The Illuminated Manuscript Project: Genesis, Chapters Eleven and Twelve (NIV)

Hello, and welcome back to my illuminated manuscript of the NIV Bible, Book of Genesis. As discussed in earlier posts, this is a project that I made for myself to experiment with illuminated manuscript whilst making my way through the Bible, a traditional manuscript for illumination. I try to bring some creativity and fun into the lettering and illustrations. It's all done in a hardbound sketchbook, colored with magic marker, gel pens and colored pencil, so it's a fun little practice project. 

I have a lot of information this time, so I am going to pepper the illuminated pages throughout to liven things up. 

Last time, I mentioned the bleedthrough from the purple ink. Unfortunately, that is going to continue for a short while longer before I catch it, because of my process. I haven't discussed that yet and it might be of interest, so here is how I do the illuminated manuscript: 

First, I do several pages of lettering and line drawings with my black pen. I don't draw guidelines for the text, just let 'er rip. Most of the time, I'm pretty good about staying straight. I don't want to draw guidelines because I want to be able to burst into illumination whenever the urge hits me, and I feel like working with lines already on the paper would stifle me. 

Second, I go through and start adding color. Since I am working on both sides of the page, I use water-based marker to try to eliminate bleedthrough. Unfortunately, that doesn't always work, and sometimes I don't catch it until it has happened on several pages, hence the purple issues. That was a gel pen, by the way. Obviously, now that I have identified that as an issue, I won't use it any more.  

Last step is adding more subtle color with colored pencils. My favorite brand is Prismacolor (I have two large sets of the prized, older pencils that were under the brand name Berol), but I also use Derwent Coloursoft. I temper the rather harsh tones of the markers, add detail, shading, and color variation to the illustrations, and also add some unifying tones to the page in general with these pencils. 

As always, you can click the first picture to enlarge it and then scroll through the pages from there. 

Here is the first post, if you'd like to start at the beginning (everything else links forward from there). 

Here is the previous post (everything links backward, too. Hooray for completism!)

For regular posts and artwork, please follow me on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Miya HIMI Jelly Gouache Color Review #7: Black and Nude

Goodness, it's been a while since I made a post on this. My apologies to those of you who have been waiting in real time for the final post in this series (although if you followed my page on Facebook, I'm sure you saw the finished painting quite some time ago). 

This is the seventh in a series of reviews of the individual colors from the Miya HIMI brand 24-color “jelly” gouache paint set. This review will concentrate on the Miya HIMI Black and Nude jelly gouache paint colors and will also include updates on my Star Trek painting and how my swatch chart is coming along.

Miya HIMI Jelly Gouache color Black

Last time, I painted Captain Picard's uniform tunic, using Deep Red for the shadow areas and Ponceau to balance out the bright, neutral red. I needed to paint the black part of Picard's tunic, and I decided to paint his horse body in a grey Appaloosa style, both to match his grey hair (he has some hair!) and to contrast with Kirk's golden brown satyr body. It also coordinated nicely with his tunic, like Kirk's coloration coordinated with his. I used the Black and White colors to do this and also to paint Kirk's horns and hooves so they would stand out more from his hair and furry legs. 

The Black swatched out with a high opacity and medium granularity on the black and white charts.   

Miya HIMI Jelly Gouache color Nude

I chose to paint the faces and hands of Kirk and Picard before painting their instruments, which were in front of their mouths (as we've learned through this series, I always start in the background and go forward, even when it gets granular, like this). 

The Nude had medium opacity and granularity on the black and white swatch charts. 

The Nude color was quite pale. Suitable for Patrick Stewart's British pallor (or should I say pallour), but I did need to mix in a little of the previously-opened Burnt Umber and a smidge of Ponceau to paint that tan Canadian, Shatner. 

I used some of the more tan color for Picard's lips and cheeks. After that, I was able to paint Kirk's pan flute with the Umber and Earth Yellow. I painted Picard's flute and added details with White, like the Captain's rank (four dots) on his color and the "silver" background of his communicator badge. With these finishing touches, the painting was complete! 

I must say, it has been a real pleasure working with the Miya HIMI Jelly Gouache. It's very easy to use and to reactivate when dry. The colors mix well and it applies evenly. Of course, the colors dry either lighter or darker than you'd expect, but that's gouache for you. That's why we make swatch charts! 

For the original post describing the unboxing of the Miya HIMI jelly gouache paint set, go here: https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2023/03/unboxing-himi-jelly-gouache-24-color-set.html

For the first review in the series, go here: https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2023/06/himi-jelly-gouache-color-review-1-sky.html

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

The Illuminated Manuscript Project: Genesis, Chapters Nine and Ten (NIV)

Hello, and welcome back to my illuminated manuscript of the NIV Bible, Book of Genesis. As discussed in earlier posts, this is a project that I made for myself to experiment with illuminated manuscript whilst making my way through the Bible, a traditional manuscript for illumination. I try to bring some creativity and fun into the lettering and illustrations. It's all done in a hardbound sketchbook, colored with magic marker, gel pens and colored pencil, so it's a fun little practice project. 

