Creation....

 

A Slow Process....

When Last I showed you the Creation scenes, Dear Readers, I was lamenting the slooooow progress necessitated by the very high humidity in my RL environments. I was a bit untruthful when I blamed it all on the humidity. Truth to tell, I am slow at Creation! It is one thing to faithfully copy an image.... that is so straight forward! But to have an image in your mind you want to bring onto the surface... and to have it be a medley of conflicting original images you are "inspired by" so that you have to sift out the pieces you want to use and somehow make them coherent.... that is another thing altogether. I have mentioned that I have many books full of reproductions of Medieval Manuscript paintings.... (I Love the original ancient images!.....) and that I have pored over them trying to distill them into my own versions on my ceiling.

Just to give you an inkling of what I am talking about...

This picture is part of a very elaborate illuminated initial.

This is from the Bible of King Wenceslas probably,

 illuminated around 1390, which is quite late for my uses.

But it shows the incorporation of the designs

 into "roundels" which was quite common.

This is another, much earlier version of the Creation scenes,

 probably painted around 1240.

(Sorry for the glare.. it is hard to photo from the book!)

The right hand page is an enlargement of the

 left hand page which shows more scenes.

And another version...

painted around 1400....

And another.... from the Bible of Robertus de Bello,

 painted around 1250.

I could go on, but I imagine you get the picture! 

Endless variation on a theme...

so many similarities, so many variables.... 

Where to start???

Well, as you know, I started with the Roundel

 as the defining structure.

And arranged the six circles as best they fit

 into the triangle of the ceiling.

And borrowed a few specific images 

from still other versions...

The Hand of God reaching from the cloud...

With the Dove of The Spirit on the Wand tip....

Drawing forth the Creation from Nothingness....!

And Day by Day....

Or in my case, it seems more like week by week...

Inking a new image into a Roundel.... 

letting it dry at least 24 hours....

then adding the paint.

Here I have started the painting of

 the separation of the Land from the Waters

 and the creation of the Plants.

And you can see the sketching of the Birds and Fishes.

Here it is closer....

with more paint on the land and water.

And inking the Birds and Fishes.

The painting is just the initial base coats... 

there will be much more detail later.

And here I have begun the painting of the Birds and Fishes.

Part of the reason for my slow pace is that

 I need to be able to see how the roundels look

color-wise in relation to each other and the ceiling as a whole.

Manuscripts were painted on vellum... a light tan color.

This ceiling's background is the deep blue.

Land and water by themselves tend to be

 green brown and blue in varying shades...

It's a balancing act... 

and I don't feel in control of the balance!

But Day by Day...

Week by Week...

Another one inked...

The Creation of the Beasts...

Adding paint to the Beasts....

And finally...

Inking the Creation of Eve from Adam's Rib.

And maybe as soon as Tomorrow 

I will begin to paint Eve...

Day by Day I am making progress.

But I can assure you, Dear Readers,

 Creation is Not done in just a Day!

And Again....

 

 One Thing Leads To Another....

I Imagine, Dear Readers, that you will understand what happened as soon as the Chapel Ceiling was removed to the work easel for painting. All those days while the humidity was very very high and the ink on the Creation scenes would not dry quickly, I was staring into the opened up Chapel and Noticing all sorts of places where things needed fixing, or at least, upgrading. Because it was so dark back there, I had ignored all kinds of tasks that might be needed to really make it look like I had imagined all those years ago. For starters, the ceiling edges where they meet the walls had big gaps where they did not Quite meet. Does this sound familiar to you? Did I find this problem on all my other "vaulted" ceilings when I was considering whether or not to add the three dimensional trims around the doors all those years ago? It sparked an entire paradigm shift in the construction of the Castle! Yes, trim was needed, and "strengthened" corner posts were needed.... you can read about it in the old posts! In the case of the Chapel ceiling, I was reluctant to try to add individual "blocks" of stone to accomplish the task of masking these cracks, or gaps. In fact, I had already made the first "panel" way at the back of the Chapel years and years ago.

If you look carefully, (I know it is a bit too dark... 

I just didn't have a good picture of this with lighting)

you will notice that the arches on the back wall 

are all cut from one panel that goes all the way to the ceiling.

 It produces the effect of raised trim around

 the windows and the altar painting of the Madonna and Child.

And it covers that pesky ceiling gap!

Here you can see it with the flash... 

sorry it washes out the details that I want you to see 

in the painting of the Madonna and Child.

This method of creating the three dimensional trim

 around the windows and paintings

 is the method I will use for all the walls

 of the Chapel where they meet the ceiling!

It would require very complicated and 

careful patterns for each section of wall.

But that was not the only detail I noticed.

 The painting of the Madonna and Child was still really unfinished.

I suppose that in my hurry to get things done 

all those years ago (thirteen to be precise...!) 

I had accepted that the painting needed more details, 

but just not right away...

Well, now it was time!

And here you can see I have added a lot of details... 

I forgot to take any progress pictures.

In the first pictures (so hard to see)

 there was no shadowing or highlights at all.

 Just the under-painting and the ink lines

 showing through to give the expression.

(You might have to poke the pictures to see.)

Well, I added all those shadows and highlights!

I have been trying to keep the style of these paintings

 restricted to the art styles of the thirteenth century at the latest. 

(This is supposed to be an Old Norman Castle!)

To give you an idea of what I mean... 

here is the Manuscript Illumination that I used

 as the inspiration for this Altar painting.

It is from the Missal of Henry of Chichester

 and was probably painted between 1250 and 1270 AD, 

a time of great production in Manuscripts in England.

