How Illuminated Manuscripts were made

My own style - a kind of naive hybrid which  borrows some traditional techniques, but uses my own block letters rather than a calligraphic script.  This page is in progress - much work remaining, particularly in the border.  The painted face in the lower right is pretty close to completion, but there are still several layers to go here.!

I'm not a traditional illuminator.  Although my book is inspired by Medieval books, my style is neither historical or authentic - the images sometimes but not often refer to old works, but my interest lies in making something new rather than reproducing something old.
That said, I have to say that I have a great respect for people who do work with reproduction in mind.  Their work is often stunning, well researched and often made using all home made materials, including inks, sometimes even parchment.  Hand work well done is always fantastic.  I'm including a pair of links, one to a short film about the process of illuminating, and the other part of a terrific series about the creation of a new manuscript using traditional methods.  I'm something of a pirate when I look at these videos - with a keen eye to stealing every bit of technique that I can from these wonderful artists.  I'll continue keeping a lookout online for videos, supply sources and so on and will strive to include more of them on this blog.
Heres a link to a terrific short film that shows all the major steps involved with creating an illuminated manuscript, from the making of the parchment out of sheepskin, through the binding process.  Simply wonderful! How Illuminated Manuscripts Were Made movie

Heres another video, part of a series on YouTube showing an artist making a manuscript of her own.  I'm posting a link about the pricking process, which is how Medieval calligraphers transferred the ruling to their pages in preparation for lettering.  The whole series is worth watching - the artist has included segments on many different steps in the process, including one which shows how she paints some of the highlights into her illuminations.