#letter d

Escaflowne Week 30th Anniversary Day 2: Calligraphy

The Illuminated Dilandau Albatou by Katia Hougaard

The first letter of Dilandau's name receives a truly Mediaeval makeover complete with fire breathing dragons and Fleur-de-Lis in my fan art paying homage to the colourful "illuminated manuscripts" produced in Europe during the 13th century through the 16th century. Illuminated manuscripts are books on a wide variety of topic including courtly life, romance stories, religious texts, prayer books, legal documents, and more. What binds them together are the richly detailed illustrations as well as the decorated letters and borders around the texts. The letter "D" was often fashioned into a window with a human figure looking out, just like Dilandau is doing here. The Fleur-de-Lis are a hint at my fan theory that Dilandau's country of Zaibach is Gaea's equivalent of France.

Media: Fountain pen, brush and India ink, and coloured pencil.

Source details and larger version.

.•♫•♬• 𝕿𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖘𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖙 𝖑𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗 D •♬•♫•.

Our first letter prompt, starting with D! As usual I like to something match our prompt to the current occasion, in this case, Easter and my birthday. Not only do I find-out that my birthstone is the diamond, but my birth flower is the Daisy! Two D’s! Just had to make the diamond egg shaped, and voilà! I also contacted one of the local galleries and had this custom canvas shaped made. I’m actually pleased with myself for this. I’ve never painted a gemstone before, let alone a multi-coloured diamond. 

Though, I cant help but find it funny that my most elaborate piece yet is accompanied by my simplest egg - a blue duck egg.  

My first idea was going to be a diptych of the party and bunny dodos from ‘Ark: Survival Ascended’, before I learned about the diamond and daisy connection and ran with it. Maybe I’ll come back to them someday? 

I knew doing simple letter prompts would yield some amazing results from the group, just for the sheer variety it offered. Not only subjects everyone drew, but some even getting creative with the letter itself. Just look at them all!  I cant deny I was tickled-pink by my friend’s demented demon ducktator…

As for my baking, I did some simple Danishes. I’ll admit they’re not the prettiest, but I’ve heard no complaints about the taste. 😋

Moodboard: Name - Daphne.

Requested by: Anonymous.