Beginning Illumination: Learning the Ancient Art, Step by Step

There is nothing wrong with this book, but I had to return it. The book guides users through the ancient art of illumination; however, I will not be stretching animal skin to make parchment. Aside from that, it's a beautiful book that illustrates a step-by-step approach in creating illuminated documents.

So very glad this book was translate from French to English so that those of us in the US are able to enjoy and learn from these wonderful text notes. Author Travers covers how to paint illuminations in the same process and method that our historic medieval artisan predecessors did, using the same materials that they used. She also have a nice chapter to preparing and working with parchment and vellum, often left uncovered by other authors. Each chapter has samples and step-by-step guidelines so you can replicate the tasks yourself. If you wish to learn now historic manuscript book pages were illuminated, the tools and materials used and how to prepare them, this is the book for you. Beginning Illumination is just what it says, a beginning for those wanting to learn a historic style of manuscript illumination, a bit on vellum, pens, pigments and painting; and it may aid in leading some to seek a more lengthy academic treatise on historical techniques. Already quickly becoming an art historian and historical reenactors handbook for illuminators, even as Marc Drogan's book on 'Medieval Calligraphy' is a standard on scripts.

This book has a fantastic, comprehensive history of the art of illumination. It lays out the history, evolution, and process of the art in a way that is easy for anyone, of any level of background knowledge, to understand. It also includes detailed, step-by-step photographs for every portion of the creation process, (which I absolutely love and appreciate as a visual learner). I had originally bought this book as a Christmas present for my friend, but I was so impressed by it that I went back and bought a second copy for myself.

Good for gaining overall conceptual perception. Not enough to learn basics of medieval art drawing

Y-E-S BUY IT

This is the best book I have ever found on illumination and how to learn the skill/art. It includes information about the tools needed, how to deal with period or modern pigments and gives examples of their use. It also sets the student up with projects that will teach needed skills from period art pieces. This is THE book I give as a gift to aspiring illuminators.

I had high hopes for this book, thinking that it would include lessons on how to draw letters, animals, and botanicals in a medieval style that I could then use to create my own artwork. Alas, the book offers only templates for a limited number of subjects, such as one letter, one flowery detail, and one depiction of a dragon wrapped about an elephant. I was hoping for the basic outline of all or most letters with suggestions for how to decorate them and perhaps pictorial references, and for common animals and plants found in illuminated manuscripts with steps for how to draw them, again with photo reference for ideas. The book appears to be quite informative for those interested in creating their own pigments and using goldleaf and hide, but that is not me.

Perfect for the beginner...gift recipient loved it!

待つこと数年――漸く入手した一冊ではあるものの、 少々期待しすぎたのかもしれない。 いわゆる中世装飾写本の描き方なのだが、入門者用にしては 説明不足。筆、絵具、金箔の扱い方、イニシャル、花のデザ インロゼッタ文様、人物の描き方等、おおまかに言及しては いるが、全くの初心者には難しいと思う。 ただし、比較的やさしく描けるフリーズ模様のサンプルや 図案（わずか8頁だが）は美しいので、試作の際はとても 勉強になる。 独学する場合は、まず「カリグラフィー」や装飾文字関連の書籍など から始めるとわかりやすい。例えばMargaret Morganによる ”The Bible of Illuminated Letters”などは良書だと思う。ご参考まで。

A autora apresenta brevemente a história da iluminura, e depois mostra em detalhes os passos do processo utilizando os materiais o mais próximo possível do que se utilizava na Idade Média, com pergaminho e tintas produzidas artesanalmente (ou mesmo as aquarelas ou guaches prontos). Muito bom, inclusive a qualidade da impressão do livro!

Considerando el precio, creo que el libro está bastante bien. Contiene detalles muy prácticos para alguien que no sabe nada del tema y también para quienes ya tengan cierta experiencia y quieran una orientación adicional. Incluye explicaciones para el uso de técnicas tradicionales, pero también da alternativas para quienes no quieran quieran tomarse la molestia de usar materiales que son difíciles de conseguir.

Beautiful book, very informative

I bought this book to learn Islamic Illumination but there is hardly any mention of Islamic Illumination techniques except for one Moroccan pattern. Instead, it covers European/Christian styles. However, it is useful for artists who want to learn all the processes from scratch, including making pigments and using gold leaf and shell gold.