When talking about traditional Turkish-Islamic arts, the first thing that comes to mind is undoubtedly the art of Calligraphy and Illumination. Briefly defined as beautiful writing and writing ornamentation arts, the art of calligraphy and illumination has continued its existence within the framework of the master-apprentice relationship from the Ottoman Empire to the present day. The art of Calligraphy and Illumination, which experienced its brightest periods during the Ottoman period, is generally practiced as a hobby today. As in every traditional art branch, there are certain requirements in the art of calligraphy and illumination. In addition to issues such as how the art will be performed, experience, and the ability of the artist, you also need to have the necessary calligraphy and illumination art materials to be able to perform these arts. Since they are arts related to writing, pen, paper, ink and paints stand out as the primary needs. However, of course this is not enough, you also need certain auxiliary materials such as inkwells, brushes, gold leaf, and notebooks. Among these materials, notebooks are divided into sub-branches such as watercolor notebooks, sketchbooks, checkered notebooks, unlined notebooks, lined notebooks, and acrylic paint notebooks. In this article, we will try to give you brief information about the arts of calligraphy and illumination, as well as brief information about auxiliary materials such as notebooks and notepads.
What is Calligraphy?
Calligraphy, in its simplest and shortest definition, means line. The writing created by a calligrapher, who processes lines with great care, sensitivity and creativity, is called calligraphy. The art of calligraphy was known as “Hüsn-i Hat” during the Ottoman period when it was at its brightest. The art of calligraphy developed in parallel with the changes that the Arabic alphabet went through between the 6th and 10th centuries.
It would be unfair to think of calligraphy as just the art of writing beautiful letters, because calligraphy is much more than that. Calligraphy is a creative process that requires great talent, skill and patience. Every calligrapher has their own style and being able to write beautiful letters alone is definitely not enough to be a good calligrapher. Although works of calligraphy are generally used in decorative paintings today, they are frequently encountered in architectural works such as caravanserais, mosques, baths and minarets left over from the Ottoman Empire.
Calligraphy Materials
Of course, the greatest materials that a calligrapher must have in order to be able to perform the art of calligraphy are skill, creativity and patience. However, there are also necessary materials to be able to perform this art. The materials used in calligraphy can be listed as follows: Writing sets, pens, pencil sharpeners, sized paper, maktas, ink, lika, inkwell (pencil, dip pen), bur, scissors and celi pen.
What is Illumination Art?
Illumination literally means “to gild” and is the name given to the decorations made with gold gilding and paint on handwritten books. The origins of tezhip, a type of book decoration art, date back to very old times. People who perform this art are called tezhip. The art of tezhip developed in parallel with the art of calligraphy and was mostly used in the introduction, inscription and epigraph sections of handwritten books. The motifs and patterns used in tezhip art are smaller and quite plain compared to those seen in other decorative arts.
Tezhip, which is an ornamental art, can be applied in various styles and styles. For this reason, it is quite difficult to answer the question of how tezhip is made. It is generally a work that emerges as a result of the imagination, cultural background and worldview of the tezhip artist.
Tezhip Art Materials
Of course, you need some materials to perform tezhip art, which emerges depending on the imagination, creativity, worldview and even cultural background of the master. These materials can be listed as follows: The main material of illumination is thinned gold, a burnishing pen, a brush, paint, a fine-tipped pencil, alum, a palette, a utility knife, a ruler and a set square, and notebooks. In addition to these, different materials may be required depending on the illuminator’s style.
