learning to paint 3D

Inspired by Jane Grey's prayerbook, I'm looking at later-period MS and finding many beautiful items...but I don't (yet) have the skills to do the art justice.

This month the British Library is featuring the 'Golf Book' on its blog. It's not a book about golf, but it does contain a miniature showing men playing proto-golf (calendar pg for September, 27r, apparently).

The book is no longer complete, but the intact miniatures are attributed to Simon Bening, one of the great 16th c Flemish artists.

I'm paging through it and find things like this:

Glorious, isn't it.

See all the shadows and details in the intials, iwth the shading as if there was light shining on the goldy-brassy capital letters? 

I wanna paint that, and I don't know how. I'd settle just for the initials and text area, leaving aside the gothic borders and tracery.

I've had a go at doing shaded initials before, but a recent experience shows me that I really don't know what I'm doing. I feel like I'm painting things in the wrong order, and just making a mess of what is probably a straightforward process.

Does anyone know of decent how-to instructions, for painting figures with perspective/shadowing/3D effects? I have a half-dozen books at home, but as yet, I haven't 'clicked' onto the process and I think it will be embarrassingly easy, once I know how. Please advise!

Scribbling in the margins (corrected)

This winter I was delighted to find that the British Library had put Lady Jane Grey's personal psalter prayerbook online: Harley 2342. She was executed, after spending 10 days as queen of England, in a power struggle after King Edward VI's death and before Mary I took the throne.

It's a beautiful small psalter prayerbook, written in English - everyone in England is now officially Protestant so they can read their Bibles and prayers in English. Each page is just 15cm high, so about A6 (or fold a 8.5x11" page in quarters, and you'll have an idea of the page size). I'm not a miniaturist, but I do think small is beautiful, and enjoy doing small scrolls.

It's in slightly rough condition - the shell gold is wearing off and there's only a few decorated initials and some line fillers. The hand is a beautiful clear secretary hand, that manages to look big and easy to read, even when you know the lines are only 1/4" high.

The nifty part for me, though, is that Jane wrote across the bottom of several pages - looks like a note to her jailer in the Tower, before she gave the book to him. It goes from 74v - 80r.

She is close in age to Elizabeth I, and would have had a similar 'Renaissance' education, and her hand is very clearly Italic in style, similar to Elizabeth's own hand.



We sometimes think that hands follow each other in sequence, with the old style coming to a screeching halt somehow when a new one arrives.

This is a great illustration that more than one style can share the same place in time; that the noble youth were being taught the newfangled style from Italy, though the secretary bookhand was still in style. BUT: the book decoration is very much 'Renaissance' with the big initials looking three-dimensional and decorated after the Italian style.

ETA: a psalter is a book of the Psalms, which is one of the books of the Bible. This book is actually not psalms from the Bible but devotional prayers in English, written for the new audience of English Christians who followed the 'reforms' of Henry VIII rather than the 'old church'. Sorry for that confusion!

Reminder

Tomorrow (May 1) is the SCA New Year, and it becomes AS 48.  Please date scrolls accordingly!  :)

one wish

If you could change something with the scribal office and the way things are done in this kingdom what would it be?

From the Signet Clerk of Nordmark

Hello all wonderful scribes in the kingdom.

I write to you as a signet clerk of Nordmark. When I stepped in the office
of signet, so the backlog had not been updated since 2007. There is a
large amount of scrolls which have not yet been made.

If there are any of you out there who feel you would like to help reduce
Nordmarks the backlog by calligraphy or illumination so you are welcome to
do so.

Please contact me

Best regards
Lady Alfhild the Foxley
Signet Clerk of Nordmark

ekorren.rosengren@gmail.com

Proud of this initial

Just posting because despite the top dragon being shortened due to space, I'm really, really proud of this initial.  I am aware that the calligraphy escaped me, rather.  Always happens when my illumination goes well.  One of these days I'll get both in synch (preferably both good), and then watch out!

German parchment supplier

So I found this this morning thought it might be of some interest to the mainland Europeans.
 A German supplier for calligraphy ( among other things)  parchment from various animals. Their site is in English and German although the shop is so far as I gave discovered only German. You can request a catalogue.

Altenburg “Pergament & Trommelfell”

Opinions requested, please!

During the latter stages of my 30-day challenge I've been trying to do new things:  Macclesfield initials, and working small.  I have found 3mm Gothic letters MUCH harder than 4mm Gothic letters.  I don't know why.  Also, my letters have been canting (mostly to the left, but occasionally other ways as well).  This can be mostly fixed by skewing the paper on the slope, much as I used to tilt it when I was working on the flat.

I've done three Macclesfield initials with 3mm letters.  The first is this one:

There was then another one which hasn't been awarded yet, so I can't post it.  Yesterday I did teeny tiny Celtic (2mm letters, 3mm spacing), which, again, I'm not posting yet.  Today I completed another Macclesfield:

Bearing in mind my lens seems to curve the scrolls, and that the first four lines were done unknowingly with two stacked nibs, I still like to think it's a bit better (although I've lost my ability to do aitches).

However, you have unbiased eyes, and I'd like observations, please!  Is it worth persevering?

In service,
Ari

Admin stuff

This blog has been open since Wednesday, November 08, 2006. Wow.


Updates

New PDFs added under "Class notes and how to's" If you have any class PDFs you'd like to see added please send me the link.

Cleaned up the Wiki and moved the link for now to class notes. We were hacked and had a redirect added ( now removed ) and had to clear through the nearly 300 fake users. If you were a legit user and had your account removed then please sign up again.

