Constellations

[semyaza]

I've made rather a lot of icons on astrological/astronomical themes. A horrendous lot, if truth be told, and if I hadn't been forcibly restrained I'd have made more. Here's the first batch. These are all constellations, with the exception of two suns and a moon. I've put a list at the bottom of the page, identifying each constellation. I'll

Comments

[ladysunrope]

Thank you! I think you know which ones I took. Sausages. Pork and apple are my favourites.

[semyaza]

They do keep cropping up.... Suns, that is, not sausages. I like turkey sausages, if the spicing is right. Turkey with basil and tomato is yummy.

[tabbyclaw]

Those are extra breasts on #5. Goddesses got them sometimes in classical art.

/the one thing I remember from Greek Mythology 101

[semyaza]

There's been a lot of controversy over the years about whether they're breasts or testicles. I've seen other things suggested, too--dates, eggs, leather votive pouches.... :D

What puzzles me is what constellation it's supposed to represent. It's a cool image in any case.

[semyaza]

I know that's supposed to be moonshine, but it looks as if it's blowing out icy air.

[trufflehog]

oooh very nice! defintiely nabbing a couple.

[semyaza]

Thank you! :)

[baleanoptera]

These are really beautiful! I'm taking nr. 13 and 19. I've always been fond of the bright blue background that some illuminations have, and these two captures it so well. The cropping is also excellent.

But on a side note - it's so strange that pictures of illuminated manuscripts never completely manages to capture how intens and vibrant the colours truly are.

[semyaza]

I know what you mean about the difficulty of capturing the vibrancy. The colours go muddy when you resize and can't always be brought back satisfactorily. It depends on the manuscript and the quality of the photographic image. The marginal illustrations of fruits and flowers adapt themselves well to icons because of the very intense primary colours and the lack of gilding. The gilding doesn't photograph well because of the varied reflection of light off the surface, and sometimes when you resize you lose the brightness of the gold, especially on a very ornate image. The simpler the image, the better the result.

No matter how good the quality of the reproductions (and the Bodleian site has very hi-res images), it's still not the same as seeing them in person.

[baleanoptera]

No matter how good the quality of the reproductions (and the Bodleian site has very hi-res images), it's still not the same as seeing them in person.It truly is not. I still remember being about twelve and seeing illuminated manuscripts for the first time. I was completely spellbound by how bright the colours were and the amazing detail. And these were old scandinavian law-books (me being Norwegian they were closest), and not some of the more flashy books you find in Southern Europe

[semyaza]

I know you didn't mean it as a criticism. :) It grieves me that I can't make icons from certain manuscripts because I know they won't work. These particular images (and the others I've done from this manuscript) aren't ideally suited to icons, but I like the themes and I've come to realise that what I like from among the icons I've made isn't necessarily what other people like.

Red works best, but I've also noticed that sometimes the illustrations which make the best icons are the ones that don't seem terribly accomplished when you look at them as a whole.