Laurel

This laurel scroll was commissioned by Mistress Elisabeth MacAlester. It is done on vellum using mostly period pigments: the black paint is German vine black (carbon) mixed with glair. For the white, I originally tried lime white (Bianco di San Giovanni) mixed with glair, but the texture was completely unworkable. I refuse to use lead white for health and safety considerations, so I finally settled on using commercial white gouache mixed with glair. I did a very faint underpainting (basically, the outline) in terra vert mixed with glair. I ground the pigments and mixed the paints myself. The scroll is based on the Hours of Philip the Good, illuminated by Jean le Tavernier c. 1450. The miniature is St. Elisabeth of Hungary, minus her halo.