The pudgy flower garlands may also be found on their own, and within large initial caps. If you are feeling particularly ambitious, illustrations of people, animals, or little scenes may be painted around, inside, beside, under, or as part of the letter. The illuminators of this period really liked complete borders, either around the text or around a picture which could take up more than half the page. These borders sometimes had cartouches at each corner, and sometimes had more cartouches along the edge. Every example of complete borders that I have seen in this style is rectangular.
Some borders are very ornate and reproducing the outlines of the design can take hours.
Initial caps may be within the confines of the border with the rest of the text or they may be incorporated into the border. Obviously, those two options only come up if all or part of the text is within the border. In many cases, but not all, every capital letter on a page would be illuminated in some way. Illumination example Colours used for calligraphy and illumination in this style are many and varied. Shading was often used to give the illusion of depth, especially in geometric designs and miniatures.