Learn the art of illumination, or gilding on paper, with artist Polly Bennett.

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Using gilding size to apply 23.5 carat gold leaf, you will illuminate and decorate a letter, or capital, of your choosing, reminiscent of the style of manuscripts in the Middle Ages. You will then embellish the capital with watercolour paint made with earth, bone and plant pigments.

'Illumination' refers to an image within a manuscript that has been embellished with gold or silver. 

Capitals were decorative elements that indicated the beginning of a new piece of text and would highlight the importance of the words that followed. Types included illuminated (a gilded letter), historical (a letter containing a scene or figure, which would usually relate to the text), zoomorphic (an initial partly or wholly composed of animal forms) and pen-work (an ornamental initial produced entirely with a feather-pen or single-haired brush, generally using the same ink as the text).

On the workshop participants take home:
Illuminated capital on paper