You Bet Collette

Mistress Camille asked me for a little help on a scroll she was working on… She had the painting but calligraphy is not her jam (that’s OK, we love you anyway 😉 ). I took a look at the exemplar that she was working and thought “ahhh yes! I can help with that!”

And here we are, with loopy, swirly, dainty calligraphy amidst the beautiful art of Mistress Camille des Jardins.

For the calligraphy, I chose a style separate from the original page, because I thought this style matched better that the original. Truthfully, the whole book, Mira Calligraphae Monumenta, is filled with all sorts of calligraphy styles and I find some work better by interchanging the text or images.

Because the original calligraphy was incredibly dainty, I chose to use a crow quill, Brausse 66EF to be exact. It was the smallest one that I had, and also the smoothest on pergamanata.

Because I had chosen a calligraphy style that was not found in one of my study books (with the alphabet all laid out ready for you to use) I had to write my own. I went through the whole page picking out letters and writing them in abc order, designing some that did not appear on the page (like z, or numbers). This helped me write the text with reference.

Overall, I am so pleased with how this turned out. It was tiny and mighty, like Embla herself, and I extend my most sincere VIVAT to her for her continued creations!

My very first and second scrolls were floral scrolls. There is a special place in my heart for the movement of petals on a page and the way light dances across each and every surface.

When I was asked to create a Baronial Scroll for this recipient, I decided to do things a little differently. I did not focus on their persona, like I typically do, but instead found out a little about them and the things they like in their environment.

Purple flowers. Morning Glories. OK – I got this.

Welp. Turns out Morning Glories are… not really found in medieval manuscripts… or, at least, I had not found any. There were a few flowers that had the same shape and essence as a Morning Glory, but the actual design of the page was meh. And we are not going for meh here.

So, instead, I tried to find something that captured the ooo and ahh of a Morning Glory; color, shape, its movement of opening and closing. When I laid my eyes on this exemplar it seemed a perfect match to me. >>> http://ica.themorgan.org/manuscript/page/52/112362

One thing that I changed last minute, and I am glad that I did, was how to first line of text matched up with the capital letter. In my original design, I tried to match it as closely to the exemplar as possible… but it was awkward, and it bothered me so much. So! I fixed it once everything else was done and I coud see how I wanted it to lay out.

At the end of everything, I have not been more pleased with my catering of texture and light; the near fabric-like movement of the petals.

To Baroness Mægwynn filia Brun, VIVAT! A most deserving recognition.

Sometimes it is a lot of fun to create something that does not yet he a home…

What do I mean?

I mean, creating a Champion Scroll that does not yet have a recipient!

Why do I like doing these every now and again? I shall tell you…

I would say, 95% of the time I find so much joy in the research and matching of exemplars to various personas – being able to make something that speaks of another person’s personality and interests. But then there is that 5%, that small amount of time that I enjoy complete WHIMSY! CHAOS! ART FOR THE SAKE OF ART!

Creating Champion Scrolls satiates that desire. Because I get to create something just because I like it! And in this case, I really like this >>> https://manuscripts.kb.nl/zoom/BYVANCKB:mimi_76g9:131v

Vivat to the recipient of the Stonemarche Baronial Archery Champion Award!

Goodness, time flies when you are having fun! *THANK YOU* to those who read this, patiently waiting my posts. So! Let’s get into it!

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you will know that one of my favorite things is the research aspect of scroll work. I absolutely love finding out more about a person’s persona, finding sources that will reflect that person, and then the actual *doing* of the scroll.

Though I had never met Lada Monguligin, I was determined to find something that embraced the honor of a Court Barony, but also displayed the exuberance that is Eastern European art and architecture.

How did I do this? Well, here is my process:
1. Research the recipient – first I check an EK Wiki (best and preferred method), then a FB page (which one times if tough if it is both Mundane and SCAdian), and only if there are no leads, I will find out which group they play with and see if friends or family can give me any information.
2. Explore exemplars – Lately, one of my favorite archive to use is the Getty. Their collection is vast and the digitization is stellar for most illuminations. The zoom feature (which I always use) is also very simple (trust me when I say, they are not all like that).
3. Create! – pretty self explanatory here.

To expand a little bit on the “explore exemplars” bit…. I dont just mystically find what I am looking for right away. I can take up to a week looking through countless books and paintings to try to find something that speaks to me. It can be frustrating for some, but don’t give up! This is the basis for all that you will create, and *when* you find the right piece it will make all the difference.

For this particular piece, I wanted something Russian, but (if you have read some of my previous posts) we know that many Eastern European manuscripts 15-17th c can be extremely difficult to come by. This means we need to get creative. Usually in search bars, I will search by either location, date, or both (if I have all of that information). In this case, I first searched the time frame (by clicking on the 1600’s link) and then use the “refine” feature to search for countries or areas that would work for the persona. Here are the areas that I searched for, in the order that I searched them: Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Bulgaria. I did this on a few other sites, including the Morgan, the British Library, and the Web Gallery of Art. After my search, I decided on this beauty: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107SQA

Something that really captured my attention with this Armenian exemplar was the colors, and the movement of the architecture over the page. It felt very alive and exquisite; precisely what I was looking for.

After I found what I was looking for, I reached out to a dear friend Master Ivan M Rezansky, for Russian translation. The recipient’s persona studies Russian and I thought it most appropriate to create something that would encourage continued studies. The

The hardest part of this whole endeavor was trying to find a way to incorporate the Baronial Coronet into a piece of art that does not share that original design style. I fussed around with various coronet sketches all over the page, and, I kid you not, in a dream the design came to me. It just made sense. I rushed to message my dear friend Mistress Camille des Jardins to see if this was something that would not only look good, but be well received by the recipient. We agreed on the non-traditional development and painting commenced.

I am so pleased with how this turned out, and still ogle at bright colors and whimsical curves. VIVAT to Baroness Lada Monguligin!!!

Back in 2017, Kevin and I met working for the same company. Long story short, they and their partner are the reason that I am in the SCA. So when I got the scroll assignment for their Silver Tyger, I did everything I could to create something that would both commend their achèvements, and say Thank You.

Now, anyone who knows Kevin knows that being ostentatious is not their style. I was given a location (Kiev, Ukraine), but there was no real timeframe that I was to adhere to. Searching archive after archive I struggled to fine *anything* from any time period from that area. Thinking historically, the area that is modernly known as the Ukraine between the years 1150-1710 were under great fluctuation, power struggles, and land divisions. With this in mind, it made sense that I was struggling to find something that belonged to the ‘Ukraine’. I instead started searching for exemplars that would have been created under the names of surrounding countries that would have been part of great power exchanges, mainly Poland, Lithuania, and Russia. This tactic opened up many more options for me to search archives and museums.

After widening my search, I set to finding something that I thought would reflect Kevin’s personality and preferences. Now, for those of you playing along at home – this area of the world is *known* for creating bold, elaborate, ornate, and ostentatious arts. I wanted the art to be bold, but not ostentatious, colorful but not distracting. I also wanted to be able to work the Silver Tyger into the art if I could (I prefer doing that).

And this is what I found! It was perfect! 

A rough sketch was handed off to Mistress Ana Mickel von Salm for calligraphy and words were created by Master Maxton Gunn (My goodness! Those words!), and when all was in order, colors were laid. 

To Lord Kevin O’Noe, VIVAT!

Scroll for the Order of the Laurel for Master Roiberd MacNeill at War of Roses – Preface to the Gospel of St Mark, Lindesfarne Gospel (700), British Library, fol 90r-v, and Lists of feasts with readings from the Gospel of St John, fol 208r-v (2022)

Oh my dear friend. I wanted to create something so personal, that captured everything you are and what you do. It was an honor to be able to do this, and I hope that what I have created can even touch the beauty that is your art. 

Oh golly, there were so many ideas for this scroll! I knew from the beginning that Roibeard wanted something early period, but wasn’t sure in which direction I should run with it. Should I do something huuuuuuge with very little words, and more illumination, or should I focus on the text, but sacrifice the words? With early period, sadly, most exemplars focus more on one or the other. But I wanted to give both. What do we do when we want both? Make it happen!

I searched and searched, and finally felt inspired by the images in the Lindisfarne Gospel, of St Matthew, St Mark, St Luke and St John, each with an animal companion writing their respective gospels. I liked the posturing of these narrators because these images did something unique in that they captured someone at work in their element. This felt very appropriate as everyone who has had the pleasure of meeting Roibeard has seen him hard at work, sharing his knowledge, relaxed in his blacksmithing element. It also seemed appropriate to mirror that working vigil that Roibeard was planning to have. Of the four saints, I chose the image of St Mark, as I felt the lion greatly resembled Appa, our friend’s dear companion.

In the original, the Saint wears a halo of gold, but I thought this the perfect opportunity to include Roibeard’s Laurel wreath instead, modeling the leaves from the Book of Kells. I also chose to “zoom in” the image, so that Roibeard could be depicted working at his blacksmithing bench (which I haven’t seen, but hope it isn’t too far off). Finally, there was the text.

Early period calligraphy is so much fun, with its rounded letters. It all feels very whimsical. For the calligraphy page I chose to illuminate a large letter F to tie the two pages together. A similar small F is found in the original text, just a bit smaller than shown here. *look at all the tiny dots!*

To a dear friend and blacksmith, to a kind soul and dedicated artisan, and to a Master of their craft and life-long learner, vivat!

I had recently come across this exemplar in a Facebook group and was completely transfixed by the striking use of contrasting red and black ink to create strong and engaging imagery. Flipping through a number of the pages, I finally found “the one”… The image of the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, and how perfect this would be for “a scroll for later use”. I saved the image and waited patiently for the appropriate scroll assignment.

Sometimes I find these scrolls that are so inspirational, so beautiful they capture your attention immediately. I don’t always have a plan for them. I don’t always know if they will ever get used. But I squirrel them away like the happy scribe that I am so that *maybe* *soemday* I will get a chance to use the exemplar. Sometimes it will be as a coloring page, sometimes it is as part of a research project. Other times I will create a scroll or a commission peice. 

In this instance, I held on to this exemplar for nearly 6 months before I realized how I was going to use it. When I finally received the scroll assignment I immediately decided to go through my “review again later” exemplars rather than investigating a new one (which is usually what I do because, honestly, I forget about the “review again later” list hahahaha). 

After deciding that I was going to use this exemplar for a Golden Mantle, I opted to recreate St George as a different type of marksman, illustrating the skill of our dear recipient. I used images I found on their Facebook to recreate their kit as best as I could, focusing on the helm and bow.

Finally, it was time to paint! As with any tiny, detail work, I try to get the big, messy stuff out of the way first; that being the red! After laying that I was able to use my size 0 brush to add any black detailing, and voila! 

I think my absolute favorite part of this scroll is how the bold border directs your line of sight. Something so simple as acanthus leaves running up the side of the scroll, guiding you to look upon the beast and its slayer. Stunning! 

My deepest congratulations to Lord Lark Falchner. Vivat!

About a month ago I was approached by a mentor, and fellow scribe to see if I would be willing to work on a baronial scroll last minute. I was more than happy to assist as I had just finished a big project and was feeling a bit empty-plated. 

The benefit of working with recipients that have a detailed EK Wiki is there is very little guesswork that goes into what to create for them. In this case, Galfraedus was careful to include his favorite scroll style: bar and ivy. 

But if you have read this far and scrolled through this many posts, you must know by now that I like to be a bit… extra. It makes me happy! For my friend Galfreadus I chose an exemplar with some detail. Some very small details… very, very small detail. 

Let’s talk about diapering. I was introduced to diapering a few years back when I started scribal. I was looking through the printed copies of scrolls that Mistress Camille has made, showing one piece in particular with a large area of diapering. If I am remembering correctly, it was from The Hunt by Gaston Phoebus. It was glorious, and everything that I wanted to create in a background. So, when researching Bar and Ivy for Galfraedus, one requirement was there needed to be a space for diapering. Fortunately for me, the exemplar that I chose was full of capital letters that already had diapering designs. It was perfect! Even more lucky, was there was a capital letter D, precisely what I need for my scroll.

For anyone doing diapering, I highly encourage the use of an Aimes Lettering Guide, or something similar. It allows your lines to be even, smooth, and straight. Another things I recommend is laying down your background base color *before* you put your lines for the diapering. This way you can see the lines over the paint, rather than having to guess where they are through the background color. I tried both methods and found it was MUCH easier to paint with the lines over the colored background.

My last recommendation is, in my opinion, the most important, and that is to invest in good quality, and very pointed brushes. Personally, I prefer very small brushes for my micro painting, but the same effect can be accomplished with larger brushes as long as the point is fine.

I am so very pleased with how this scroll turned out and my hope is that I have the opportunity to continue my pursuit of micro painting (all of that find detailed work) because it truly has brought my great joy. 

Vivat to Galfraedus of New Forest!

Being able to create art for friends is one of the best feelings in the world. I desire so deeply to capture the friendship, comradery, laughter, and respect that I have with those that I know, because this is a way that I can say “thank you” without tripping over my words or being completely awkward (as I most often am). When I was approached to create the calligraphy for my friend Devillin’s Master of Defense scroll, I could not have been more excited, because I had been wanting to show my appreciation to this human for quite some time.

The illuminator (Mistress Camille desJardins) and I talked about creating a Mira calligraphiae style scroll because it would allow us to add alllll of the things that makes Devillin, well, Devillin! For instance, we *needed* a fox and thistles, there was just no doubt in that!

My job was “simple”… flip through the Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta and choose a calligraphy style to recreate… which I have to say is not actually simple. This manuscript is one of my favorites, for the very same reason that it was difficult to complete this task – every single page in that manuscript is completely different; each page has calligraphy completely unique to that page.

Eventually I chose fol 15. I loved the way the calligraphy moved on the page; how the shape the words created was just as much art as the words that were written. I thought this was a perfect description for someone who lives, and speaks courtesy, honesty, and truth.

Once the calligraphy was laid it was shipped off to Mistress Camille for the illumination. And oh, what a breathtaking job indeed! Together, the movement of the calligraphy and the illumination mirror Devillin in motion; a fencer and their bought. A deadly dance.

I also had the pleasure of creating these patches for Devillin’s MoD gauntlets. A depiction of the MoD badge surrounded by thistles completed on linen with cotton DMC (stem, chain, and satin stitches).

To my dear friend – vivat!

It has been a little bit of time since I have worked on a Baronial scroll, so I was very excited to be asked to create something for Lord Gerhardt von Hohensee at Harper’s Retreat 2021.

I did not have an idea of what I wanted to create for this scroll ahead of time, so rather than rooting through my usual exemplars, I decided to do a general search through The British Library, another excellent resource to do generalized illumination searches.

For this scroll, I chose the search criteria date (1550-1580), location Italy, and description of miniature, and scrolled through until I found something that I felt represented Gerhardt. I have previously found excellent miniatures with full paged images over full page wording, which is the reason I chose the additional search criterial of “miniature”.

Within this series of miniature cartouche, I decided on this particular one because of the corner capping seablatts. Gerhardt’ arms have seablatts and felt this was a nice ode to him as an individual.

Some of my favorite scrolls to make are ones that include minuscule details. I feel they add a kind of depth that you cant get with shading alone, and they also give the recipient something new to discover. In this instance, I was sure to include the minuscule scales through the seablatts.

Vivat Lord Gerhardt von Hohensee!

I do not personally know Tessa, but I know of her service to the East, and was therefore very excited to be able to prepare this scroll to reflect her time and efforts.

One of my favorite parts about creating a scroll is the research! Yes, I know it can appear daunting, but once you know the few steps to take it can be quite enjoyable, honestly!

One of my favorite resources is the Web Gallery of Art to do a generalized search. Meaning, if I don’t already have an idea of style for a scroll, and only have information like locale and date, this is a great place to start your research. This resource is very user-friendly, allowing you so search by time-frame, artist, country of origin, and style of art. One of these days I will create a whole post on research, and “How to find what you are looking for”… eventually!

For this image, I searched 1351-1400 Italy (illumination) using the general criteria I know of this SCAdian to guide me. Check out my search results HERE

One BIG thing that I learned throughout this process was actually related to calligraphy. A nice discussion with master Harold von Aurbach brought to light a very interesting thing that medieval calligraphers did – using one letter to create something of a “shortcut” to creat another letter. Essentially an abbreviated pairing of letters. This happens a lot with the ligature “r”. In the middle of words, gothic scribed would use the stem of an o, b, d, or p to create what we know as the lowercase “r”. As calligraphy progressed, it was occasionally used in this same way with the letters a, w, and sometimes y. So if you can image a word like “reward” would have a different looking r at the beginning of the word compared to the end of the word.

Another HUGE hurdle for me was painting a person. I have mentioned this before, and I shall mention this many time after ; humans are difficult to paint (personally). I accept this challenge as often as I can, and truly I feel that I have crested the hill. Capturing movement and weight in the garment was difficult but I was able to accomplish it with varying viscosities of gouache and using draped cloth over mannequin for reference.

A huge VIVAT to THL Tessa Martini d’Agostino.

Scroll for the Order of the Silver Crescent to Tessa Martini d’Agostino at Harper’s Retreat (2021) – Acerb, by Cecco a’Ascoli (1380). Plut 40.52. Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence.

https://www.wga.hu/html_m/zgothic/miniatur/1351-400/2italian/45italia.html

As can often happen, I did not personally know the recipient of this particular award, but that did not stop me from investigating everything I could about them for newly bestowed honor.

This particular person’s persona is that of a 1c Briton from the are of Western Wales. After a bit of consultation (THL Roideard mac Neill mhic Ghille Eoin and Magistra Audrye Beneyt) the idea was birthed to turn the La Téne mirror into a scroll.

I always start with a complete sketch of the illumination before I put down my lines for words. I do this because there are times when the illumination creeps out of its borders (purposefully) and I never want that to affect my calligraphy sizing/spacing. In this case, though the illumination will be far from the calligraphy, it is still a habit I keep.

Next I put in the lines for the calligraphy. Generally speaking, if it isn’t Gothic style script I will ALWAYS do a mock-up to make sure that my calculations for the nib size are correct, as well as there being good spacing, and over-all good look to the text. This does take twice as long (because you are writing everything twice) but it is not only a way to adjust to any “oops” in your lettering, but is also free calligraphy practice!

For this scroll I chose to use an early uncial hand, being that it is usually found a bit earlier in period that insular. This part was estimation, since the mirror does not actually have any text to reference.

After the calligraphy was done, I went to work laying the miniatum ink. This ink was much thinner than regular miniatum I have used in the past, but VERY easy to work with. I chose to lay three thin layers over 24 hours, making sure each dried completely before laying the next one.

Once I laid the last layer of miniatum, it was time to lay gold! For such a large area, I found the cleanest, easiest, and least headache-inducing way to do this was to use scrap pieces for the handle first, and then used four full sheets of gold to cover the mirror itself. There was PLENTY of overlap, and that’s ok. I used a fifth gold page to help cover any areas of missing gold or fix any scraps, flyaways, or rips that happened before everything was firmly attached.

In the event don’t of that made sense, because you have never laid gold leaf, have no fear.

METHODOLOGY:

-First, choose your sticky base, otherwise known as adhesive size (or just size for short). Modern supplies such has miniatum, miniatum are modern alternatives, where as period size was made from gum ammoniac, garlic, honey, and sugar.

-Humidify your miniatum (I lightly breathe on it, as if I were fogging a mirror).
– This activates the sticking component in the size. Wait a few seconds.Take a small section of gold leaf (still attached to the wax paper it comes on) and press it firmly onto the area you wish to cover. I then gently rub a small river stone or embossing tool over the outline of the image to make sure the gold stays put. I previously tried not doing this and had trouble with the edges of the gold leaf coming off.
-After removing the wax paper, I take a smooth flat paint brush, brush it on my oily nose (the gold needs something to help move it) and tuck the gold onto itself and move away any extra that have attached to the paper where I did not lay miniatum. This part of the process sounds so strange if you have never done it in person.
-Finally, if areas are looking a little cloudy, I take some the wax paper, and place it over the gold before smoothing it again (gently). There is also the option of using a silken pounce bag to help create additional shine.

Gold was down!! Woooo! Now, time for the detailing. On the extent piece, each section was area shaded with both veto legislation and horizontal lines. I torn the house apart attempting to find something that could be used for this project, and finally decided a number 2 flat nib for calligraphy would be the best choice.

When I had shaded to my heart’s content, I was presented with the final product! Vivat to THL Vindiorix Orodovix of Clan Preachain (aka Black Finn)!

When I think of arts within the A&S realm, I am doing no justice by not considering things outside of calligraphy, illumination, pottery and jewelry making. There are so many other arts, countless that should be filling the hearts and minds of those in the Society. At that end, I had the pleasure of creating a scroll for such a skill; the research and creation of periods arrows (fletching, shafts, etc) and wanted to allow my skill to reflect theirs.

