A Celtic Design with Christian Prayer



I took inspiration from Celtic designs for this piece.  Used sepia ink for the lettering and a size 3 nib for the Uncial handlettering.  The letter "B" I  created from a design you can find in "Designs from the Book of Kells" which is altered to work in the piece. Her books are very useful as she has a couple books I have learned from.  The boarder was inspired by multiple designs I found using "55 Classic Celtic Boarders"  There are many good Celtic books to learn from about this and a search on amazon.com will show you many. 

If you interested in calligraphy, my supplies and instructional books come from John Neal Books as you won't be able to get your techinal tools from places like hobby lobby.

Please visit this professional calligraphers webiste Hollymonroe.com.  She is an active leader of the Cincinnati calligraphy guild and has many products that are far better then what you find in any mainstream store with comparable prices. 

Consider supporting your local calligrapher and artist in your hometown.  You may be suprised at what you can get.

Mark 1:1-5 Gothic theme boarder

Click on a picture if you would like to zoom in for greater detail.

A Gothic themed manuscript; this was my first attempt at a piece that was 11" x 14".  Turns out the matt frames aren't framed for 11"x 14" the actual working area is 10 1/2 "  x 13 1/2".  The hand lettering was completed with a size 3 nib and H Graham gouache.  Drew the white lines using a Haff Ruling Pen by taking a small amount of white gouache and watering it down to get a just the right consistency.  I found using a ruling pen had more control than a paint brush and it kept the line thickness more consistent for the white lines.

Here's a link to research some Gothic themed Manuscripts:

14th to 15th Century; calender of January

Dominus illumination, a 14th to 15th Century;  Full page of manuscript with historiated initial 'D': David kneels on one knee pointing to a cloud above.

A gothic birthday card w/ decorated boarders

A birthday card, completed with Gothic theme, hand lettering is Secretary.  The photo's were taken outside so it's hard to see the ink is a sepia coloring.  I've used both modern and historical letters for the hand lettering for legibility purposes.

Secretary hand lettering spanned from the 13th to the 17th century.  It was designed for faster writing and may seem cursive.  It has it's own appeal making it distinct from other hand lettering's of the period. Examples of some other hand lettering's of the period are; Gothic Quadrata, Franktur or Batarde.

Follow these links to see actual manuscripts of Secretary hand lettering;

How England was first called Albion; done in secretary hand, dated 1518-1600

Created in the 15th Century, located in the "The Gospel of Nicodemus", completed in secretary hand


 

A simple name card

A simple name card.  

Completed using light and dark congruos color.

Simple animistic initial letters are using to emphasize capital letters, the designs are celtic origins.

Done on white parchement with a black background, 2" width.  Completed using a size 1 nib and painted in the initial letters.

Gothic decorated lettering, John 1:1-5

Click on the photo's to zoom in and see the detail all work is done by hand.

This piece was completed on parchament white paper, main body hand letter was done with a 3 1/2 nib and the larger title was size 1 nib.  In this piece I used a light gold gouche and the rest of the gouches are still student quality Reeves. 

Researched the illuminated letter from The Bible of Illuminate Letters with a Beneventan minuscule found in the Calligraphers Bible.

Beneventan hand lettering was mainly used from the 8th to 13th centry and was prevalent in southern Italy and centered on the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino, more informtion can be found at wikipedia; Beneventan script.  For capital letters I chose Lombardic Versals to emphasize their imporatance, these letters date from the early gothic period to the renaissance period.

Follow this link to see an actual manauscript dated 1050-1099 from the digital scriptorium showing the Beneventan script,.

A Birthday Card for my wife. Happy Birthday Deanna!

This was completed on natural white parchment, with a 2.0 nib, drawings are done free hand, the versals are traced, the painted portions are done with student quality gouache, it's 5/8th's ribbon with a jade wax seal.

The hand lettering is a Uncial base with a few letter modifications found over time.

A wedding pronouncement

A completed wedding pronouncement

Completed using Canson natrual parchment, freehanded celtic letters, water colors, water blending medium(windsor newton) to slow the drying time of the water colors, uncial hand lettering, versals with gold ink and a lot of patience.

A simple thank you card incorporating decorated lettering.  The hand lettering is uncial/half uncial, 2.0MM nib. Free handed the drawing and painted in, the tale is down with gold copper plate.  Added sealing wax with a stamp design for a personalized touch. 

A Thank you card

A thank you card for a co worker.

I've written the letters closer together because it looks cleaner and more historic.  Plus, I struggle with the negative spacing so my letter is inconsistent.  Hope you all enjoy these photo's.