Wot I did this Spring...

Ohmygoshkit's July and I haven't blogged anything for a ages (as some of my mates have politely pointed out!).  So where have I been?  Well I've been working innit, and over the next few days I'll fill you in on what I've been doing.

First up, today is the launch of the very exciting Lindisfarne Gospels Durham exhibition, whereby for 3 months this beautiful Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscript returns (on loan from the lovely folks at the British Library) to its one time home in Durham.  It isn't understating things to say that this is one of the most beautiful and important books in this country's history, so I was very honoured when I was asked by Durham University to co-write and illustrate a kids book about it.

The book arrived on my doormat recently, and I have endeavoured to take the prerequisite idyllic bloggy photos, but it has been made difficult by major building work in my house and high winds in my garden. Apologies in advance!!

The book tells the story of how and why the book was made, and the 200 yr odyssey it went on before settling in Durham.  Your guides for the book are these two...based on illustrations that can be found in the manuscript itself.  I thoroughly enjoyed working on it, largely as I found the subject fascinating, but also because of the endless enthusiasm and support of Dr Sarah Price, who co-wrote the book with me (and was really the brains behind the operation!).

A typical scene in my 'studio'

Heh hem ...and another one...

I am very proud of the book, but it's always hard to be objective about your own work.  It does however seem to have passed the child test!

 I'll be going up to Durham at some point in August to do some live drawing (not to be confused with life drawing!) and workshops - I can't wait!  I thoroughly recommend a trip to Durham, as this exhibition will be fascinating...but also because I love the place.

Talking of the middle ages..

Sorry folks, if you'd read the last post that was almost a link...

I am dead excited.
I have feathers (...it is handy working in a zoo).
I have oak apples (procured from the one oak tree i could find in my local park...much undignified jumping to reach high branches...it wasn't pretty).

Now what in blue blazes do I want with those?

  

Well dear reader, inspired by trips to Durham, talk of the Lindisfarne Gospels, and my trip to see Leo (Da Vinci, not Sayer), I have decided to go old school; making my own 'iron gall' ink, and then making my own quill pens (properly this time!!) to draw with.

I now need a few extra ingredients for the ink, such as iron sulphate (I'll let you know if I get arrested asking for this at the chemist), gum arabic (which I must be able to distill from a packet of Wrigleys), and tincture of myrrh.  I will be calling for a lot of assistance I think on my mum and dad, who are medical herbalists, but also know a thing or two about making plant dyes etc, and found me the recipe for the ink...check the Herbarium - it is a mine of information for anyone with even a passing interest in herbal medicine and the use of plants.

Not only do I get to nerd out over pens and ruin at least one of the kitchen pans, but it's made me come over all botanical too.  The only time I'd really seen oak apples was in autumn...hard brown dusty things with an exit hole or two in the side.  These ones I are kinda squashy.  And then I found some that had no case and were all fuzzy...were they the same thing?

Now I know that oak apples are formed as the result if an insect making its home on the tree and then the 'apple' is formed around it, but I don't know if the apple is formed by the insect or the tree.  And what kind of insect  lives inside?  Hard to say at the mo, but there were lots of eggs...although when I cut this one open I did have one little grubby thing waving back at me.  And it's fairly clear that the apple and the fuzz are one and the same....

I will let you know how my research goes, whether I win any prizes for it, and what the bill for clearing any subsequent infestations of my house comes to...

Sam goes medieval!

Three things have happened recently which lead me to today's slice of pen nerdery!

Thing the 1st - I went to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition at Bristol Museum, and it rocked my tiny world.  How did he get those amazingly subtle marks with a dip pen?  Got me wondering about old drawing techniques....

2nd - I went up to Durham, and spoke to Dr Keith Bartlett, who is very knowledgable about such things, not least because he is an expert on the Lindisfarne Gospels.  I subsequently read up a bit on the Lindisfarne Gospels...awesome is an overused word but if it applies...

3rd - I found what I think is a buzzard feather on my way to work.  I also own a penknife, so with a little help from my son's Horrible Histories book I had a go at making a quill pen.  

Me and the kids quickly set to a bit of scribbling.  Please note the sunlit photo and the brightly coloured vase of flowers...I am getting better at this blog lark.

Now let's get a few things straight..this was something of a bodge...if I remember my chat with Dr Bartlett right,  I should have left the feather to mature for about a year, rather than 2 days.  I also should really be using the 1st or second wingtip feather from the right hand...or maybe left hand.. wing of a goose (being as I'm right handed).  You will see that as it was the pen was more than a tad awkward to hold.

Then I had a go at the Leonardo bit...how did he achieve those amazingly subtle lines?  The answer is that, well...he was quite good.  But also drawing with a quill is a massively different proposition to using a metal dip pen.  See the scribbles below, which were all done with the same quill - you get a much softer line, and can go from very thin to very thick in one stroke without gouging a hole in the paper.

It's a joy to draw with...and all adds to my nagging and well documented feeling of having been born in the wrong century.  Now where's my calligraphy book?

Durham!

Last year I was lucky enough to be asked to do a kid's guide book for the World Heritage Site of the lovely city of Durham.  I kinda fell in love with the place...hopefully the pics below give an idea why...

 Even luckier, they keep asking me back!  The most recent trip was a couple of weekends back, when I was asked to muck in with the WHS Visitor Centre team for a weekend of family workshops.   I worked with the kids (and parents and staff!) making illuminated letters, mythical beasts and most popular of all ....BADGES!

I bought a badgemaking machine, which turned out to be a very shrewd investment ... people could do their own designs, get me to draw something for them or do their initials in swanky medieval calligraphy (all with optional gold detailing as I had gold leaf too...).  As you can imagine that was me pretty much taken care of for the weekend!  Look at the photo above...not even P Diddy can boast of gold dandruff.

As you can see, in addition to drawing I also got to indulge my twin passions for looking gormless and wearing tudor hats..below you will see me just about managing to make said hat levitate..

Also, much to my amazement people starting asking me to sign their guidebooks....finally my moment in the sun!!  I would like to say a massive thankyou to all at Durham World Heritage Site Visitor Centre (staff and visitors) for a cracking weekend, and for making me feel so welcome...again!