Schoolhouse Hotel (1)

In March 1998 I was commissioned to do pieces for a new Dublin hotel. Each room in the hotel is named after an Irish literary or historical figure. Paddy Lennon (Dublin-based artist) did polychrome portraits of each of these people—pencil drawings in sanguine colour, on cream paper. My palette had to match his, as I had to complete calligraphic biographies for each historical figure. I used cream parchment-effect Pergamenata paper, Higgins sepia ink, and gouache for the titles. Italic calligraphy was used for the body text, and uncials for the titles. This piece measured 14¼" x 12".

Left: picture of hotel bedroom (you can just see the framed calligraphy piece alongside the portrait).