I was honored to have noted illustrator and SCA bigwig Randy Asplund in my home yesterday:
He has done work for WoTC, Dragon Mag. and Steve Jackson Games, among other game community clients.
He gave a group of SCA friends a class on medieval illumination and period paint making, as well as a presentation of some pictures that will be going into a book that he's currently writing on medieval manuscripts and bookmaking. The featured piece he was commissioned to do is 100% period accurate, from the materials used to the techniques. The book he made is for a private collector of miniature books; it will eventually wind up at a rare books library at the Univ. of Michigan.
We were floored with the technique and detail. I just HAD to tell people about it!
Sorry I can't post pics - he wouldn't let me keep any for copyright reasons, since his book is not yet published. They are jaw-dropping in detail; six months to construct a 3" tall book, using only medieval materials and methods...awe-inspiring work.
M
I would have loved to have seen that. A few years ago, the MET here in NY had a show of medieval manuscript illuminations and it was amazing. Because they had been kept in the dark for long stretches of time, the colors were just as brilliant as when they were likely first made. Awe-inspiring stuff, it must have been a blast.
I would have loved to have seen that. A few years ago, the MET here in NY had a show of medieval manuscript illuminations and it was amazing. Because they had been kept in the dark for long stretches of time, the colors were just as brilliant as when they were likely first made. Awe-inspiring stuff, it must have been a blast.
It certainly was;
Knowing that EVERYTHING - from the parchment, to the pigments, to the binder, to the brushes and tools, to the painstakingly created finished product, was all hand-made from raw materials only used in the Middle Ages made the achievement stand out that much more than any commercial graphic today.
I'm going to be learning how to make parchment soon myself :-)
M
Ya lucky bastard! I mean that in the nicest possible way - I've been watching the scribal lists and I'm amazed by Meister Asplund's work. :)
Ya lucky bastard! I mean that in the nicest possible way - I've been watching the scribal lists and I'm amazed by Meister Asplund's work. :)
I'm grateful to the Laurels of the Middle Kingdom for being so helpful; I've made more contacts among the peerage there in the past week than in the past month here in Trimaris.
I'm hoping that successfully making parchment will inspire me to start making paints and possibly even illuminating.
Ld Miklos, OBO
Constable, Barony of Oldenfeld, Trimaris