This scroll was for Timothy of a Sherwood, an archer of the East, and I wanted to create something that would focus on the arrows as much as the archer (and creator of those arrows). I could think of no better exemplar for this than the Aberdeen Bestiary. Within this bestiary is an illumination of an archer hunting Magpies, and the image as a whole is very inviting. You are drawn up through the image from the feet, following the projection of the arrow, which is what I desired for this illumination.

I began with the outline and calligraphy, sketching everything, down to the very fine details. When I do this I have a better understanding of space and what I need to accomplish, and use it less as a guide for the actual paint. Once the outline and calligraphy was complete, I started with the gold.

For such a large area I used gold gouache, which mimics the flat shell gold of the exemplar. Such a large area requires a large brush, and so switched from my usual size 0 to a size 8. It is still very important to use the same techniques with larger brushes that you would with smaller brushes, even if it is tempting to rush through because you feel you are getting done quicker. This means creating appropriate consistency gouache, puddling and pushing for an even gold layer, and using smaller brushes to get into the nooks and crannies for sharp edging. Gold gouache is finicky, but don’t give up! There are a number of exemplars that are excellent to practice these skills if you want to.

After the gold, I started with the colors. Three major colors were used: red, orange, and blue. Within these colors I created 3-4 shades by adding white or black. For the orange and red, I used the color right from the tube to create the “darkest” color, and slowly added white to create a few more shades. The blue, however, I added a bit of black to because it was a bit too bright to match the exemplar.

This style of painting, creating shading with distinct overlaying lined areas, is not one that I ave much practice in, but does allow for the eye to grasp shading at its core. It reminds me almost of a paint by number! I highly recommend giving it a shot if you have not tried this style before.

Once all of the color were down, I went in and did a bit of white work and added the black for the Magpies and outlining. This particular style of illumination NEEDS outlining to complement the lined shading of the pictures and give true true to the images. For much of the outlines I used a size 0 liner, but for the arrow and some of the reallllly tiny white work I switched to my favorite size 0000 detail brush. It was very important to me that the arrow be outlined in a way that complemented the size of the image without drawing your eye to the arrow first.

This creation process was such a fun time, and for anyone who loves instant gratification, I highly recommend this illumination style! Thank you East Kingdom for allowing me to continue to create these beauties for the populace; it is truly an honor!

YIS~

In early Spring I was asked to create a scroll for this wonderful SCAdian and knew that for this scroll to be complete, it to reflect their personality and their persona; a challenge I willingly accepted.

For the exemplar, I did not stick so tightly to persona locale as I typically do, because I wanted to be able to reflect Mora’s personality more; the thing that drives the creation and beauty in their art. I pondered for a few days about this, and in that contemplation, it is likely that Ireland (circa 1541) would have various European influence secondary to English expansion. So for this scroll, I chose…

Initial D: Saint John the Baptist

Matteo da Milano (Italy 1492 – 1523) folio 4. The Getty, Digital.

… after all, an obnoxious Hedge Witch needs flowers, insects, starry skies and grotesques! IT IS A NEED!

For this particular style, the started with the dark background. In the past I have started with the gold, but because there are around 10-million little dots of gold on TOP of the dark background, it made more sense to do the gold second.

For the background color I chose to mix a dark grey with black, creating an “almost” black. I found this to be more accurate a color depiction than stark black , based on the exemplar.

There has been one other scroll as of today that I have done tiny dots for, and this scroll used the very same technique; break it down. It truly does seem overwhelming to put down ~100 dots in a 1 inch square area, step back, and realize you still have 80 square inches to go… but breaking it down, AND taking frequent breaks makes it much for tolerable. For this technique I used a 0000 round point Windsor & Newton brush, much finer than others than I have used in the past. This sized brush needs much thinner paint than others because there are (literally) only a few fibers being used. For other scrolls, I have used a longer, 0 liner brush and found the results excellent, however, gold gouache likes to spread so a smaller brush is what I used to the dots did not grown in size from what I intended.

Next I laid the gold. I find it easier to work colors around the gold gouache because the gold acts almost as a barrier for bleeding and unintentional ‘ooops’. I also find it easier to blend mistakes into the gold if paint is to thin or my hands get shaky.

Generally for flowers, gems, etc. I have had great luck painting by number. And by that I mean, painting all things red, blue, green, yellow, etc. before moving on to the next thing. The only time I do not find this helpful is when painting acanthus leaves (because I use my hands and the colors to help me determine the direction the leaves are folding). With such busy of a background, sometimes areas get missed with this method, so to make sure I haven’t missed anything, I turn the scroll upsides down and look over everything that I have painted. For me, I am able to notice things missing when I do this (like a leaf I forgot to paint) because the image is no longer what I expect it to be and my brain stops filling in the missing information.

This scroll was an absolute delight to make and I can’t wait for it to arrive in its new home.

https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/224496/matteo-da-milano-initial-d-saint-john-the-baptist-italian-about-1520/

Vivat Mora Ruadh!

I get so very giddy when I have the chance to do a scroll. It’s a level of excitement that I cannot describe in words, but really can only be experienced in person. This scroll is no different.

I do not know Richard personally, but in reading his biography and love of all things art, I knew the perfect exemplar for his scroll.

About 1-2 months ago, I stumbled upon a series of exemplars that I wanted to do “someday”. Sometimes it’s hard to say that they will happen within a certain time frame because I really try to align the scrolls with the recipient’s persona or personality (if I know them well). Other times, if I don’t know them very well, I attempt to reflect the recipient’s accomplishments in the scroll style. In this case, I attempted to do just that.

Richard Heyworth’s accomplishments can be seen and read on his EK Wiki, so I won’t list them all here; but one thing that did stick out most to me was his love for the work he does with Athena’s Thimble. I am always in awe of the work presented in that group and I wanted a scroll that reflected the elegance, intricacies, and detail that Thimble members exude.

As always, I started with the calligraphy, saving the capitals for last. I always find this the easiest way to approach the scroll because if I mess up and have to scrap the scroll, I have only invested the calligraphy (which is where I am most likely to do that) and not all of the illumination too.

I could go into the step-by-step that I usually do with my posts, but to be honest, the steps moved so fluidly from one to the other it is almost hard to describe them.

The most challenging thing about this scroll was creating all of the individual white dots in the diapering. Whoa, there were a lot of them! At first it was a bit overwhelming, but once I started applying the dots I chose to break up the large border into three different parts, and then broke those sections into smaller areas of three. IT WAS THE ONLY WAY!

This was my lesson learned

When things seem “too much” and like you cant even start your project (because the idea of it is so overwhelming), try taking itty bitty chunks out at a time. For me, these dots seemed so intimidating I didn’t even want to start them. But 2 hours later, three breaks, and a few jumping jacks, I was done!

The layers of this scroll were wonderful to see develop. I haven’t had the chance yet to create something with such depth: shadows, diapering, floating jewels, border, ALL IN ONE! But this so well describes the recipient that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make this beautiful exemplar.

Tiny gold leaves everywhere!!! *grins wildly*

Back at the end of 2020 I worked on a lovely scroll of arms. Having just started using gold leaf on scrolls I wanted to find something that I was confidant I could actually buy also interesting enough to look at that it wouldn’t feel like a labor without reward.

Picking an ideal scroll was first on the docket. I found this exemplar and thought it perfect to practice my skills in both gold leaf and line work. I do try to make very intentional choices when developing my scrolls so that I have a skill that I can show off and practice. I think it really important to have that balance when learning something new.

The calligraphy was placed first. Only on rare occasion do I not do this first – it was recommended to me in the beginning of my scribal career and I truly can say it has saved many scrolls from doom!

After laying the calligraphy I put down the minatum. In my previous post I detailed my miniatum process; but for those of you who might not want to switch pages… —>

My method is this:

– Humidify your miniatum (I lightly breathe on it, as if I were fogging a mirror). This activates the sticking component in the glue. Wait a few seconds.
-Take a small section of gold leaf (still attached to the wax paper it comes on) and press it firmly onto the area you wish to cover. I then gently rub a small river stone or embossing tool over the outline of the image to make sure the gold stays put. I previously tried not doing this and had trouble with the edges of the gold leaf coming off.
-After removing the wax paper, I take a smooth flat paint brush, brush it on my oily nose (the gold needs something to help move it) and tuck the gold onto itself and move away any extra that have attached to the paper where I did not lay miniatum. This part of the process sounds so strange if you have never done it in person.
-Finally, if areas are looking a little cloudy, I take some the wax paper, and place it over the gold before smoothing it again (gently). There is also the option of using a silken pounce bag to help create additional shine.

Though this scroll technically came BEFORE my last post (time gets away from me and I forget things >.< ) I really did learn a lot in this gold laying process.

For instance: I panic messaged my teacher because my gold wasn’t sticking. The methods of trouble shooting later and we find out I’m not sealing down the edges of the gold after I press it onto the miniatum (using an embossing tool or a smooth stone very gently around the edges). Another trouble shooting moment: WHY IS THE GOLD WRINKLING?! Come to find out, it is better to lay a few thin layers of minatum than one thick layer, which prevents the adhesive from wrinkling as it sets and dries. Who knew?! No worries though, I just relaid the gold in areas that I felt were not substantial, or never took the to miniatum – easy peasy!

Aside from my wonderful lessons learned, I was able to practice fine line work. I mention this just about every blog post but I think that it is very important. Many times it is the very small details that can make your art next level – that I what I am striving for. And so because I want my scrolls to have that extra so thin —> line work. Depending on what the lines are for dictates whether I use a brush or a quill. If I am outlining gold work I will use a brush because a quill scrapes away at the gold (sadness) but if I am putting down line work that stands alone (see previous post) I will most DEFINITELY use a quill (a crow quill to be exact).

All in all this was a fabulous and fun scroll to work on. I definitely don’t worn enough on scrolls in this style but would love to get a few more going in the near future!

Since I have been on a roll using my gold leaf, I thought it would be perfect to try another exemplar with some gold details. I had been oogling over the Bible de Borso d’Este for some time, and had spoken to my teacher (Baroness Audrye Beneyt) about trying one of these exemplars in the coming months. It being such an intricate exemplar, I felt I might have a hard time fitting it to someone’s personality.

A few weeks later I reached out to the signet and was happy to be asked to do a scroll for a Lady Agnes Marie de Calais. This was going to be perfect! I automatically felt a call for the recipient to have a d’Este scroll, it just fit her personality and persona so well.

For words, I reached out to Lord Drake Oranwood who made a MASTERPIECE! Please see his blog HERE for his text development.

As for the illumination, it was all in the layering:

Once I had the words down, the laid the miniatum. Previously I have had trouble laying it too thick and getting wrinkles in the texture of the gold, so this time I put down three separate thin layers and was happy to find it held its shape! Some of the smaller areas were a little tricky and I had to thin the miniatum a bit more to get the glue to move into crevices and create smaller shapes. After the miniatum dried, it was time for the gold leaf.

What a beautiful and persnickety thing, gold leaf. I really have grown to love using it, even if I curse it all the way to the end. My method is this:

– Humidify your miniatum (I lightly breathe on it, as if I were fogging a mirror).
– This activates the sticking component in the glue. Wait a few seconds.Take a small section of gold leaf (still attached to the wax paper it comes on) and press it firmly onto the area you wish to cover. I then gently rub a small river stone or embossing tool over the outline of the image to make sure the gold stays put. I previously tried not doing this and had trouble with the edges of the gold leaf coming off.
-After removing the wax paper, I take a smooth flat paint brush, brush it on my oily nose (the gold needs something to help move it) and tuck the gold onto itself and move away any extra that have attached to the paper where I did not lay miniatum. This part of the process sounds so strange if you have never done it in person.
-Finally, if areas are looking a little cloudy, I take some the wax paper, and place it over the gold before smoothing it again (gently). There is also the option of using a silken pounce bag to help create additional shine.

The result is gratifying shiny spaces, and in this case, framed with bright and happy colors!

So – on to the painting.

First I laid the outline/line work. I chose a medium brown (burnt sienna and raw sienna mixed), rather than black. Looking at the exemplar, it just didn’t seem that the outlining was done with such a dark color.

Next I laid the red. This red, however, was not a traditional red, more of a magenta. After laying the base, I shaded it. I like being able to see progress as I am working so I usually will complete a section before moving to the next.

After the red came the blue. I did the same thing; shaded the blue completely before moving on. For shading I simply added burnt sienna to make the color darker, and white to make it lighter.

After the blue I did the green. I think the green as my favorite because there was such a large are of green at the bottom (leaves) that really brought the whole thing together. Shading for the green was done with burnt sienna and medium yellow instead of white.

Next came the orange (most areas of orange were small so I did not document these as well. And then there was the silver for the wheel. I shaded the wheel with grey and white over the silver, though it was a little finicky.

The final touch was the capital letter! I like to save this for last (unless it is involving gold leaf). I don’t really have a reason for waiting to so this last, other than maybe it gives me a sense of closure. It did require some itty bitty white work to top it off!

All in all, I am so proud of this painting. The calligraphy went smoothly, the shading was superb, and I was so happy with the lining that I just squealed when I was done.

HOLY ACORNS BATMAN!

This Silver Brooch was so much fun but at the same time, I dont think I will ever paint another acorn (just kidding – if you need acorns painted, I will gladly paint them for you!).

First, this scroll was dealers choice – I was up in the air on a few designs but just couldn’t pick what I wanted to do. I had recently done a few acanthus scrolls so I didn’t want to do another one just yet (not because I don’t love them, but because I really am set on mixing it up regularly so that I can have adequate practice at all styles), and I had most recently finished an early period style scroll. I figured two other solid options were either squashed bugs (Grande Heurs d’Anne de Bretagne) or something from Mira (Mira Calligraphae Monumenta). I had not done with of those styles in quite a while.

I flipped through about 100 pages before deciding I couldn’t find anything that I thought spoke to Lady Matilda’s variety of skills and involvement. I wanted there to be a variety of objects covering the page, not necessarily specific to her persona, but to speak to the many hats worn and spoons in her pot. I then reached for my copy of Nature Illuminated and thumbed through a few images before setting on one with columbine, European acorns, and a narcissus. I though it was just lovely and decided that this would be for Lady Matilda.

I do my calligraphy first usually. After examining and practicing the calligraphy style in the original image, I decided I would need a LOT more practice with that style before putting it on paper, so I found another calligraphy style that I though was similar enough to stay true to the exemplar – and away I went!

After laying down the calligraphy, I started the illumination. Realism is my natural “go-to” when it comes to illumination, so any time I do it I try and challenge myself to do something new or hone a skill that I haven’t used in a while. For this particular scroll I wanted to focus on light and shadows. No matter how much I do it, I still have trouble capturing light in a way that is accurate to the assumed light source. So there I was, with floating foliage, trying to make them not look flat on the page.

After a few scared attempts at shadows, I finally bucked up and started adding the highlights. I like adding these last because if I misplace a shadow, it is much easier for me to make things look accurate by adjusting the location of the highlight.

The trickiest little things of this scroll were the acorns. Not so much the smooth surface of the nut/seed, but actually the bumpy surface of the shell cap…. that little acorn hat that we have a all made into little gnome umbrellas… those were the trickiest bits. I think I worked on those little acorn caps for two whole days, completely unsatisfied with how the light was being captured. And then finally, as I was sitting there thinking that I had hopelessly started something that I would not be able to finish, it hit me. It was 11PM and I went right to work…

It seems common sense now that I would treat each little bump as its own sphere, its own marble of space on the cap, and then all of those little marbles would just be connected and blended in a way that would make an acorn cap. At the start of all of this, I definitely did not break things down in this way. I was thinking of the cap as just one unit; as one lone shape with textures I was unsure how to define. The moral of the story is that, sometimes breaking things down into a more primitive shape or idea can help you take the appropriate bite sizes from your art, rather than attempting to take it all on at once (which has a tendency to overwhelm me).

I want to encourage anyone who wants to try that challenging piece of art to go for it. Break it down into bite size pieces and put it together one bit at a time. You can do it!

Perhaps I say this every time I post, “I tried this new style…”. To some extent it is so true, and that is because EVERYTHING is still so new. I have been illuminating for almost 2 years now (maybe 3 but who’s keeping track anyway) and I try really hard to attempt new and creative styes as often as I can. I dont have a huge gallery yet, so the styles attempted are still quote small.

Realist styles (like that found in Mira Calligraphae and the Grande Heurs d’Anne de Bretagne) speak to my natural artistic style. So, when I attempt styles that are earlier (say Book of Kells or Bar and Ivy) I find it hard to conceptualize what they are meant to represent or even if they look “right”. I am sure that I am not the only one out there that experiences imposter syndrome – “do I even have a right to make this art?” I use these styles that I am not yet comfortable with as an opportunity to squelch self doubt – “ look at this art art you have never done before and are creating right before your eyes! You go human!” Honestly, I want more than anything to be able to make a scroll that someone is happy with, that represents them and their persona. So being able to create something early period (and not want to throw it out the window) has been a battle that I feel I am slowly winning.

For this Silver Wheel, I wanted to find something that would complement the recipient’s persona, which is Early Irish/Welsh, and this meant delving into some very old images. I was able to find a lovely exemplar from the Harley Gospel Book that inspired the calligraphy and layout style. Though at first it seems an overly simple piece, I was taken aback by the intricate detailing that was required for the capital letter. The stylized capital was converted into an M, inverting the very top of the capital, and not connecting the bottom legs of the letter. I then used a section of the Lindisfarne Gospels as inspiration for my “wheel of fish” (title courtesy of Mistress Camille des Jardins) which was displayed proudly just next to the calligraphy. Within an image in the Gospels (seen below) there were a series of colorful fish, and I since I had been challenged to find a way to stylize the said Silver Wheel to match the calligraphy/illumination, I thought this would be the absolute perfect way to do it!

And of course there is the calligraphy! I cannot forget this calligraphy – I believe I went through three practice sheets before I was happy with the rounded shape of the letters. Typically I am writing in a more rigid style (gothic or similar) and only on a few occasions have I had the pleasure of round and robust letters. In the end I was very pleased with the end product, precisely the calligraphy and the illumination created the style I was aiming for.

**Side thought for this post – silver gauche is a finicky thing. I cant ever get it to lay as smoothly as gold gauche. Alas, it is the nature of pigments to do such things, so I cannot be too angry (it wont change anything about the gauche if I am). For those of you who have also had trouble with silver gauche, I hear you; just keep trying!

OK – quarantine aside, I have been meaning to rearrange a few things in my personal life to make room for more things that make me happy (I highly recommend this if you can). I have stopped activities that I no longer felt drawn to, and in return, have had more time to do the things that I love; one of these being illumination.

Ahh yes, when paper meets brush it is truly a joy. I love the adventure of looking through exemplars to find the perfect one, mixing paints like a mad chemist, and confining myself to the study (where I music and use my newly acquired drafting desk!). If you have a swoon-worthy space, I hope that you can appreciate the dedication it takes to not spend ever waking hour in there.

It was not long after this life-rearrange that a Silver Rapier crossed my desk. I went straight to the books and decided on an exemplar from a Book of Hours:

Book of Hours 1470’s

(Banco Rari 332) Folio 171v. Bibliotheca Nazionale Centrale. Florence, Italia

The exemplar was perfect. I would have a chance to work on my tiny people skills, while also creating elaborate acanthus (which we already know I am very fond of).

The calligraphy style was one that I had done before, so I was confident that only one practice round was needed. I always do a practice round with my calligraphy to make sure that the calculated size of the letter and spacing actually fits on the page. Sometimes my math is off and I have to adjust one or the other (depending on the image – you want it to look proportional).

After the calligraphy, I started painting the acanthus leaves. These leaves would take up most of the illumination so it was best to get them out of the way first.

Once the leaves and flowers and “other” stuff was completed, it was time to work on the tiny people! Now, if you know me, you know that I have the darndest time creating people. I have not done much of it through my life so I don’t have the practiced eye as others do. But! I give it my best, and generally come out in the positive. For this scroll, I used one image from the exemplar, but I used the recipient herself for the other two image inspirations.

It took some getting used to, but I was truly happy to have the opportunity to work on my “people skills”. I have created tiny fencers in the past, so I had worked with their form and stature which gave me a slight advantage. Creating depth with people is the hardest part for me. I can make a flower look as though it is coming off the page, but my people tend to look flat. It is a matter of shading and shadowing that I have taken a strong dedication to working on.

I am a person that likes to see my progress. I like to see that hard work has created improvement. I am thankful for my teacher and her Laurel for coaching me through the ups and downs, and reminding me that change does not happen overnight, even with hard work (though I will likely keep trying!).

My most recent work was calligraphy only, but it was a chance for me to work on a style of calligraphy that I had struggled with in the past. I have noticed that as I tune my fine-mortar skills (regardless of whether it is in calligraphy, illumination, or something else) I notice a great improvement and confidence in my calligraphy work.

This project was near and dear to my heart because it was for my teacher, Baroness Audrye Beneyt’s Maunche scroll. Not a few months back, she had recommended that I try using a gridded method to improve my spacing between letters/words while calligraphing and I had an opportunity to try this method out on two scrolls. I love it! It really has helped me see what appropriate spacing looks like, and by Jove I was going to be certain to do it on this scroll too!. I lined my paper and three practice sheets and broke out my calligraphy book.