Now that I'm using a more stable pen for lettering, the text should be more legible. Sorry about the purple ink bleedthrough from the "10" heading. At least it was just the zero and not the whole thing --small blessings. 

On with the tale! 

Chapter Nine: 

Chapter Ten: 

As always, you can click the first picture to enlarge it and then scroll through the pages from there. 

Here is the first post, if you'd like to start at the beginning (everything else links forward from there). 

Here is the previous post (everything links backward, too. Hooray for completism!)

Here is the next post (hello from the future!)

For regular posts and artwork, please follow me on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

The Illuminated Manuscript Project: Genesis, Chapters Seven and Eight (NIV)

Hello, and welcome back to my illuminated manuscript of the NIV Bible, Book of Genesis. As discussed in earlier posts, this is a project that I made for myself to experiment with illuminated manuscript whilst making my way through the Bible, a traditional manuscript for illumination. I try to bring some creativity and fun into the lettering and illustrations. It's all done in a hardbound sketchbook, colored with magic marker, gel pens and colored pencil, so it's a fun little practice project. 

Being a casual and experimental project, I'm learning as I go what works and what doesn't. There are messy bits, awkward bits, and many places where my materials have simply betrayed me! For example, the black pen I was using for lettering seemed fine at first, but eventually reacted with the paper to leach out into a weird mess, creating bluish blobs on the page and reducing legibility. It took a while for it to do that, so I was already on Chapter 7 before I realized there was an issue and switched pens. I'm sure it's easy to see where that happened, but just to verify, it's on the page with the Noah's Ark illustration. Good news - the lettering will now be much clearer and easier to read, barring any further unforeseen reactions. 

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

As always, you can click the first picture to enlarge it and then scroll through the pages from there. 

Here is the first post, if you'd like to start at the beginning (everything else links forward from there). 

Here is the most recent post (everything links backward, too. Hooray for completism!)

Here is the next post (hello from the future!)

For regular posts and artwork, please follow me on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

The Illuminated Manuscript Project: Genesis, Chapters Five and Six (NIV)

Chapter Five of Genesis is also known as the "begats" section, tracing the family line from Adam to Noah and giving truly wild lifespans to a lot of the line. Chapter Six recounts the great flood, and if you look at the title illumination for "The Flood", you will see that it contains a teeny little flood (as always, just click on the pictures to see them larger). 

Chapter Five:

Chapter Six:

This is the last page of Chapter 6 and a BIG head start on Chapter 7. Stay tuned! 

Here are links to the previous chapters: 

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-illuminated-manuscript-project.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-illuminated-manuscript-project_10.html

I'll publish another installment later and be sure to link it here https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-illuminated-manuscript-project_25.html

In the meantime, please check out my Facebook page, if you haven't already: https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

The Illuminated Manuscript Project: Genesis, Chapters Three and Four (NIV)

In my first post, I explained that I am trying my hand at producing an illuminated manuscript. I am going by the NIV version of the Bible so that I can understand the text more easily in order to make accurate illustrations, and I think it's also easier for other people to read and enjoy. I am not using very expensive materials because this is kind of  a practice for me. I am using the opportunity to work out what works and what doesn't. 

I am producing this manuscript in a hardbound sketchbook, so the paper is not very expensive or heavy. This has caused bleedthrough on some of the pages, so I hope you will take this in the spirit of endeavour and be forgiving. 

Chapter Three

The last line of this page ends with "...you will strike his heel."

Chapter Four

To see any picture enlarged, just click! You can also click on the first picture and scroll through them, which is probably the best way to do this. I'll publish another installment later and be sure to link it here: https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-illuminated-manuscript-project_16.html

In the meantime, please check out my Facebook page, if you haven't already: https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

The Illuminated Manuscript Project: Genesis, Chapters One and Two (NIV)

I have always been interested in illuminated manuscripts, and so I thought I would try my hand at it. Since I have never read the Bible cover to cover and it's a traditional illuminated book, it was my first project.

It's kind of an experiment in what works and what doesn't. For example, the ink I used for lettering on the earlier pages both faded but also discolored the paper, but it is still legible and doesn't seem to have affected the illustrations. As I post further pages, however, you'll notice that sometimes the way I colored the illustrations didn't do them any favors.

I'm just practicing and trying to move forward, so I'll consider this my "comp sketch" in case I want to do a more finished version.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Just like the monks who copied old manuscripts by hand, I tried to inject a bit of light-heartedness into the illustrations. To see any picture enlarged, just click! You can also click on the first picture and scroll through them, which is probably the best way to do this. I'll publish another installment later and be sure to link it here: https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-illuminated-manuscript-project_10.html

In the meantime, please check out my Facebook page, if you haven't already: https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart