baronial scrolls

 

based off this piece piece

These were all so much fun to do for various reasons and I experimented with a variety of styles.  This selection shows a range a large period of time. It also shows pretty good examples of gilding. Once I got over that omg it's gold fear and just kind of went with it the process of gilding went much better.  There are days when the gold won't stick or when the gesso is too sticky and the gold won't shine up and when that happens I found it best to just walk away. The more difficult gold got to work with the more frustrated I got and that vicious circle sometimes ended up with me scrapping a scroll altogether.

When I started out with gilding I was using a gesso mix my Master had made and given me but it stopped working after a few years of being toted around so I needed to come up with something else and I didn't want to slake plaster.  The Gilded Page: The History and Technique of Manuscript Gilding by Kathleen P. Whitley was the book I turned to for help and in it I found a recipe for sugar, gum arabic and water. It is every bit as simple as it sounds and when it works it's a wonderful gesso to use.

My 1st apprentice Alitha has done a bang up write up here.

In the last 6 scrolls I am using oak-gall ink and once I started with that I have never gone back to any other kind. This is the brand I buy and I love it. Rohrer and Klingner Scabiosa and this blog does a very nice write up on it and it's companion salix.

For me baronial scrolls are fun, they don't really fit into any specific category and I feel I have free range to do anything I like with them in terms of style, depending of course on the recipient.