Old Testament

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Category:Artistic

Subcategory:Paintings

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Keywords:Beatus 1992, Celt, Celtic knot, Christian, God, God's faithfulness, Ireland, Irish, artful, artistry, belief, believe, bible, biblical, bless, blessed, blessing, christianity, conviction, cultural designs, cultural elements, culture, decorated letter, faith, fine art, gold, gospel, illuminated letters, illumination, inspiration, inspiring, love, meditate, meditation, peace, red, religious, spiritual, trust, watercolor

Beatus

Title: Beatus
Original: 1992, 6 x 9 inches, watercolor on Diploma Parchment

Beatus or Blessing … In 1992 I was privileged to take a class on traditional illumination from Donald Jackson. We referred to the illuminated initial ‘B’ in his book, The Story of Writing, to produce our illuminated piece. His original source was the Worms Bible, from the Rhine area of Germany about 1148.

The steps in making an illuminated letter are: 1. trace image 2. sketch outline with pen and ink 3. lay gesso (the base for the gold to adhere) 4. apply gold leaf 5. apply the palest colors 6. apply the middle tones 7. add a final layer of each color 8. outline with black 9. highlight with fine white lines applied with pen or brush.

It was Donald’s dream to one day letter the Bible; this has become reality for him, as he is the artistic director of the St. John’s Bible, the first hand-written Bible in 500 years.It was Donald’s dream to one day letter the Bible; this has become reality for him, as he is the artistic director of the St. John’s Bible, the first hand-written Bible in 500 years.