In the wiki I removed all the titles from the "meet the scribes" listing. As titles change over time it makes it a bit of work to change and do a redirect so better that we list the scribe names without titles ( you can add them to your individual page if you wish) Your pages should also now redirect to the untitled name link, please check to make sure everything is in order. 

Notices

All official Drachenwald scribal communication is either through the yahoo email list of via email to and from the signet office.  Facebook is NOT an official Drachenwald Scribe site and as not everyone is on facebook I would advise people to remember this. If you wish to convey official information to the Drachenwald Scribal community please do so through the email list.

This blog is open to any and all scribes of the kingdom of Drachenwald. It is unofficial and as blogger allows me to add only 100 contributors I weed out the inactive from time to time. Anyone can read or submit a comment so if you are not actually wanting to post anything then you do not need to be on the contributor list. If you wish to be an active contributor then email me ( address on the sidebar) and let me know what email address you wish to sign up with. Blogger sends you and invite with instructions.

Anyone wishing to become a scribe may contact the various signets for information. Their contact information can be found on the side bar.

Announcements

There are two scriptoriums coming up:

Scriptorium & 30th Anniversary
16th March, West Dragonshire (England) Hosted by Lady Arianrhod, Signet of ID ( address on the side bar)

Scriptorium at Drachenwald XX Year Celebration & Coronation Hosted by Various.
19-23 June, Drachenwald (Germany)
There will be scribal relevant classes on going during this scriptorium,
anyone wishing to teach should contact Mistress Melisende Fitzwalter

any suggestions, questions or queries about this blog may be directed to  me ( see side bar)

Bridget

they have arrived....

Lots of Ames lettering guides. Now scribes of Drachenwald will never have to worry about finding them again.

Some penwork blanks

I've done 4 as part of the 30-day challenge.  The two I like best are below:

The D is actually square to the page; it was just pulling at the tape as I photographed it.  The M in the original really was that tall and thin.  I liked the elegance.  After blotting one of the 4, I used paint in the centre for these two, then ink for the outside bits, which don't come as close to each other.  With the D, the only thing I'm disappointed with is that I didn't get the triangles on the right side quite to line up.  I should probably have made them like a sideways W, but I didn't think of it in time.

Right.  On with the 30-day challenge.  We'll see if I can conquer a small version of Gothic....I doubt it.

Nordmark Scriptorium

For those of us who were not able to make it up North to the scriptorium held this weekend past here is a lovely write up by Countess Elsa.

Nordmark Scriptorium!

Materials swap at Oxford scriptorium?

Over the past couple of years I've acquired some esoteric materials, that I cannot use up in a lifetime - even buying the smallest quantity is more than I can use. I'd rather they were used than just sit in boxes. These include:

- fine dental plaster (unslaked) - loads of this, because the smallest quantity I could buy was 1kg - is the bulk of gesso
- armenian bole  - I have lots, and you only ever need a tiny amount to tint gesso
- gum ammoniac in chunks, not liquid - adhesive for gold
- gum arabic, chunks not liquid - another adhesive and all-round useful additive
- pumice powder, to add to pounce
- gum sandarac, also goes into pounce
- refined ox gall liquid - plenty available, for thinning pigments to keep them running smoothly, used 1 drop at a time

If you are interested in any of these materials, I can bring them with me. I have some small containers, but if you have your own teeny jam jars or small sealable bags, that would be a great help.

You can put a donation towards my drinks fund, but I'd be interested in swapping any interesting tools or materials you've found that you have spare. Do you have favourite nibs, pen handles, scraping knives, and have a spare?

Items that you've already found useful are best - I'm not after your tools, so much as your experience of what works for you, for what results. Art shops are full of cool tools, but I want to know what works for other Society scribes, from them.

Please contact me, here or by e-mail, to let me know what you would like, and I'll make sure I'll bring it. I'm on public transport, so I'll bring items on request, but not on spec.

Here's to more nifty toys to try out!

30 day (gilding) challenge continues

From this past weekend's investiture - Richard and Lena's viscounty scroll.

Design notes: Richard and Lena favour early-ish personas, so I chose an exemplar from as early as I could find, in a hand I was confident in. I wanted something that featured both calligraphy, and (a limited amount of) gilding.

Cue the Byzantines! or rather, an Ottonian bible from Trier (Holy Roman Empire in Germany stealing Byzantine style and fire), from 10th/11th century. I was thrilled to find this work. It combines many of my favourite elements: white space, less-is-more emphasis on text, gold and red together.

For a text, I asked Lyonet and Arianrhod if one of them would be willing to consider writing a 'viking-like' text, one of those early alliterative things (poetry is not my strong point!) and Arianrhod replied with a text fully-formed the next day. Hurrah for a poet's productive insomnia.

Text:

Hwaet! Now virtuous Vitus   unlocks the word-hoard;
white-limbed Isabel   holds out her hand.
Sing, scop, of mighty times   when high was built mead-hall,
Richard the Rampant   dealt out rings,
riches at feasts.   Lena Peaceweaver
loaned honour to the hall   high and horn-gabled,
every day   heard noise of revelry
loud in the hall;   there was harmony of the harp,
the sweet song of the poet;   learned lords and ladies
travelled the whale-road   to win her wisdom.
Then was there   peace and prosperity
in the Principality:   Richard with mighty thews
held hard the boundaries   from Iceland to Wight,
proved with his prowess   his right to rule.
White-thighed Lena   held hospitality.
Generosity of heart   showed they both;
their war-bands were wise   in ways of court as well.
Now come they before Vitus   just successor
and Isabel sweet-voiced   who pronounce these patents:
that those who serve enthroned   in war and peace
should receive viscounty rank   and rights of arms.
Rise, Viscount Richard.   Viscountess Lena, rise.
Take right to rank   and coronet from crowned Vitus
to use and bear without let   at hard-won leisure.
Done in Deepdene   shining shire
Anno societatis seven and forty   on February’s second day.


