The reason why I'm studying painting techniques is due to my interest in improving my execution of inhabited and historiated initials.

In the past, I have made some but I wasn't happy with the result. Now, I can share my first successful Inhabited initial. It's a variation of a very well known capitular letter from "Codex Calixtinus" in the Santiago of Compostela cathedral.

I took a screenshot from Wikipedia for you to see the original:

I made a sketch changing the main character, instead of St. Calixtus, I draw a contemporary man typing on a computer keyboard. 

Later on, the mix media fun began: With the help of a lightbox I transferred the design on calfskin parchment, drawing the outline with pen and India ink. The next step was to paint the large colored areas with gouache as seen in the image above.

Then, I began the coloring of the character and the fantastic creatures that give shape to the body of the letter "C" using watercolors. In this step, I applied most of my new skills:

Finally, I discovered that I skipped the first step of traditional illumination: the gilding process! I made it the last, taking many precautions to prevent the gold leaf from sticking on other areas.

In the iconographic tradition, gold represents the divine. In this case, my character isn't a representation of God nor a Sait nor the Virgin Mary so, I used gold only on a tiny area on the chest, as a metaphor of the Saint Augustine words: "Inside the man lives the Truth" - "In interiore homine habitat Veritas" (De vera religione).

Here's the final result:

My second project is a portrait of a female wearing a rococo hairstyle. I'm still working on this piece but, I want to share it anyway. Image 1: the pencil sketch. Image 2: the first inking trial. Image 3: definitive inked and watercolored piece. 

The doves are offhand flourishing drawings. I've been studying "The Spencerian Compendium" and Zaner's "Gems on flourishing". The blue coat was painted with gouache.

My goal was to picture a reflexive character but it resulted in a sad or worried countenance. What do you think?

I'm still thinking about the background, any idea? Every piece of advice will be welcome. 

Thank you very much for your time. I wish you a beautiful fall!

Warm regards,

Eréndira.