Squee!

I have been given a wonderful gift! A large collection of hand-ground pigments to play with! Granted it included cadmium yellow rather than orpiment, but I am grateful that the giver obviously did not desire to poison me! I can now work on my Book of Hours project using proper pigments instead of gouche. This has brought its projected completion date forwards quite considerably. I was planning to have to save up to buy most of the pigments, which would have taken time and a lot of savings (Cornelissen not being a cheap purveyor of authentic pigments!). If I really concentrate hard, I could potentially have it ready by the end of the year or even earlier!

So…..
Parchment – check! (all cut and pounced)
Text – check! (just needs to be scored and scribed)
Pigments – check! (squee!)
Real Gold Leaf – check!
Gesso to raise the leaf – check!
Gum Ammoniac for flat-leaf gilding – check!
Quills cut for calligraphy – check!
Oak-gall ink – check!
Leather for binding – check!
Parchment strips for binding – check!

Still to prepare:
Designs for illumination
Hammered brass decoration for book cover
Thin boards for hard-binding

Now I just need to actually start making it!!