The artwork did not follow the formatting perfectly: I made one artistic decision (starting a line with N, because I couldn't find an H that I liked)...and one mistake, resulting in a jogged line.

I also had to sacrifice matching the spacing exactly - my page wasn't quite big enough for the number of lines + the line height I wanted. My next effort from this work will be better spaced.

There are no red dots in the original - these are another artistic decision, to emphasise the form of the poetry and hint at how to read it.

Source image: from Rylands Medieval Collection Collection   MS 98, University of Manchester. (requires decent connection, very image and navigation-heavy).

Sample page:

This makes day 22 of my 30 day challenge.

The Most Elaborate Apology Ever

So, due to mundane holidays shenanigans, I failed to do an assignment over the Christmas period, which meant that one person did not receive a scroll in court at Twelfth Night.  Horrified, I embarked upon an ambitious project to recompense her, which started with writing a sestina, and culminated in this landscape-oriented Borso d'Este spread:

It's extensively documented in my FB 30-day challenge album, which I've set to "public" so that all can view it.  I photographed it stage by major stage, including the base colours one which I hate because it looks so dreadful.  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151385699334883.504066.528334882&type=1&l=0a22d12684

I am particularly pleased with the light reflections on the ribbons.

Attempt for gilding

After a long break, I made one AoA -scroll. This one I made for Elena af Humalasalo. I decided to try gilding finally and I had some problems, as you can see. I tried new kind of style for calligraphy and eventually I had problems to keep the text neat. Plus I made too many mistakes and I tried to cover them with gilding too xD At least I learnt what to do next time. The decoration is from mid 16th century embroiderybook and I decided to use it as Elena is excellent embroiderer.This scroll was delivered at last Kingdom University (@Aarnimetsä)

I'd like to also ask little help. I am planning to make few smaller blank scrolls and I need to figure out few really short versions of AoA/any other text. Something what would be only like 4-6 lines of text but still polite/ appropriate. I am really bad for doing it by myself, as I start to stress about the text and right phrasing

only tangentially scribal...

But I thought people might enjoy it.

Ari, in a previous post gave the text of the Dragon's Bowle scroll for Genevieve and Robert (as I said when we gave it, I want to be them when I grow up. Unfortunately, Joel has reminded me that I will never be as tall as Robert). This lovely poem was adapted from a skeleton that I had sent her, and for people's amusement, I thought I'd post the original.

This was written New Year's Eve, during which Joel and I were manfully (womanfully?) doing our best to reduce the number of open alcohol bottles that had to be moved to Germany, and a few days into dealing with a horrendously jet-lagged little baby. We were sitting in front of the fire, and every line or so I'd ask Joel for a rhyme or a synonym and he uniformly produced something snarky, sarcastic, or inappropriate.

Thank goodness for evil twins with much greater poetic ability!

Rede ye now the wyse and wonderful words
of Paul and Aryanhwy, Drachenwaldish kings
A praiseworthy life values virtue above swords,
And a life pure and clene .... sings 
       [I knew I needed a word here but didn't know what, hence the ellipses]
To commit no vice, to have good grace, redie wit
To be meet and seemly in garb and in speech
To stand as witness to others of all that is fit
And teaching and enriching all in their reach,
To dance and to play, to serve and to lead.
Before us stand the best and the brightest
Who have set themselves above the rest by deed
By word, by dress, by kenning of all things blest.
Now from our hands the bowle of the Dragon take
Genevieve la flechiere and Robert of Canterbury
As witness of our esteem and for our own sake
So done we this day, the fourth day of January
The eve of 12th Night, anno societatis forty-three
Signed by our hands in Lyndhurst, by Burley.

See, isn't the end product much nicer? :) I luckily realized once I hit college that I was no poet.

And here's the scroll, which was done on perhaps the awesomest blank that I have ever received, by Mærith aff Weselax:

Ongoing gilding - 2 works from coronation

The pieces I contributed to Coronation court are posted to my LiveJournal; LJ has had connection problems lately, so getting through may be hit-and-miss, but for some reason I can't post pics from my PC at present.
Check the 30day tag.

ETA: I can add images from my laptop only in HTML mode, rather than the wysiwyg mode in Blogger. Go figure.

Scriptorium at 20 years

Several people have asked about the possibility of a scriptorium at 20 years. I'm currently looking into this now. We tentatively have a room which will be designated a scriptorium / scribal oriented classroom. This means ( in theory) that we have the room for the duration of the event to use as a scriptorium but there will be classes held there that are scribe friendly. 

I would ask that all scribes who are planning to come to DW20 consider bringing equipment/ materials and books so you have "stuff to do".

When I get more details I will post them.


-Bridget

New scrolls, gilding, et al.

Greetings, fellow scribes!  And welcome to the new Julian year.

I had the privilege of doing several wordings and scrolls over the past couple of months, of in conjunction with other scribes.

One was for a joint Dragon's Bowle, for Dame Genevieve and Master Robert.  Her then-majesty wrote a poem, which she asked me to improve upon, poetry being (mundanely) rather my thing.  If she so wishes, Aryanhwy can post the original in a comment--I'm not going to post her work without permission.  What it came out as, however, was this:

Reck ye the wordis wyse and wonder-full

of Paul and Aryanhwy, Drachenwaldish kings:

A preyse-woorthi lyfe values but vertu merritt-ful

and to a chast lyfe the wertws one clings;

commits no vyce, has grace and reddie witt,

ys meete and modest yn beryng and speche

bringys report to all of all wich be fit,

teches and succors all within reche

yn daunsynge and plaie; eke, to serue and leade.

