Beginning Illumination

This photo-filled guide offers you all the information you need to begin the fascinating ancient art of illumination, and then to improve your skills. A short history of the art, including photos of some of the world's great medieval masterpieces, gives you context, and then you're introduced to the materials and basic techniques. First learn the proper ways of preparing your parchment, selecting pigments, gilding, and using color. Next, the five steps of illuminating are clearly taught in detail. By learning to create friezes, detailed human faces, flourishes, creatures such as dragons and elephants, and much more, you'll discover a skill that has crossed the centuries. Today, illumination can be used to add a special flair to diplomas, invitations, family trees, or a memorable event like a wedding, a birthday, or an anniversary.

Spirited history and comprehensive instruction manual covers 13 styles (ca. 4th–15th centuries). Excellent photographs; directions for duplicating medieval techniques with modern tools. "Vastly rewarding and illuminating." — American Artist.

Something strange is going on. All over the world, pain is manifesting itself as light. Cuts and bruises blaze and flash. Arthritic joints glow. Injured troops emit radiant white shards into the desert night. On the news, they're calling it 'The Illumination'. As this breathtaking phenomenon takes holds, a private journal of love notes passes into the keeping of Carol Ann Page, a lonely hospital patient, and from there through the hands of five other people. Each of them will find their lives changed forever over a story which spans decades and continents, a story that shines a spectacular light on the wounds we all bear...

"Illuminated manuscripts are perhaps the most beautiful treasures to survive from the middle ages. This authoritative volume provides a comprehensive introduction to the medieval world of books, their production and their consumption. The text divides this world into different groups of readers and writers: missionaries, emperors, monks, students, aristocrats, priests, collectors and the general public. De Hamel is both informative and immensely readable, and the sumptuous illustrations render this book too good to be missed."--From Amazon.com

A “wondrous” novel of fear, desire, loss, and discovery on Martha’s Vineyard by the New York Times–bestselling author of Practical Magic and Seventh Heaven (Chicago Tribune). Elizabeth Renny has only made two decisions of consequence in her seventy-plus years. While the first, marrying her husband, had adequate results, the second—deciding she could fly from her bedroom window—is less successful. But her flight sets in motion a series of events that will forever change the lives of six residents of Martha’s Vineyard: a young boy who refuses to grow, a wife stifled by her irrational anxiety, a husband tempted by the unknown, a girl flirting with disaster, a gentle giant tortured by his size, and an old woman with nothing to lose. Praised as “an intelligent novel” by the New York Times and “achingly vivid” by Newsday, Illumination Night is a sparkling and heartbreaking narrative that explores marriage, friendship, youth, yearning, disillusionment, and desire, a book as bright and memorable as the festival of lanterns for which it is named.

Recapture the historic grandeur of medieval art with lovingly detailed reproductions ranging from the creation of Eve to the Hundred Years' War. Thirty images include Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and secular sources.

An inspirational introduction to creating decorative calligraphy.

Rare letters and borders that once enhanced medieval bibles and other rare manuscripts are ornamented with exquisite florals, curvilinear motifs interwoven with religious figures, and other exquisite embellishments. More than 350 designs, including 256 letters.

While certain ecological problems associated with artificial night lighting are widely known-for instance, the disorientation of sea turtle hatchlings by beachfront lighting-the vast range of influences on all types of animals and plants is only beginning to be recognized. From nest choice and breeding success of birds to behavioral and physiological changes in salamanders, many organisms are seriously affected by human alterations in natural patterns of light and dark. Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting is the first book to consider the environmental effects of the intentional illumination of the night. It brings together leading scientists from around the world to review the state of knowledge on the subject and to describe specific effects that have been observed across a full range of taxonomic groups, including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, fishes, invertebrates, and plants. Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting provides a scientific basis to begin addressing the challenge of conserving the nighttime environment. It cogently demonstrates the vital importance of this until-now neglected topic and is an essential new work for conservation planners, researchers, and anyone concerned with human impacts on the natural world.

Discover the timeless art of beautiful writing! This introduction to creating calligraphy combines beginner-friendly clarity with thorough guidance and gorgeous examples. Introduces nine major calligraphic styles, with detailed diagrams and tips for writing each letter.Sub-sections include histories of each alphabet, step-by-step tutorials for embellishing your calligraphy, and ways to showcase your elegant lettering.Full color photographs and illustrations throughout.