Symonne de la Croix

                      SHADING MEDIEVAL                                         ILLUMINATED LETTERS                  By Lady Symonne de la Croix                                        (Corina Graham)                                                          2.11.20                       Working hard on my Shading class that I am doing on the 7.11.20 at the Canton of Stegby. I still have to paint some step by steps and fix up the Google docs so a work in progress but I am getting there https://...

            VERDIGRIS USING DIFFERENT                           INGREDIENTS              By Lady Symonne de la Croix.                               19.9.20  ■ 3 rectangles of 99.9% Copper cut into 3"×4" pieces                                                                     ■  3 small Moccona glass coffee jars               ■  1 Tbs Fehlbergs Double Strength White Vinegar                                                  ...

           DIFFERENT COLOURED                       VERDIGRIS        By Lady Symonne de la Croix                   (Corina Graham)                           19.9.20 I decided to harvest some verdigris from baths that I had started on 20.3.20 I was very surprised to see two distinctly different colours. One more light turquoise  blue and the other a dark green Both baths used the exact same copper and vinegar so I am perplexed why there is a difference.  My only conclusion is that perhaps it was because of the different sized containers which held different amounts of vinegar. I wonder if this has caused differing levels of the gases in the containers to be emitted?   Which perhaps changed something chemically in the reaction?  I will wait to see ...

                     BRAZILWOOD INK                                  Part 2                                Lady Symonne de la Croix                        (Corina Graham)                                  28.4.20 Very interesting the difference in the colour of the ink when applied to different substrates. The plain Brazilwood ink is an orange red whereas when chalk is added (which changes the pH) it becomes more purple. But when used on modern printer paper the plain Brazilwood ink, it starts as orange red but changes to purple. Interestingly this does not happen on pergamenata. Where it retains the same colour. There must...

           My Youtube Video          Persian Illumination   I did a thing!! https://www.dropbox.com/s/vjd4hs4hkoyzhz3/KWHSS%20PERSIAN%20ILLUMINATION%20%281%29.pdf?dl=0 I was supposed to teach a class in Melbourne for the Knowne World Heraldic &Scribal Symposium in July 2020 but as we all know, the world went crazy because of the Corona Virus so it had to be cancelled.  The organisers of the event have made it into a virtual event so I decided to do a prerecorded step by step if the class I would have taught. I also wrote a 33 page documentation that contains the line drawing and degrade flower technique worksheet that I mention in the video, and some links to my Iron gall ink,verdigris walnut ink and shell gold making experiments I will add the documentation to this blog over a few posts. Anyway, I am so glad that I finished this. It was quite stressful. Hopefully people will watch the video, read th...

                    BRAZILWOOD INK                                 Part 1               Lady Symonne de la Croix                       (Corina Graham)                                27.4.20 Ok here I go again. Trying to make Brazilwood Ink this time.  I am using a medieval recipe from The book of secrets (A 1596 translation of a Dutch edition, which may have been translated from a 1531 German translation) Its been interesting trying to research what modern weight/measurements to use. There isnt a medieval to modern conversion chart that I could find 😉 I had no idea what a 'pennyworth' even was. I was confused with whether it was an actual meas...

                 MEDIEVAL WEIGHTS                 Anglo-Saxon Measures                Lady Symonne de la Croix                      (Corina Graham)                              24.4.20                    In the middle ages a PENNYWEIGHT was literally and monetarily 1/20 of an ounce & 1/240 of a pound of sterling silver.  The pound unit in use in England, at that time, was the TOWER POUN...