Historiated Initials

If I were any good at historiated initials I would now be adding details to small pictures inside my initials. I think it would've been awesome to have a small squire inside the W, a monk in the A etc. but with time constraints and my lack of skills as it is that's a no can do. Not entirely sure how to go about learning either, other than just doing a number of them.

I also have to train my eye to know what looks good and what fits. I do recognize, for the most part, roughly which century an illumination is from when I see it - but I'm nowhere near good enough to come up with designs to suit a specified time. I still need originals to work from. It's just a matter of seeing enough of them over a period of time though. Eventually I'll be able to do that, at least at a small scale.

Anyway, this was really just a preamble to saying another in progress picture is uploaded to the same place as before. Next step - gilding!

I was never a joiner...

Not a joiner, nor was I deliberately the odd-one-out. I don't really understand the fun of researching an entirely new type of garb to which is exciting because nobody has ever done it before. On the other hand, I find myself looking at pictures of everyone and their dog in 14th/15th century fitted dresses and I go "Damnit, now everyone is wearing them". It does sort of detract from the specialness I apply to these clothes.

Not that they are not very nice, also very practical. Fairly straight forward, and has lots of visual sources available online. There's plenty of information to be found about the gothic fitted dress / cotehardie and consequently it seems as if everyone in the SCA is doing it.

Still, I love my plum wool gown. It's lovely, jovely.