How do we practise our brushwork in our artworks? Painting jewels and ornaments is one of the ways I practise and develop mine.

 

Following my 2024 Gilded Shore: Exploring Shell Gold Artistry class, we’ll move from the High Medieval period into the Italian Renaissance, inspired by one of my favourite illuminators, Girolamo da Cremona (active 1451–1483).

 

I’ll demonstrate making shell gold paint from loose 23k gold leaf and palladium paint from loose leaves, including the binders and consistency I use for brushwork.

 

We’ll work from the supplied alphabets of my hand-drawn Roman or Lombardic initials, along with acanthus and jewel examples. We’ll consider their placement along curves, around bowls and on the stem, while keeping the letter readable.

 

Through the painting demonstrations, we’ll study different gemstone cuts and how shadows, reflected colour and carefully placed highlights suggest their surfaces. We’ll look at how gold and palladium settings relate to the stones, and paint the acanthus that connects and frames the ornaments within the letter.

 

Lesson 1 (Materials and Metal Paints)

I’ll demonstrate the preparation of shell gold and palladium paints and how I adjust them for painting. We’ll also choose an initial and consider possible positions for its jewelled ornaments.

 

Lesson 2 (Arranging the Jewels within the Initial)

We’ll use the supplied examples to plan the relationship between stones, settings, pearls and acanthus, then begin painting the surrounding forms and jewelled details.

 

Lesson 3 (Painting the Jewels and Their Settings)

I’ll demonstrate simple ways to paint different gemstone cuts using shading, reflections and highlights. We’ll develop their settings and pearls, then refine how the ornaments sit within the initial.

 

My aim is to share methods for painting and placing jewelled ornaments that you can adapt to other initials, pages and borders in your own work. There will be painting to continue between sessions.