Obviously, I have made alterations to the design, 

but I wanted to try to capture the grace of her posture.

Here you can see it all up close... 

including the arched panel that surrounds

 the windows and rests atop the carved pillars.

And you can see that none of her clothes have any shadowing yet....

Which I have started to add here.

And details on the gown shadows too.

The artists of this period lived with flowing gowns

 and had clearly mastered the art of the fold and drape of cloth. 

I do not have that mastered at all... 

and my attempts to copy are very rough at best.

I will not complain of how awkward it is

 to lean in there to try to paint...

the back of the Chapel is 18 inches deep....

 

And finally, some shadows on her under-gown.

 

 I also wanted to repaint the "supplicant" kneeling at her feet.

 These are usually portraits of the donor of the manuscript...

 and I have not copied him faithfully at all.

 For my purposes he is a generic supplicant.

And I also added the second layer of the blue background.....

Oh, how I Love that blue!

(By the way, the reason one of the windows is lit and not the other

 is because the Castle sits in front of my RL windows... 

and one window gets the light...)

Alas, Dear Readers, my hand bumped the candlestick on the right....

The one on the left has been broken for a while....

I will repair them at the last moment before

 installing the ceiling permanently!

And you can see the tracing paper I am using

 to try and make a pattern for the arches on the side wall.

Here you can see the panel cut for the arch over the Crucifixion painting.

Because that painting goes around the corner... 

the arch has an interesting shape and contact angle.

And on the opposite chapel wall the arch over the Moses painting.

Painting the arches.....

Testing the arch panel in place...

These will not be glued in until after the ceiling is attached

 because they would prevent the ceiling 

from being able to slide in and out.

And testing the fit of the arch panel over the Crucifixion.

And testing the fit with the ceiling in place....

And the one over the Crucifixion.

The "missing" top of the arch curve will be added

 in paint to the ceiling portion where they join.

Like this!

You just have to pretend the corner isn't there!

And yes, the candles still "work".... 

it is just the candelabra that is so fragile...

 the glue gave way at one of the narrower junctions.

 I will have to "strengthen" it.

And the tiny bit of the missing arch painted on the ceiling portion.

These arch panels will not be attached until the ceiling is done.

 

And the supplicant's robes being painted....

 

And standing back even farther....

you can see the whole Chapel.

I have draped a lamp overhead 

to be able to see to paint.

And I have to make the arch panels 

to go over all the rest of the arches...

And I still have to paint the panel on the left wall....

This will show The Garden of Eden...

and the front opening wall needs Everything!

 

So you get the picture, Dear Readers,

I have a Long way to go... 

but I am Delving Deep into Details...

 'Cause one thing Always leads to another!

And Then.... Again....

 

 The Chapel Frescoes Continued....

I Suppose, Dear Readers, that the Saints on the Chapel Ceiling are even more patient than those on The Great Hall ceiling, having been begun in 2011 and not touched since then! I had started to show you my careful progress last week, but blogger refused to load my pictures half way through my blog, so I didn't get to show you much at all! I was feeling nervous about painting the details after so many years and so I started very carefully, adding just the base color to all the angels' gowns..... a pale cream color.

And just the beginning of the fabric fold shadows

 on the smallest angel in the lower left corner...

You might need to poke the pictures to see them at all!

But I quickly gained my courage

 and forged ahead with the other angels too...

 

The manuscript I am using for my inspiration

 has the gown folds highlighted boldly in red...

And Saint Michael's cloak was blue in the original, 

but I made it purple to contrast with the background.

And before I knew it I was adding details everywhere... 

demons and angels alike...

There is even a "blue devil" which I faithfully

 copied from the twelfth century manuscript.

When it came to the Winged serpent or Dragon, 

I deviated from the original quite a bit.

The original is done in tan with blue wings.

For the purposes of this ceiling and composition,

 I decided to make it a more traditional 

green and brown combination.

 

And since I am making it up as I go...

It takes longer. 

I am not as sure of what I want it to look like. 

So I find myself jumping from one figure to another.... 

while the paint is drying, of course...

And while I am deciding whether or not it looks right.

Michael's cloak has stars added... 

here just under-painted with white.

 They will be iridescent gold when done.

But if you don't start with white, 

the gold will not show!

And I finally got the courage to paint the faces....

I started with the littlest one again.... 

but neglected to take progress pictures!

And details details details.... 

the angels weapons... the wings... 

the demons' faces and hairy hides...

But if you look closely, Dear Readers, 

you will see the faint pencil outlines of the Creation scenes

 taking shape in the empty quadrant!

And the inking process underway!

The humidity of the summer air

 makes the ink dry very slowly.

I have to wait about 24 hours after inking 

 before I touch them with anything.

Adding the gold base coats....

At the right angle you can see the gleam....

And if you know me at all, Dear Readers,

 you will know I love that blue.....

Oh, how I wanted to see how it would look!

And starting the inking process...

And beginning to paint!

For the models, I have spent hours reviewing

 my Medieval Manuscripts collection.

There are many versions of the Creation... 

but they all rely on the same original text of the Genesis story.

Six days of Creation... and they are,

 more often than not, pictured in "roundels".

 

Gold has been added to the stars!

I am combining and adapting the many images into my own version.

This is, after all, Just the Beginning!

 

 

And as you might imagine, Dear Readers,

I am testing the effect in the Chapel 

again and again...

Oh, It feels so Wonderful

 To be painting the Chapel Frescoes Again!