Calligraphy on Scroll for the Order of the Maunche for Audrye Beneyt for Crown’s AnS – 2020.

French Prayer Book 14th century France. Chr. Bruun: The Illuminated Manuscripts in the Great Royal Library. Copenhagen. 1890, pp. 148-150, recto 20, var 1.

Right off the bat, one thing that I noticed that differed from the calligraphy book and the exemplar was the letter ‘d’. In my calligraphy book, the letter ‘d’ had a completely hooked leg (I am describing the stick part of the ‘d’ as the leg…) and it wrapped around into this lovely loop, making the letter almost look like an 8. It was quite lovely, and I had practiced this on about 2 blanks. When I finally looked at the exemplar to think about text size, I noticed that the ‘d’ legs actually did not create an 8 at all, rather, they arched over the round part of the letter as if a person were reaching an arm over to their left side. I completed another scroll blank and found that this small difference actually changed the entire look of the scroll, and I was MUCH happier with how it mirrored the exemplar!

Final ink on the page: the first line was done in Cayenne Red (by Noodlers), as the exemplar also displayed the first line of the document being red, followed by black ink. Sizing was perfect and, three days later, the lines were erased and the scroll was prepared for Mistress Camille des Jardins to illuminate.

This scroll was not just special because it was for my teacher (though that was an added bonus) but it was thrilling to revisit something that I had done before (and really not that long ago) and be able to visibly see progress. I was able to see that I was,

1. Thinking about how text better fit on a page; not by guessing, but by a mathematical equation.

2. Looking at small differences between my exemplar and my letter guide book and making decisions based on historical accuracy rather than capability or lack of familiarity.

3. Improving dexterity so that I could create more fluid letter shapes, which has allowed for smaller letter side and better spacing.

Overall, this piece was a milestone for me; showing me how I have grown over the last year or so, and giving me the opportunity to display me improvements for a person that is very important in my SCAdian growth.

The final touches to the scroll (illumination) were done my Mistress Camille des Jardins.

Acanthus leaves! I have been oogling over acanthus leaves for the last year and I just want them put on everything I own, because they are just stunning little puzzles!

Back in May/June 2019 at a scribal class we discussed acanthus leaves, and their mesmerizing flow over various illuminated manuscripts. It took me nearly 6 months to put together a practice page of acanthus leaves because after I sketched them, I was truly nervous to paint them. “What if I paint the wrong side of the leaf!”, or “what if I forget a section of leaves and everything falls apart!”. I look back at these questions and can still solidly validate my creative delay.

When choosing my exemplar I only wanted to practice the acanthus leaves themselves (meaning I did not want to paint any other squiggly tendrils, or birds that might otherwise have appeared on a scroll) and I did not add any text for the same reason.

As I worked through the practice scroll, I found that it was much easier to paint whole sections, maybe a 2x2inch section, before moving on to another section. This meant painting both pink and green simultaneously. I tend to try and paint all of one color before moving to a second or third color, but when I would do this with the acanthus leaves, I was left missing sides that needed a certain color OR painting the wrong side of the leaves. It was best to take it slow…

I finished my practice acanthus leaves in November/December and was asked to create a scroll for Lady Julian Ridley to be presented at Birka. Oh how I was inspired! I leafed through some exemplars (see what i did there?!) and found the perfect acanthus inspiration. The exemplar that I shoes did not have the same type of leaf movement as the practice scroll that I did, but the idea was the same. The colors of the leaves created the movement, and though there was less leaf-flipping, the point was the essentially depict the leaves in various “lighting” so that the viewer can imagine the leaves in our plane of existence.

I still need much practice with acanthus leaves, but I am no longer terrified of their twisting, mathematical beauty. I hope to eventually recreate my practice scroll so that I can include all of the other illuminated bits (as seen in the exemplar border) so that I can use it for a scroll in the future. As for the scroll created for Lady Julian Ridley, I am very happy with the way the colors cam out. My hope is to work more on creating the images so they better fill space (as shown in the exemplar) and hopefully include images of people. I have only ever created one scroll with people and I tend to avoid them.

Scroll for the Order if the Lamp given to Lady Julian Ridley for AnS at Market Day at Birka (illumination and calligraphy) (2020) –

14thc Poems of Dante and Petrarch, Rylands Latin MS 1 (John Rylands Library, University of Manchester)

What did I learn? To paraphrase Master Maxton Gunn, if you created it once, you can create it again. I was so terrified of creating even a practice acanthus scroll that it took me much longer than it should have to create it; I as intimidated by it’s intricacy. I have certainly learned that even if it is scary and intimidating, taking one section of a scroll at a time is always an option if ever I am overwhelmed. I am very much poking forward to my next acanthus opportunity.

More flowers! Upon one rainy scribal class we were introduced to the Mira calligraphaie monumenta; a beautiful, and teeny-tiny, book of intricate brushwork. The pages depict flora and fauna complemented by sophisticated and delicate calligraphy.

We were set to work sifting through printed images of the collection, and each images had something in common – they were all pierced pages! Not every image from this document is a “pierced page”, but there are may where you will find the stem of a leaf, a blade of grass, etc. painted to appear as if a true stem was stuck through the page to hold it in place. I was fascinate and could not wait to get started!

Ironically, after this class I was tasked with making a Keystone Vert scroll (Baronial award for Stonemarch/extraordinary serve at Pennsic) for Lady Shyvan Floyd. I consulted with my teacher (Baroness Audrye Beneyt) and Mistress Camille des Jardins and collectively decided this would be the absolute perfect scroll to apply our latest class-work.

Scroll for Keystone Vert (Baronial award for Stonemarch/extraordinary serve at Pennsic) for Lady Shyvan Floyd

Hyssop officinalis L. (Hyssop) , Prunus dulcis (Almond in flower) in gouache – Mira calligraphiae monumenta; folio 37,121,124 – 1561-1562, Latin

First, I chose pergamenata over bristol and did this for the sole purpose of achieving the true “pierced” effect. The perg lets light pass through it easier than bristol, and allows the illuminator to better align the images on the front and back of the page. This small detail on the back completes the pierced aesthetic, as the pierced flora is painted on the reverse side of the page. Now, up to this point, I had not done a scroll on perg. I had practiced in classes, I had seen other people work on it, but I had not taken on this style of paper before. I was very thankful for Lord Ian the Green and his perg prep blog posts. I set to the internet to buy cuddle bone, muslin, and fine-grit sandpaper. I really waned to use gum Arabic, but being out of my price range at the time, I opted for cuddle bone. I crushed, sanded, dusted, pounced, and dusted more.

Second, I set to drawing the images that I wanted. I had to be very aware that the text that I would need to put within the scroll would be larger and longer than the text within the exemplar, so choosing images that would allow me more room for the swirling calligraphy would be important. I tend to sketch the images before I do the calligraphy, so that I have a better understanding of the space left on the page. This helps me better size the text.

