Wood painting bridge for illumination

I realized it has been two weeks since I last posted. I have been busy sewing Vyncent's blackwork shirt but I won't post pictures of it until it is done. He has to wear it in less than two weeks, so that will be soon. As a diversion (because I get bored doing any one thing for too long) I decided to finish up a couple old projects.

This is my first woodworking project. It is a bridge for illumination painting. One places the hand holding the paintbrush on the bridge instead of the paper, keeping the work clean. It is made of poplar with walnut dowels and stained with natural color finish and paste wax. The bottoms of the feet are covered with brown felted wool.

A word about painting supplies and one of my favorite websites

In my Links section I have a link for the website of Natural Pigments, a fantastic supplier of traditional artists' materials.  They carry everything you need to make your own oil, tempera, encaustic, fresco, gouache and other types of paint.  Russian style icon painting and fresco painting workshops are held at various times and places during the year through their associated website, www.iconofile.com.  I attended the week-long intensive icon painting workshop last year and learned so much, it was truly amazing!  Anyone interested in traditional materials, supplies or techniques should check out this website.  The people who run it are really nice, too.

Another good supplier is Kalish finest brushes at http://home.att.net/~brushes/Index.html. They are moderately priced and are a joy to use. For fine, precise work they are the best I ever used.

In the picture (because posts are more interesting with pictures) is the catalog, examples of some supplies, the icon of St. Nicholas I painted in the workshop, my cat Sophie, and some of the brushes I bought from Kalish Finest Brushes.

New illumination scroll blank; 12th century German

Another illumination with design from Stannheim Missal. The illuminated letter "B" is adapted from St. Alban's Psalter which was painted in Germany in the 1120s. I'm starting to get comfortable with painting and may try something a little more complicated next time. However, I can't start anything until after the Crosston Dance Ball because if I work on anything is should be my costume for that.

New illumination; from Stammheim Missal

I've done a bit of illumination here and there over the last several years but not finished much of anything. Now I am doing blank scrolls for SCA awards. This gives me a goal to focus on, an opportunity to practice and I am making something useful. This is the third scroll blank I completed. I'm not where I want to be with my painting technique but I am improving.

Materials:

-Pergamenata 11 x 14 inches
-Windsor & Newton goache paint
-Cobalt
-Cadmium red pale
-Cadmium yellow medium
-yellow ochre
-Ivory black
-Zinc white
-Permanent white
-Sumi gold paint
-Brushes: a cheap synthetic #3 round and a Kolinsky 3-0 liner Series 8 from Kalish
Finest Brushes (great brush!)

The design is taken straight from one of the calendar pages of the Stammheim Missal, made in Hildesheim, Germany in the 1170s. I really love the bright colors of German manuscript painting of this period.