This scroll was done on 8×10″ pergamenata. The first step was laying out all the details I wanted to include in the scroll to personalize it. I do this as a very quick and small thumbnail sketch, so I can easily move things around if I need to.
Guidelines are drawn in pencil using a T-square, then calligraphy is done with iron gall ink. I then sketch in the design using pencil.
Painting then happens, color by color. This one was done with modern gouache.
I wish I had taken more pictures of the watercolor process. It was actually done with very thin gouache, not watercolors. They are similar enough. I worked from the background sky up through the middle ground hills, then finally adding the details in the foreground last.
Then everything is shaded and whiteworked, then the final penwork details are added in with a crowquill metal nib.
Detail of the watercolor scene.
Detail of the acanthus and penwork, with tiny turtles hiding in the leaves.
Cecily of York Medieval Illumination 