Illuminated Manuscripts

Illumination from the Book of Kells

Most people are familiar in one way or another with illuminated manuscripts. These are usually associated with medieval works such as The Book of Kells or The Book of Hours but there are dozens upon dozens of famous works. Traditionally, illumination referred to text which has been adorned in someway through small illustrations, borders or initials like the one on the left. However, in order to be a "true illuminated manuscript" the art would be created using gold and silver. The metallic effect thereby reflecting and bouncing light for dramatic visuals. Today it is acceptable to call art done in the style (but lacking gold and silver) illuminated but I am a traditionalist on this. I WANT MY METALLICS!! :) Other bold colors that are not illuminated are typically used but it's the golds and silvers that make the look.

Illuminated manuscripts fell into decline with the advent of the printing press but is still being practiced by artists all over the world on Etsy. I put together a quick treasury so you can see some of the work being done.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/ODk4OTgzNXwxOTE2ODUwMjg1/illuminated-manuscripts-lettering


I have always loved this art but took a particular interest after realizing it was perfect for a new project Misty and I have been working on. However, illuminated letting isn't something you just decide you want to do one day and it's perfect. It's very involved but you can start learning by taking one small step at a time. If you are up to the challenge there are a couple websites out there that can give you a head start. Here is one of them.

http://www.gold-vault.com/gilded_manuscript.html

There are many techniques to creating illuminations so research and experiment. That's what we are doing and I think we have a technique that is working for us. We will soon see in the final product in a few weeks.

For more info definitely check out wikipedia's entry. It has a lot of great information and external links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminated_manuscript