Demon from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves
I went to the Morgan Library and Museum last week to see the current exhibits - and sketched a demon from the illuminated manuscript called the Hours of Catherine of Cleves (15th C.). It has a very interesting history and the borders on each page are amazing and never repeated. I sketched one of the demons (which appeared on the corner of the border of page 94 and was enlarged in a photograph as part of the exhibit.)
It is worth looking at the facsimiles on the webpage in my link to the exhibit just to see the quality of the painting and the brilliance of the colors.
Donna posted drawings today that she did with her new Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. I agree with everything she says about the pen and ...
I decided to upload this drawing today in order to demonstrate that on my Fabriano Artistico 140 lb soft press paper, the ink that comes in the cartridges with the Pental Pocket Brush Pen is watersoluble. The gray color of my demon is just ink pulled into the drawing with plain water. I allowed the ink to dry for 15-30 minutes before "painting it" with the water. I know that others don't have this problem, so I assume it is paper-dependent, since we have compared pen product numbers, etc, etc.
Comments
What an informative post. I am so glad you included the website. And your demon is downright terrifying. You did a great job on him!
I don't know what to say about your watersoluable ink. It certainly adds depth to your demon. But it is a mystery.
Posted by: donna noble | March 16, 2010 1:58 PM
This was a most interesting and informative post. I went to the Catherine of Cleves website and was fascinated with the work there. Thanks for posting all this! nancy
Posted by: nancy t | March 17, 2010 10:51 AM
Your demon is downright ...demonish? It looks great with the ink washed into the figure!
Ronelle
Posted by: Africantapestry | March 17, 2010 3:45 PM
Thank you for describing the pen and technique you used--interesting. What a great drawing of a demon!
Posted by: Janene Walkky | March 17, 2010 3:52 PM
Despite a nicely done illustration, the expression creeps me out...then again, most artwork during that time are pretty dark when it comes to ghosts and ghouls...
Posted by: Alex Tan | March 17, 2010 10:02 PM
I've never looked at the details of the illuminations. They liked to draw some scary stuff. The gray is amazing from coming just from the lines on your drawing. This is a lot of ink to bleed off. You used it well but some unwary person could have wrecked their picture brushing over it with color.
Posted by: Timaree (freebird) | March 18, 2010 9:56 AM
Nice illustration.. It was a good read too.. Thanks for putting up the link too.
Posted by: Shalini | March 18, 2010 3:34 PM
Great drawing of the demon! Does your Pentel pocket brush have the silver or gold lettering? The silver is the waterproof one and the gold is water soluble, of course if the cartridges inside are off..... My waterproof one has cartridges with Pentel FP 10 written in silver.
Posted by: ffyrebird | March 20, 2010 5:32 PM
The writing on my pen and cartridge is silver - and it says FP10. It's a mystery!
Posted by: Shirley | March 20, 2010 6:23 PM