Stond twoo here nowe, the moost bright and blest,

that kings deme moost hie of werdis and dede,

of curteys berying, with Goddes grace imprest.

Nowe from our hondis the dragonnes bowle take,

Genevieve Rouge Mauche and Caversham who Robert hight,

in token of owre esteeme and for owre own dere sake.

This do we both on this eue of twelft nyght

yn Dragonnes-schyre of auncient fayme

and sett to owre hondes to scele the sayme.

Then I set to work on Ary's county.  The wording I took from http://www.nps.gov/fora/forteachers/draft-grant-of-arms-to-the-cittie-of-ralegh.htm , because I fell in love with some of the phraseology and spelling.  So I was pleased with the wording.  The illumination was taken from a 15th century grant of arms to Hugh Vaughan, as found in Michael Siddons' book Welsh Heraldry.  In this I did something I rarely do, which is repeat a design.  But it was 20 years ago, and in a different kingdom, so I figured I'd try to improve on it.  This is the result:

I am really quite pleased with the illumination.  The shading is much better than my previous attempt, and these days I understand how to fold an acanthus leaf.  The callig, however--well, I tried to do Gothic small.  This is an example of how not to do it.  Sizing is dreadful; majuscules float above the line; and it doesn't help that I did in on a dining room table with the owner thereof essenentially saying "are you done yet."

This, however, is a much better example of an early Gothic hand (as in a Gothic hand which is early in the range of dates, not as in a proto-Gothic hand):

The letter-height is a millimetre higher, which makes all the difference.  I am also pleased by how the upper and lower curves echo each other.

In both of these scrolls, I used raised gold.  There was a discussion on what to use as base for gilding.  I find it easy to use Roberson's water gold size (as sold by Cornelissen) to do nicely raised effects.  I do two coats:  a flat one, then a thicker one to gain height.  I have to be careful when adding that I add the same amount evenly to the space treated (generally by moving the brush in tiny circles), and not getting bubbles, but it's really quite easy to master.  The water gold size is (judging from the smell) mostly garlic and gum arabic.  There's no plaster, so it is a size and not a gesso.

Gold is transfer gold (again from Cornelissen).  I prefer to use 23 carat extra-thick transfer leaf, rather than the 24-carat thinner stuff.  It does make a difference--less reapplication--despite the fact that I'm sure the 23 carat stuff is only microscopically thicker.

In the Sigillum, I am most pleased with the whitework on the blue bar.

in service,
Arianrhod

 

Don't forget - February 1st is the last date to register (and pay, if you're Swedish) for Scriptorium Nordmarkensis! Register here: http://juneborg.nordmark.org/evenemang/scriptorium-event/scriptorium-registration

The event is cheap and the stewards are very user friendly.

2013

Greetings all you wonderful scribes! What a year this has been! So many amazing works of art produced and so many happy people.  You guys are pretty amazing!

I wanted to thank each of you who have contributed to the glory of the kingdom personally. Without your extraordinary talents and hard work this kingdom would be a lesser place. For those of you who have given me a street mailing address I have tried to send out a small thank you card / gift. I am still working through my list so if you have not yet received a card / small gift from me can you let me know?

If you have not given me a snail mail address and have done work for the kingdom this year and would like to receive mail from the signet then please feel free to email me your snail mail address ( coupled with your SCA name) and I will do my best to make sure you know just how thankful I am, as Signet and fellow scribe, to be able call upon your talents. You all make my job so easy and for that I am truly grateful.

We have a busy last half of the SCA year coming up as our incoming King and Queen have a pretty full RP and we also have the 20 years celebration to look forward to. It's going to be the year of the scribe really so let's make it a good one. Encourage each other, share ideas, be brave and try new things!

There are two listed scriptoriums this year so far, one in Sweden and one in the UK ( pls see the  kingdom-event-calendar for details) as well as endless opportunities to do work for the Kingdom, the two principalities and the baronies.

One of the things I would like, as Kingdom Signet, to see is a much greater pooling of resources among all of the scribes, so that we all get to know each other better and can serve all aspects of the kingdom. Greater communication and more active scribes serving ALL regions of the kingdom will mean less burn out and a wider variety of artwork  as well as a larger knowledge base.

One of the goals this year is to enlarge the central data base of scribes via the dragon scribes wiki and help bring the Drachenwald scribal community even closer together. dragon scribes wiki

If you are a scribe who wishes to work make sure you have joined the kingdom mailing list groups.yahoo.com/group/dragon_scribes/ This is THE official kingdom mailing list for the scribes and it is here that most of the assignments will be first listed. If you want to work then please let the signets know.

If you are new to the world of scribes and want to join in do not hesitate to contact any of the signet clerks listed on the sidebar, find your local scribes and ask for advice, help and join in the fun.

In the last six months almost 100 scrolls were created and this is pretty amazing! You are all amazing and you should be incredibly proud of the work you do. I know that I am proud to work with you and for you all.

So here's to 2013 and the beautiful things we will create.

very best wishes,

Bridget, signet clerk

Handling gold

As part of Lady Kerttu's 30-day challenge, I'm working on improving my gilding, ideally with the 'good stuff' - reall gesso, and loose gold.

After struggling to handle loose gold, and losing a certain amount to its tendency to ball up into nothing on a whim, I realised I was missing some technique. It's a pretty refined skill.

