Aug 21st: I finally settled on and finished my design which I drew on the computer. Unfortunately, I cannot publish it in any recognizable form before the contest because the rules strictly only accept unpublished art. So the most of the design seen will be edges and close ups that doesn't reveal the whole.
The design changed over the months, from May to August. When I started I swore the theme was the "animals" from the Book of Kells. And I was prepared with not only my center beast, but peacocks and snakes and lions. However, at some point I checked the website again and they'd had a complete redesign and changed the theme to the colors.
Frankly that suited me fine, since I was one this journey to try to recreate colors with natural sources. And it made me feel better when, after the second design change, I abandoned the peacocks. This was sad, because, individually, I really liked them. However, they didn't fit in the new design. I might use them in another art project.
By August 21st, I finally printed out the design to trace and I felt I was cutting it fine. I wanted to be finished inking by September and I still had no idea how many complications pigments would make for illumination on the way. I certainly didn't want to turn into a crazed artist working day and night through the month of October...
Aug 22:
I started tracing the color test sheet over a light box powerful enough to shine through 130# paper. This would serve a dual purpose of testing applications and archiving pigments. I wanted to use charcoal, but reluctantly had to admit a mechanical pencil was my best bet to retain detail.
Then I hit the first snag: the heavy weight water color paper I'd chosen had a terrible tooth. I worried that the calligraphy quills would scrape and the ink would bleed. And any detail would be completely out of the question. At this point I had no idea how the materials would behave. But the only ink friendly paper I had was far too thin. Amazon to the rescue! I ordered heavy ink paper with a smoothness similar to vellum, and crossed my fingers....
Sept 22:
Strathmore pulls through and I finally start tracing. I redo the color sheet and start on the main project. The results are smooth and detail will not be a problem. Assuming there's no bleeding.
Initial tracing finished before the end of September. Faoi dheireadh!
