped with a darker speck. Spiral vines and flecks fill in bare patches.
Suggested Sources
Atlantia’s Scribe Handbook
Traceable Art