Next, the calligraphy! I used Winsor & Newton Calligraphy and Dip Pen ink in Gold. I practiced the text sizing over two or three scroll blanks, so that I was sure that I would have plenty of space for the text flourishing. Something new I learned about gold calligraphy ink; it dries quickly on the nib. I had to frequently clean the nib of the ink; much more frequently than I was used to. I will say, the ink was easy to use and worked well with my nib. Having a lot of flourishing and looping letters allowed me to practice proper letter formation techniques so that I didn’t rip/scrape the paper.

Finally, the perg was preped and I was ready to go!

Because the images being illuminated were small, the perg did not wrinkle or bend when painted (which I was warned about thankfully). I found that I really liked the way the gauche worked on the perg. It was very smooth and didn’t experience any feathering/seeping of the pigment. This was also true when calligraphing – no weird feathering or seeping!

My biggest take-always from this experience were how to prepare and use pergamenata, and how to use gold ink (rather than gauche or loose-leaf gold). I had such a fun time. With this scroll and am happy to add some more tools to my scribal tool-belt.

A whole scroll in ink. No gauche. And tiny fencers! My mind was being blown as it was described to me but I was absolutely thrilled to try something new.

Since the calligraphy with my last scroll went fairly smooth I was confident I could do the calligraphy for this scroll as well. But it was the tiny fencers that worried me; their small human figures (something I never felt confident in creating) and the elaborate shading, all to be done with a crow quill.

The calligraphy took a few tries to get the spacing exactly how I wanted it, and to practice the hand (one I had not done before), and overall I was pleased. On future scrolls I will use a grid system to help me measure the spacing between words and letters (per teacher recommendation!).

To create the tiny fencers, I first located my source and attempted a free-hand drawing. I found that I wanted to make the fencers much much smaller than they needed to be for the scroll. Perhaps this was because I hoped to make them small enough that no one would see my mistakes or insecurities in them. I tried a few times to make them bigger, using tracing paper over each image. I think I went through about 5 images when I realized my images weren’t growing in size at the rate I was hoping.

So, I printed off a LARGE picture of what I wanted to draw ( and when I say large I mean 8.5”x11”) and drew from that. I found that, though I was still drawing smaller that the original image, it ended up being the appropriate size for the scroll I was making!

Everything was first drawn on tracing paper and then transferred to Bristol. The images are actually inverted from the original from the transfer process I used.

I was finally ready to use my crown quill and ink. It was quite fun to trace and shade each humanoid and see them come to life on the paper. I tend to have this fear of finishing art after I have drawn it because I am afraid of completely obliterating what I have worked so hard to create.

Encouragement from friends and lots and LOTS of practice runs gave me the confidence to finish my creation for the Harpers Retreat Rapier Champion.

I owe my exploration and practice of calligraphy to my second ever scroll.

After the first backlog day with Malagentia I had so much fun creating a squashed bug illumination that I wanted to do it again! I clicked through the scanned images on line and found one that I was happy with and started to paint.

The Stonemarche scribal backlog day was coming up and rather than trying to complete one backlog in that time frame I felt it would be more helpful to have one ready to turn in (or close to it). Upon arriving at the backlog day, I was quickly put to work. But not in the way I thought. As I attempted to turn in the scroll in I was asked if I would mind doing the calligraphy before handing it off. Now, up to this point I had never done calligraphy with a nice calligraphy pen. I had only ever played around with practice pens with huge nibs; and boy-howdy was I nervous.

Paeoniaceae in gouache

dites Grandes Heures d’Anne de Bretagne by Bourdichon (1457-1521), published 1505-1510, Latin.

I agreed, so long as if I didn’t finish I could take it home (this was also my way of covering my back in case I royally messed up the illumination, because I knew that I could easily make another one). Mistress Camille desJardins sat with me and walked me through the steps on how to find the text that best matches that source material, how to prep the paper (lines and appropriate nib size) and I got to work. I borrowed some ink an nibs from Lady Cwenthryn, some paper and books from Mistress Camille and I set out on the adventure that would soon be my calligraphy practice.

To make this a long story short, I went through three practice runs; first practicing the alphabet, then writing out most of the words while adjusting the nib size so that the text fit on the paper, then doing a to-scale mock of the text to adjust spacing, and practice spelling. It took me about 6 hours to complete all of the practice. I was nervous and my hand felt exhausted. However, I was determined after all of this practice to finally put it on the scroll that I had created a few days before.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Two hours later it was done. My neck and back ached, my hand was now cramping and my eyes were blurring. I was stressed and scarred.

It turned out without any spelling mistakes, had appropriate spacing, and overall there was little slanting of worlds (I was not working on a tilted desk, but flat school tables.

I was reminded throughout the process to take frequent breaks, stretch and walk away if I needed to. I had fabulous people stopping over to encourage me to not give up even if I was frustrated with how I was creating a particular letter (Ástrídr Sægeirsdottir). Also having a fresh new pair of eyes on your work helps you uncover a new method of doing something or a new supply you can use for future projects.

I am so thankful for thankful for this day because it gave me to courage to do calligraphy outside of the comfort of home.

March 2019 – Malagentia Scribal Backlog Day

I decided that since I had been going to scribal class for a few months (since October 2018 actually) and really wanted to dive into the world of illumination and calligraphy I wanted to apply what I had been learning and try to help the Kingdom with scroll backlogs. I was an absolute nervous wreck because I had no idea what would be expected of me or what I was even going to create. Up to this point I had learned a number of illumination and calligraphy techniques but had not actually executed anything tangible.

I was placed at a small table in the center of the room with a piece of bristol and started leafing through books for images I though I would be able to complete in the allotted time. Eventually I was joined by Mistress Bryn de la Luna and she took me under her wing to teach me the ways of the squashed bugs!

Small tangent: I absolutely love the squashes bug and late period Flemish realism. It is definitely my “go-to” when making a scroll.

After chatting for about 30 minutes and watching her techniques, I set to work to create my very first scroll… ever. Oh boy was I a sweaty shaking wreck! My final product took about 10 hours (from start to finish, including sketch time) and was given as a back-log scroll for the Kingdom. I used gouache on bristol.

Physalis alkekengi (Chinese Lantern) with Odenata and Diptera

dites Grandes Heures d’Anne de Bretagne by Boudichon (1457-1521) published 1505-15-10.

The backlog scroll was awarded at GNEW XXXIII.

With this being such a foreign concept to me, that is, I had never assembled such a work before, of course there were stumbling blocks. That very day I think I had upward of three people tell me to walk away as I waited for the paint to dry so I could start the next phase of painting. I was so eager to keep painting that I forgot one of the most important things about gouache: let it dry. I still think back to this day and chuckle!

More importantly, what I learned that day was that it was OK to ask for help. Had Mistress Bryn not offered some advise I think I would have been too scared to even start! And more importantly, knowing that everyone starts as a beginner is something I truly remind myself all of the time. “Beginnger”can mean something different for everyone, but whatever your idea of “beginner”, the universal understanding is that everyone begins; everyone has a starting point regardless of their skill level going into it, and it is from that point that we develop our skills, acquire our knowledge and eventually pass all of that on to others who are willing to learn. I am so thankful for this day, not just to have produced a scroll, but because I learned more about myself in those 8 hours than I had in a very long time.