So I spent one day of my challenge on looking up examples of people handling loose gold. It appears that most (not all) manuscript gilders who post to YouTube prefer to use transfer gold; but those who gild wood, leather and motorcycle tankss (!) are happy to post films on their skills.

The link goes to my LiveJournal, where I've put together the best of what I found on YouTube. If you have favourite footage of people handling loose gold for gilding, please let me know where to find it. I'm tracking my challenge with the tag 30day.

Given in Adamastor

This weekend marks a remarkable event - elevation of three companions of the Pelican in our southernmost reaches in Adamastor. This piece is for Lady Katherine Percival, who lives in the early 13th century.

I chose a piece from a commentary on the Psalms, early 13th c, from Austria; the image is from HMML. I love the hand (early Gothic, can't go wrong for me) but was also pushed to try raised gold - the largest and most complex I've tried.

One drawback of this digital library is that the size of the page is not recorded - almost all the images are of the 'shiny bits' of illumination, with few whole-page images. So I matched the size of the illumination to the size of the text, to fit on a piece of A5 vellum.

This gold was laid using Miniatum, a size by Kolner, which I found thicker and heavier than Cornelissen's own 'improved gold body'. It's transfer gold, rather than loose gold, so it has some shine but not the mirror gloss.

I don't think I've yet done this illumination justice, but it serves as my starting point for the 30 day challenge.

Important point I learned *after* finishing this item - you can scrape and reshape the size, and the gold after being laid down, with a knife blade, to get crisp straight edges and smooth curves. I'd originally thought you had to lay the glue+gold down perfectly, then tidy the edges with paint outlines. My next pieces will benefit from figuring this tweak out.

Another note - it's easier to lay small areas, than try to do an entire figure like this one (with many small patches). Next time...

The Latin text is courtesy HRM Aryanhwy.




Callig done, glue laid

 

Gold laid (photo poor, sorry)



Finished initial, with whitework and outlining




Finished piece



Compare and contrast

I uploaded two scrolls that I did for Adamestor's Yule event this weekend to my FB C&I album, and as I was paging down the album to get to the end, one of my earlier photos caught my eye -- I recognized the initial. Sure enough, I looked a bit closer, and it was another scroll that I'd also done on a blank, and it was the same exemplar, and same artist who did the illumination.

So I thought it would be interesting to do a compare and contrast of some collaboration between Sayyida Amal and myself, separated by three years:

Lindquistringes for Chiara degli Danielli	AoA for Lorcan Rochford

I don't actually have the details, but I'm pretty sure I did the calligraphy for Chiara's while at Raglan, which is why it's not very good; I have trouble getting my line widths right when I'm working on the fly. Lorcan's was also rather last minute, but I was able to do it at home, with a bit more time to compose the text and make sure that I had the right line width and pen nib.

Enjoy! It shows how different the same thing can be.

HOW TO SHIP A SCROLL INTERNATIONALLY

There are many ways to ship a scroll.  This one, however, taught to me many years ago, protects your work best.  International post is notoriously ungentle, and sadly you should not expect any scroll to be handled in any way but roughly.

Here, therefore, are Ari's rules for scroll shipment, tried and tested in the post of many different countries including the US.

1.       Measure your piece of parchment.

2.      Put your scroll inside a plastic slip to protect it from chafing and/or damp.

3.      Cut 2 pieces of heavy duty cardboard bigger than your parchment by at least ¾” on all sides.  At least one of the pieces of cardboard should be heavy duty enough that it will not bend without serious effort (i.e., plasma screen boxes, speaker boxes, computer boxes).

4.      Place bubble wrap on one of the pieces of card.

5.      Place your scroll on top of the bubble wrap.

6.      Place bubble wrap on top of the scroll.

7.      Put the other piece of cardboard on.

8.      Put a piece of tape on each side (masking or stencil work well) of the scroll sandwich.  Turn the end of each piece under so that it can be peeled back easily.

9.      Put the whole caboodle in a padded envelope. 

10.  Write “FRAGILE” on it, or use “Fragile/With Care” stickers.

11.  Write “Please do not bend.  Thank you” on both sides of the envelope.

You can just ship in one of those envelopes that has very light cardboard as one side, but many shipped that way to me have arrived either creased or rolled.  None of mine that I have packaged in the above manner has ever arrived damaged (knock on wood).  The packaging and cardboard can be recycled or, even better, reused!

In service,

Arianrhod o Gymru

Insulae Draconis Signet

PS.  Another thing to be aware of:  if you have a lot of gold/gilding on the scroll, it may delay it.  I have only sent one heavily gilt scroll to Germany; it took 6-7 WEEKS to arrive....  Also make sure there are no staples or anything metal in the cardboard.

30 day challenge and stuff

So,
On facebook currently there is a Drachenwald 30 day challenge started by Kerttu going on and many of us have decided to take up a new hand or learn illumination.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/305990889505083/

the upside of this is people also share cool links and I have added three of these which have to do with handwriting ( thank you Lia) to the "places to study" side bar.

Also people are and will be posting pictures of their progress. So if you are on facebook and wish to join please go to the link. The group is open so even if you don't want to join you can still see what is being done and discussed ( of course you do need to be on facebook to see)

also if people find great links for teaching feel free to let me know and I will add them to the side bar, same goes for your blogs and galleries. If no one tells me I don't know about them.

cheers
Bri

PS: This is the original challenge post:

Are you up to a challenge? Pick something you want to improve and do that for 30 days, preferably consecutively. When you start, write your challenge here. If you can take a photo of your first day effort and post it too. When you are finished with the 30 days, write a post detailing how many days it actually took, how have you improved and post a picture of the last day results if you can.

