Luminary Letters

During the Middle Ages, scribes in monasteries worked tirelessly on pages of manuscripts for Kings and churches. (manu =hand; scriptus= written) Letters were written by hand with calligraphy and painted in precious metals of gold and silver. The earliest known illustrated scrolls were found in the tombs of ancient Egypt. Each surviving page of these books are timeless works of art from history with decorated initials and gilded paintings.

7th Grade artists learned about the history of illuminated manuscripts and the styles of letters written in Roman, Gothic, Serif, Sans serif, Italic, and Script letterforms. The border decoration was just as important as the text on the pages of Medieval books. Students practiced writing the letter of their first or last name in these styles and designed an illuminated border decoration to reflect their family name.

To create the effect of glowing letters, students used a make-your-own scratchboard process of wax resist. Their letters were colored in solid crayon and then painted with a layer of ink to scratch away the color hidden beneath. This gave the final product a stained-glass window effect that seemed to glow from within.

Scratchboard Process:

Step 1: Design Concept

Students drafted capital letters of their first or last name inspired by the Middle Ages with an illuminated decoration reflecting their personal style.

Step 2: Wax Layer

Students filled their manuscripts with a colorful wax layer for the illuminated letters. The entire page had to be a layer of solid wax including areas of white colored with a white crayon.

Step 3: Ink

After finishing the color, students painted 2-3 layers of watered down India ink mixed with Dawn dish soap to create a coated shell of scratchboard.

Step 4: Hatching

The illuminated letters were revealed by scratching away the ink layer to show the seemingly glowing colors underneath. Students used hatching techniques to show value changes or to completely scrape the ink layer away for a texturized artwork.

Illuminated Letters!