General Information about this Piece
Reason for making this piece:
This piece was, most certainly, begun because of the musical instruments —especially the organ—depicted in the original manuscript (Français Ms. 13096 in the BnF).
This piece was, most certainly, begun because of the musical instruments —especially the organ—depicted in the original manuscript (Français Ms. 13096 in the BnF).
Amusing Elements which Made it Even More Alluring:
After sketching in the left side of the above piece, I started noticing really amusing elements all through this astonishing manuscript.
The first was the angry angels. When I think of angels, the first imge that comes to my mind are the pure, pristinely beautiful angels of the quintessential Christmas card, sporting almost lacy wings. While the angels in this manuscript are not technically that far away from that conception, the first thing one notices is that the faces are rather angry, grouchy, or even malevolent. Even the musicians are not too happy.
(The following pictures are "work-in-progress" shots.)
After sketching in the left side of the above piece, I started noticing really amusing elements all through this astonishing manuscript.
The first was the angry angels. When I think of angels, the first imge that comes to my mind are the pure, pristinely beautiful angels of the quintessential Christmas card, sporting almost lacy wings. While the angels in this manuscript are not technically that far away from that conception, the first thing one notices is that the faces are rather angry, grouchy, or even malevolent. Even the musicians are not too happy.
(The following pictures are "work-in-progress" shots.)
Another amusing image that I included on the right side is the one of St. John receiving a vision from an angel. In the original manuscript there are many of these depictions. I chose the one that gave me the greatest chuckle: the one with St. John appearing slightly pained by having a trumpet blasting directly into his face.
Adding the Text:
The original manuscript is in late-medieval French. As I am fairly unfamiliar with the type of French, I thought it would be better to give the text in Latin instead to avoid making grave errors.
The text that the right-side image illustrates — Revelation 15 — speaks of seven angels dispensing seven plagues. Instead of leaving the text relatively bare, I embellished it with images I found in other parts of the manuscript that illustrate the various elements of the text. Here you see the angels holding urns containing the plagues and dumping them on the poor people on earth (note the rather blood-thirsty nature of this depiction!). And of course, dragons. Because, why not?
The original manuscript is in late-medieval French. As I am fairly unfamiliar with the type of French, I thought it would be better to give the text in Latin instead to avoid making grave errors.
The text that the right-side image illustrates — Revelation 15 — speaks of seven angels dispensing seven plagues. Instead of leaving the text relatively bare, I embellished it with images I found in other parts of the manuscript that illustrate the various elements of the text. Here you see the angels holding urns containing the plagues and dumping them on the poor people on earth (note the rather blood-thirsty nature of this depiction!). And of course, dragons. Because, why not?
Since dragons are so much fun, I just had to paint them in metallic gold.
Another textual element that is depicted in the right side illustration is the reference in Revelation 15 to the musicians standing on "what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea...". It was only after reading that part of the text that I understood exactly which part of the text this picture was illustrating: see the blue glassy "ground" sporting undulating waves under the musicians' feet.
The Musicians:
Finally, the text references musicians playing instruments and singing:
Finally, the text references musicians playing instruments and singing:
"They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”[NIV]
“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”[NIV]
In my version, I have given this song in red ink.
The musicians in the image below are playing harps, a citole, a vielle, a psaltery, and an organ. Again, the musicians do not appear to be too happy — especially the organ bellows pumper, who is positively grim! However, notice the whimsical elements on the harps, which have —what I can only assume are—dogs' heads. As a cat lover, I had the constant urge to change the heads to represent our feline friends instead.
Artist Media
The artist media used for this piece is
- Waterford watercolor paper
- Gouache paint
- Watercolor paint
- Metallic gouache
- Sumi and acrylic inks
- 24K gold leaf over a simple size (glue).
Art Process
Making this piece took approximately 40-60 hours. It is a long process of
It is a rather exacting way to do art. One almost may never make a mistake once working on the good paper because it is almost impossible to correct that mistake. This is why about half the time is spent on the draft copy, making sure all the details are correct.
The following is a picture slide-show documenting some of the steps.
- Sketching out the piece on draft paper
- Transferring it to good paper
- Painting the basic colors
- Adding the calligraphy
- Adding the gold leaf
- Shading
It is a rather exacting way to do art. One almost may never make a mistake once working on the good paper because it is almost impossible to correct that mistake. This is why about half the time is spent on the draft copy, making sure all the details are correct.
The following is a picture slide-show documenting some of the steps.
Some of the time lapse videos I took of the process.
1. Refining the line drawing
The line drawing needs to be as perfect as possible before a drop of paint is added.
1. Refining the line drawing
The line drawing needs to be as perfect as possible before a drop of paint is added.
2. Transferring the line drawing on draft paper to the watercolor paper.
Here you can see that I have the draft line paper underneath the good watercolour paper, both taped to the window on a sunny afternoon to allow the transfer to occur: a high tech light box.
Here you can see that I have the draft line paper underneath the good watercolour paper, both taped to the window on a sunny afternoon to allow the transfer to occur: a high tech light box.
3. Adding the first layer of paint
4. Calligraphy
Once the painting on the left side was mostly done it was time to start the calligraphy on the right side. Here I am adding the text in red (the song the musicians sing).
Once the painting on the left side was mostly done it was time to start the calligraphy on the right side. Here I am adding the text in red (the song the musicians sing).
5. Gold leafing: this is the most satisfying part of the whole process - everything seems to come together at this point.
6. And finally, adding the illuminated letter E to the top of the text.