Your challenge can be anything you want: calligraphy, brocade tablet weaving, conditioning for that bear pit tourney, drawing a new but still too stiff bow... Whatever you want. But just do it. 

- Kerttu

ames lettering guide guide

http://www.dharbin.com/blog/process-using-the-mighty-ames-lettering-guide/

quite useful.

Sealing wax

Some fun pages on the subject

recipes for sealing wax ( many are later than we play)

Sealing Wafers and Sealing Wax: Research Notes

http://everything2.com/title/Sealing+wax

This has been on my to try list for a really long time along with the large cookie in of oak galls whispering at me to make ink from them. One of these days.... 

Text for Lia's scroll

Here is the text for Lia's scroll:

To all true and noble people thies presentes lettres Reading, Hearing or Seeing: Paul, kyng of Drachenwald and master of the Ordre of the Laurel, and Aryanhwy, quene and patroness of the arts and sciences, sende dew recomendacyon and gretyng as it apperteyneth to all. For so moche as we understond ffor certeyn that every person of crafte and skill within the kyngdomes lands who stody, devyse and Inmagyne with theyre besy curys and undelayd devoyres and delegencys and suche personys namely as be lynyally descendyd ffrom noble blode compellyd therunto by verry course of nature the most convenyent and most honowrable weyes and meanys to them possyble ffor to exalte and prefferre theyr Craftes and Fraternyteys to honeur and noble and to as excellent laude and Recomendacyon as by theyr mendys canne be thought or contryvyd to thentent that eny persone entryng or comyng into their Craftes and Fraternytes beryng of theyr sadde and laudable vertuoux and comendable disposiscyons and opynyons shuld Rather enforce and aplye themselfe effectuelly with all possyble delyngce towardes the maytenance and supportacyon and longe contenewaunce of the same to the laude and prersyng of God, thenour of the sovereynge lord of this Realme aforsaid and of the sayd Crafte and fraternyte. Amonge whom, we, the sayd kyng and queen note and Apoynte at this tyme specyally the good, sadde, worshypfull and well dessposyd persone, that is to say the Honorable Lady Lia de Thornegge, Clothier, Scribe, Broiderer, and mistress of many divers arts for the tyme beyng and henceforth to eternity a member of the auncient and honourable Order of the Laurel. We, the sayd kyng and quene, for the tendre zele and inward affeccyon that we bere toward her ladyship, for the presservyng and encresse therof to her honour have yeven and granted unto her by letters patent the Armeys hereaffter Folowyng as in the mergene depykt more pleynly apperyth: that is to saye she bere per pall inverted sable, vert and sylvere, thre seeblätter inverted silvere, silvere, and sable: the Crest upon the helme bearing a wrethe of lauriel leaues: which armys by thactoryte and poure of the College of Arms annexed and attrybutyed, we, the sayd kyng and quein have ordeyned to and for the said Lady to her that now and herafter shalbe in synge and token of vertu, ffor evermore to have and to hold, occupy and Reioyce withoute any Inpedyment, Interupcion, lette or enpechement by vertue of our sayd patent for evermore. In wytnesse wherof we, the sayd kyng and quein to thies presentes synged with our hands have putte our selle of auctoryte yovyn at Unikankare the x day of November in the vthe monthe of oure reigne.

It is based on the Grant of Arms to the London Company of Weavers, at the bottom of http://verysleepy.itgo.com/grants.htm.

This is an Elizabethan writ-style scroll I made for Mistress Lia de Thornegge's elevation at Kingdom University this past weekend. - The text lines are 0.5cm apart and I used a size 5 round-hand nib. - The ink is Oak Gall and was used for the Cadels too, which were sketched out and the ink painted in afterwards. - The only paint on the scroll was used for Lia's Coat of Arms - The base is Sheep Parchment which was pounced several times beforehand - The Hand is Gothic Quadrata Precisa - The seal is the Kingdom seal on wax lacquer anchored into beeswax and the cord was woven in Kingdom colours by Duchessa Alessandra Melusine - It was alot of fun to do! :)

This is the Panache scroll that I made for Lady Ælefwynne of Eoforwic that was given by Their Majesties at Kingdom University 2012.
The illumination was made by me – the calligraphy was done by Baroness Margaret Walsingham.
It is based on a page from the Eberler Bible (Basle, 1464) and I found the inspiration in an awesome book ”The most beautiful Bibles” printed by Taschen (which also means the book was very decently priced).
This illumination was a bit funny to work with since it was so much darker in its colours than usual.
I ended up working more with shading than whitework!
Materials used: Gouache and gold leaf on pergamanata.
I took pictures of the published pages from this bible and sent to Baroness Margaret so that she could copy the calligraphy style and its little extra oddities so all the mix with red and little letters outside in the margin are all specific to this manuscript.

Matthew Paris, and the earliest model book I've seen so far!

Happily surfing for 12th and 13th c exemplars, I have found two resources I didn't know about before.

Cambridge Digital Library: Life of St Edward the Confessor by Matthew Paris
A glorious illustrated account of the life of St Edward by the author, calligrapher and illuminator Matthew Paris.

Paris is of course writing in the early 13th century about events from before 1066 in England. So his illuminations show kings, queens, courtiers, warriors and bishops in the height of early 13th c fashion, with the classic full-body mail, surcoats, heater shields and closed-face helms.

Here's his impression of the battle of Stamford Bridge, 1066



P32v


The viewer can turn pages, zoom, jmp pages, and download pages individually. Glorious.

