How to draw illuminated letter A | Medieval Illuminated manuscript tutorial with watercolor pencils

Illuminated letter A Hello there! Today we'll create an illumination of letter A in the style of Medieval manuscripts Paper: hot pressed (it's smooth) cotton watercolor paper Canson Heritage It's easier to draw small details on a smooth surface rather than on the rough one All materials are listed in the description box Drawing a 8x8 cm square and dividing it into 4 parts Let's make a rough sketch of letter A's shape Books used to be handwritten and decorated before the printing press' invention around 1455 such handwritten books are called manuscripts from Latin words manus (hand) and scribere (to write) As for illuminated manuscripts, the word illumination derives from the Latin illuminare (to light up) Copic Sienna multiliner 0.1 It explains the function of illuminations : to highlight certain letters or words with radiant colors, gold, silver and decorate illustrations Erasing pencil marks and brushing away the debris to avoid finger prints I'm using a soft goat brush Sketching out a miniature figure I'm trying to make him look like illuminations in the Medieval manuscripts Illuminations often took forms of decorative borders and letters, small detailed illustrations (called miniatures) showing scenes from stories and books inking with Sienna Copic multiliner size 0.1 Such illuminations were used not only to add visual beauty and memorable elements to the text, but also to mark texts' divisions and tell stories to those who cannot read The earliest examples of such illuminated manuscripts that are surviving until now date back to late antiquity (3-5th centuries) Adding small details to the sketch: facial features, fingers, hair etc. All materials are listed in the description box The art of manuscript illumination reached its high point in medieval Europe and even continued to be practised after the invention of printing Specially trained illuminators worked at workshops called scriptoria producing illuminations for psalters, Bibles, liturgical texts, saints' lives etc. Until about 12th century, the majority of manuscripts were produced in monasteries in such scriptoria (or scriptorium) In monasteries, the scriptorium used to be centers for both scholarly activity and the production of text copies Albrecht Düre watercolor pencil Cream 102 How were such manuscripts made? Their making was often divided among 4 craftsmen: a parchment maker, a bookbinder, a scribe and an illuminator Copic Sepia multiliner size 0.1 Wet the brush and remove accessive water with a cloth Albrecht Dürer Faber Castell pencils' pigment activates easily Pencil lines dissolve fast and rather well Albrecht Dürer Helioblue-Reddish 151 Filling in the negative space (background around the elements) Each of them belonged to a crafting guild with specific standards and working guidelines Parchment was made from animal skins, was durable and had a beautiful texture. Then, the scribe would write a text by hand with ink and quills Repeating the same step. The brush shouldn't be too full of water Illuminations were painted with colors made from a wide range of materials from vegetable and animal extracts to ground minerals Albrecht Dürer Pale Geranium Lake 121 Damp brush - Princeton Neptune 2 The bookbinder would then attach metal clasps or ties made of leather or fabric to keep the manuscript closed Bindings were sometimes decorated with paint, enamel and embossings stamped onto leather with metal tools When filling in the space between small elements, use a small firm synthetic brush The brush sould be able to hold a point Albrecht Dürer Helioblue-Reddish 151 You can pick up pigment off the watercolor pencil with a wet brush Gold Ochre 183 Venetian Red 190 pencil Faber Castell Polychromos Gold 250 Uniball white gel pen Albrecht Dürer Faber Castell Indathrene Blue 247 Uniball white gel pen Polychromos Prussian Blue 246 Copic Sienna multiliner 01 Uniball white gel pen Albrecht Dürer Faber Castell Indathrene Blue 247 Copic Sienna multiliner 01 Uniball white gel pen Albrecht Dürer Indathrene Blue 247 Uniball white gel pen Daler Rowney Aquafine round brush size 2/0 Carefully dissolving wawtercolor pencil layer avoiding the white gel pen lines Albrecht Dürer Indathrene Blue 247 Uniball white gel pen Albrecht Dürer Indathrene Blue 247 Polychromos Raw Umber 180 Albrecht Dürer Indathrene Blue 247 I'm intensifying the blue background around letter A and other elements Albrecht Dürer Pale Geranium Lake 121 Intensifying the red background around the letter as well Albrecht Dürer Gold Ochre 183 Albrecht Dürer Venetian Red 190 Albrecht Dürer Raw Umber 180 Albrecht Dürer Dark Sepia 175 Albrecht Dürer Caput Mortuum 169 Polychromos Raw Umber 180 Micron black ink pen size 005 Albrecht Dürer Indathrene Blue 247 Micron Sakura black ink pen 005 Uniball white gel pen visit my shop and portfolio at www.theloomingmorrow.com Polychromos Prussian Blue 246 hope this video was useful for you. Thanks for watching!

Channel: The Looming Morrow

Views: 42,752

Keywords: how to illuminate letter A, decorative letter, illuminated letter A, illuminated manuscript project, illuminated manuscript tutorial, easy, for beginners, Medieval art, watercolor pencil tutorial, how to paint with watercolor pencils, watercolours, making manuscripts, making miniatures, art lesson, illumination, calligraphy, blackletter, gothic, type, hand writing, hand lettering, lettering ideas, book illustration, embellishment, enluminure, Bilderhandschrift, iluminura, letra, miniatura

Id: ZCnFVfhgDAg

Length: 47min 40sec (2860 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 20 2020