1 Corinthians 13 Illuminated Calligraphy
Calligraphy
J.R.R. Tolkien quote illuminated calligraphy
A good friend commissioned this piece for her husband as he had just recently submitted his PhD thesis and this quote was a key part of his theme. The script is Uncial and there are small thistles inside the illuminated initial M.
Baby Birth Facts illuminated calligraphy, start to finish process
Recently an acquaintance asked me to do an illuminated calligraphy piece for her new baby. She wanted wall art that included Celtic knots, thistles and rabbits with a colour scheme of coral, blue and green. I am hoping there are more clients who are interested in this kind of thing for either their own children or as gifts. The finished product was something I was very happy with and my client felt the same way, thankfully.
The first stage of this work began with my sketching out lightly in pencil the Celtic knot border. I had to look through many design templates to find what worked best for the dimensions of the paper and the style that the client wanted. The Celtic knots took quite a lot of practice…quite a lot
The next step after the Celtic knots and going over all the pencil with archival ink was to drawing the thistles and rabbits. These took hardly any time at all, with a few reference photos. I began to put paint on the piece after I had gone over all the pencil marks with black Sumi ink (Sumi is a Japanese coal ink that is very thick and long-lasting). I used Winsor & Newton watercolours.
© Letizia Morley 2018
Lastly, the blue green Celtic knots were filled in and the spaces between the lines painted in coral. Then the thistles were finished and voila!
Psalm 27:1 illuminated calligraphy
My newest digital calligraphy work of Psalm 27 verse 1. One of my favorite verses to say to myself in times of doubt or fear. The script is Artificial Uncial.
Gothic Calligraphy Practice
It takes me a long long time to practise scripts where I feel comfortable doing a finished project. Here I was working on my gothic textura quadrata font, which was popular in the 1400s and 1500s. It has a gently hypnotic effect with its forest of tall, narrow, rectangular letters so close together. The text is from an old Shaker song of 1848 from America’s New England area. Shakers, similar to the Quakers, were a small religious group that began in the 18th century in England and migrated to the New World. They were known for having simple lifestyles so this song expresses that sentiment. I can’t say the textura quadrata font actually matches the song’s message, but I just picked a text at random.
Illuminated calligraphy Socrates quote about friendship
Finished product of a work-in-progress that I posted a few weeks back. I spent probably WAY too long on the details of the border but think the work paid off. This quote by Socrates is nice to think of as one navigates the relationships of life. Painted digitally in Procreate app designed for iPad Pro.
Celtic Blessing Illuminated Calligraphy
Lately I have been trying to make some more Scottish themed illuminated calligraphy and decided to write out this Celtic blessing in the Artificial Uncial script. The Celtic knots here are identical, but are rotated in different directions for a nice contrast. It took a long time but I am happy with the result.
Here’s the text, which I think is wonderful: “May you have: walls for the wind, a roof for the rain, and drinks by the fire; laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all that your heart may desire.”
Enjoy and I hope you have some laughter and warmth today.
If you enjoy this artwork, feel free to browse my zazzle shop for products featuring it. Go to http://www.zazzle.com/letiziamorley or http://www.zazzle.co.uk/letiziamorley.
Isaiah Calligraphy in Scottish Celtic Knot
Hot off the press! I just finished this illuminated calligraphy piece yesterday in preparation for making some Christmas cards on my Zazzle shop. This has passages from Isaiah 7 and 9 about Immanuel, the Son of God. I used the Uncial script, which dates to the 3rd century and was developed in the British Isles. The Celtic Knot is Scottish in style. I am pretty happy with how this turned out and plan to make more like it.
Be Kind, Socrates quote calligraphy practice
This is a practice piece for a script I’m learning called Artificial Uncial, which dates from very early medieval times in the British Isles. A surprisingly difficult script to learn. I have been finding inspiring quotes to practice with and this one seems particularly apt for these times, where outward differences between people seem more and more problematic.
“Comparison is the Thief of Joy” Calligraphy Practice
Calligraphy practice again. The art of calligraphy takes much practice, of course, but is very soothing and almost meditative. I found this quote by Theodore Roosevelt that encapsulates the idea that I should be thinking almost every day. It is so true. So many discouragements in my life could have been avoided if I practiced what this says. I think the form of comparison that is helpful is comparing one’s own work to itself to notice improvements. Or sometimes you see the misfortunes of others and are more grateful for your own blessings…but I mean this in a way that is not demeaning of others or prideful of one self.
The script here is the beautiful Insular Majuscule, one used in the amazing Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels from the very early Middle Ages in Ireland, England and Scotland. The script was used as early as the 7th century. Difficult to write but very rewarding.
Gothic calligraphy practice
A few days ago I decided to take up my calligraphy practice again in order to work on some illuminated calligraphy projects. I have had friends commission me to do such things before but I only work my calligraphy when people ask me to. Now I want to keep up the skill more regularly. Here is the Gothic Textura Quadrata script used in the Middle Ages between 1200 and 1500 AD. Very challenging to write and this practice is back from when I was just learning the script. I hope to post more practice sheets and then hopefully some finished products before too long.
Psalm 16 Illuminated Calligrahy
A few years back, a friend commissioned me to create this Psalm in calligraphy and told me what he wanted for the illuminations. He wanted oaks, trees, blues and greens, a monk studying the scriptures and a deer. I examined many manuscripts of the 1500s before I found the inspirations I was looking for. The script here is the Fraktur, a type of black letter script or font that was common in Germany starting the 16th century. I used watercolor for most of it but some gold paint for the initial capital letter.
A Student’s Prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas, illuminated calligraphy
From the archives, an early illuminated calligraphy work I did for my husband. He asked me to do this as a decoration for his classroom. The font, or script, is called Fraktur Miniscule, in use from about 1400 onward and very popular for vernacular works at the time. I used a Celtic Knotwork tutorial book to do the border. I used felt-tip pens instead of paint.
Psalm 1 calligraphy
One of the first illuminated calligraphy pieces I did is this Psalm 1 for my friend. It is executed in marker entirely. Sorry about the poor quality of the photograph.
Letizia Morley - ARTIST 