Highly recommended.

Second resource: Fitzwilliam Museum Collection, Collections explorer, searching for items under 'illuminated' and 'romanesque', I came up with this MS:

Model book, c 1150-1175, Italy, probably Florence

It's about 5 pages of a model book with Romanesque initials. Here's the blurb (emphasis mine):

These three folios are the earliest pattern sheets for ornamental initials known to survive from the medieval period. They are an important document for the rise of professional artists and their methods of work. The faint sketches in plummet are still visible beneath the ink drawing and the use of a ruler and compasses can be detected in most letters. The shape, style and colour of the initials, figures and scroll-work find close parallels in Florentine manuscripts from the middle through the third quarter of the twelfth century, such as a Bible and a Homiliary (Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, MS Mugel. 2 and London, British Library, MS Harley 7183; Berg 1968, no. 74, figs. 125-31, and no. 106, figs. 132-37; http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6386&CollID=8&NStart=7183).


Following the link, you get an example of the exemplars in use in Harley 7183 in the British Library:

 

These are some of the examples I was looking for, of layout work done not on the finished work, but 'worked out' in a model book, and then copied for use in the work.

This makes me feel soooo much better about copying existing work, though I feel I should still know how these pieces were drafted, so I can do it myself.

OTOH, the journeyman-level artists might not have done that drafting - they may have been copyartists, relying on the masters to provide that expert drafting, and they simply, well, copied.
Anyway: I was very excited and please by these finds. Hurrah for libraries continuing to stretch their digital holdings.

Gilding doesn't have to be scary!

If you're like me, you might be a little bit afraid of laying gold to paper.  Gold leaf is intimidating, there's no doubt about it, and there's so many questions - "what's gesso? How do I use it? I've spent xx pounds, dollars or groats on all this gold, but I'm frightened of wasting it....."  I know how you feel.  Up til now, I was relying on artist grade inks and paints to get that golden shine, but it was never very...well, illuminating.

Well, fellow newbies, I have a solution.  I was very kindly gifted with enough gold and silver powder to last me a lifetime, so I have felt I am able to experiment with it. Here is the first experimentation: a basic side-by-side comparison on piece of scrap paper.... I used a modern gesso by pebeo, which is in effect a PVA glue.  Leave to dry for 15 mins, then simply dip the very tip of your brush into the powder and lightly spread over the surface.  You only need a TINY amount - I learnt that lesson quickly! (First time I used it, I treated it like glitter - tip a bit onto the gesso then tap excess back off into bottle.  Needless to say, I only did that once!!)

The first square shows the gilding powder I have been practicing with so far.  I have NO idea what make this is, or where it comes from - it was given to me in two of the old-style pill bottles (the ones with the god-awful childproof lids.)  The second square shows the next tub I was given - gold pearl lustre pigment from cornelissen. This is a HUGE tub, and whilst not being a true gilding powder (obviously!), it still gives a beautiful shine.  It is still available from their website and is probably one of the cheapest options out there.  Sticking with Cornelissen, the next square shows their gold powder - less bronzey than the unknown make,  but I can't see this anywhere on their website now.  The next square shows (again, available from Cornelissen) the Roberson Bright Silver burnish.  The last three squares show what I had been using previously - Windsor and Newton, Daler-Rowney and an acrylic paint.  Aside from making the paper buckle, the three inks/paints don't hold a candle to the actual gold powders.  They are duller, and much less interesting.

Tip for money-saving - you don;t need an expensive burnisher.  If you do want to bring up the shine of the powders a little bit more, you can use the back of a spoon.

'Epitaph'

There's a few mistakes in this one, but a lot of firsts too - first time gilding, first time using pergamenata, first time using a dip pen instead of a fountain....

One scroll from Crown Tourney!

Fun little scroll I did for Crown Tournament based on the Triumphant Return of Maximillian the First. 

Reads: Paul the First, by grace of god king of Drachenwald, bright son of Albion and likewise Aryanhwy I our queen to all unto whom these letters patent shall come, peace, love and greetings.  As we celebrate the naming of our heirs,we do joyfully invest this man Barobrand Hissgant as a Baron of the Court on account of the great fame his valor renown and prowess hath brought and of the virtures he has long shown. In accordance with his rank he may style himself a coronet which is best suited to his person so that all might see the esteem in which we hold him. This document validates by this the date 6 October of the year 47 and by the character of the royal name signed below.

Starting calligraphy

In the spirit of Bridget's 'getting started' post about illumination, here are my top references for learning calligraphy.

There are dozens of 'introduction to calligraphy' books (just like 'learn to knit' and 'starting quilting'), and they won't steer you wrong. Almost every one starts with pen, ink, paper, and posture, then goes on to scribing X, O, 'thick' and 'thin' lines, using edges of the nib, etc.

These three are my favourites, because they refer to medieval examples to model on, and you can find them cheaply online (Abebooks comes through for me).

Medieval calligraphy, its history and technique, by Marc Drogin.  Dover Publications, 1980.
This book is the 'workhorse' of calligraphers in the Society since it was published.

Pros: It stands the test of time because the author examined, and published, examples of original manuscripts alongside his suggested how-to models (the sequence in which you write a letter is called the 'ductus'). So you can see the originals, next to his suggested versions, and decide for yourself if that's the best way to create each letter.

Cons: you may not agree with all his interpretations.

The Art of Calligraphy, a practical guide to the skills and techniques, by David Harris.  DK Publishing, Inc., New York, 1995.
Harris is also author of The Calligraphy Bible, a ringbound book with dozens of sample hands, and much of the same instructional content, but not in colour. The 'bible' is the one I refer to the most...partly because it's easy to prop open on the table next to me.

Pros: Art of Calligraphy is illustrated in colour, which is very appealing, and covers a lot of historic hands.

Cons: Fewer references to medieval examples than in Drogin, so you don't know what model the ductus is based on.

Historical Source Book for Scribes, Michelle P Brown and Patricia Lovett, BL, 1999.

This is a beautiful book from the British Library, drawing on their top manuscript expert and top practicing calligraphy and illumination artist.

Pros: Careful thorough reviews of exemplars, to describe each hand, drawn from the BL's collections, right down to analysis of angles of each stroke.

Cons: This meticulous approach could intimidate someone new to calligraphy, rather than inspiring them; the manuscript examples are the highest examples of the art.

Frankly, I'm more inspired by the 'average' book samples online than the pinnacles of perfection; it shows me that medieval scribes ranged from ordinary up to the extra-ordinary. YMMV.

These books are in English and most of the exemplars are English, French or Latin. I'd be very glad of some similar book titles about German, Swedish or other source-language calligraphy. Each region has its own distinct characteristics, and I'd love to learn more about them. Please add any favourite titles in the comments!

Some modern calligraphy at my blog

Hello!

I just want to inform that I have posted few pics of my modern calligraphy/illumination diplomas to my blog http://bone-needle.blogspot.com They are medieval(ish), amde for modern event. That's why I won't 'pollute' this blog with modern stuff. But if you wish to see my non-SCA related calligraphy, check my blog

~Lady Amal binti Hamid Al-Chania

Admin stuff

Greetings Scribes

We have a few new faces on the blog, welcome to you all. I try to keep the list of contributors to those who are currently living in this kingdom and who actually contribute to the blog. I will weed through the lists usually once a year or so and remove any member that doesn't actually post as blogger has a limit of how many contributors we can have and while we have not yet met that I like to keep things active.

As you can see I have made sure that ALL the current signet positions that I know about are listed on this side bar, in trying to encourage greater "togetherness" for all the kingdom's scribes and signets I think it's good to know how to reach the signet from not only the kingdom but the principalities and the baronies.

www.dragonscribes.net is being worked on.
There is a dragon scribes wiki please join up and use it. I know it seems a bit daunting at first to edit etc... but it's really not so hard and the more people who contribute the greater our information base will be. 

I added a "search" box ( top right hand side bar) so when you want to look for specific topics you can use this. It actually works quite well. Clever Google.

Some new links were added to the "places to learn" list and I am happy to add more if anyone has a specific place they like to go to for information etc...

This goes for shops as well, online shops change so please let me know if you have a new favourite.

And for Scribe's galleries, however please remember that not everyone has a facebook acct so if your gallery is on facebook and you want me to link to it it will need to be set to public. 

There are a few facebook groups for scribes on the go, a Drachenwald specific one and an SCA one both are fun and the page that is linked to this one which is more about  promotion etc.... Feel free to join up and converse. 

This space is designed for showing off your work and giving as well as receiving feedback so don't be afraid to ask and show and tell. It's also a really great place for teaching tools so if people have PDFs they wish to share I am happy to also post a link or upload and link to any you have to offer. The more we can share the better we will be as a community.

Lastly remember to have fun!!

Bridget

begin at the beginning

I get asked a lot "How do I start illumination?" and the simple answer is you just start. You pick something that inspires you from the massive catalogue of medieval art of and you copy it. However it's not really quite that easy and there are three books I love to give out, recommend and share for the beginning illuminator simply because they are straight forward and easy to follow.

1:  Paint Your Own Illuminated Letters  By Stefan Oliver

2: Illumination for Calligraphers: The Complete Guide for the Ambitious Calligrapher by Marie Lynskey

3: Illuminated Lettering (A beginner's art guide)   By Marie Lynskey

These three books which can usually be found through Amazon at a good price 2nd hand are invaluable starters. I still use them to this day for a variety of things. 

These are not calligraphy books but concentrate on Illumination, various styles ranging from Celtic through to late Italian.  If you are an illuminator just starting out and asking questions these books will help you get going, they will talk to you about paints, colour charts, basic heraldry, how to draw out the designs and so on. They talk about brushes and techniques for painting as well as laying gold leaf and making gesso.

When I am asked to recommend beginner's level how to books these are the three I instantly think of because they helped me get started and I still use them to this day.

scribal events

currently there are 3 advertised here. I made facebook events for the two that are already in the  kingdom calendar and as soon as the oxford one is official I will make one for that as well. So if you are on FB the event notices are up on the FB page linked to this page. ( see side bar)

It's shaping up to be a great scribal time.

2-4 November: Maerlant's World

Right now, Bertrik and I are distracted from actual scribal work by planning an event inspired by Jacob van Maerlant, that will include some cool scribal stuff!

Jacob van Maerlant, popularly known as "father of all Dutch poets" was a Dutch scholar and poet of the 13th century (1230/1300). His works include all of world history, instructions on how to capture an elephant (by sending naked virgins singing into the woods), a treaty on how to be a good ruler and much more, all written in Dutch.

We are planning to have scribes tables at the event (one for the adults and one for the kids) for working with some of the beautiful illuminations from manuscripts of Maerlants work, and a short talk on Maerlants life and work.

Bertrik will make paint and gesso at the event, and we'll have some goldleaf for people to try (and probably some fake leaf for the kids). We're also working on handouts and examples based on two manuscripts for people to work on at different levels (color in an outlined illumination, practice lots of whitework or capital letters, copy an entire page or design your own based on the elements taken from the manuscripts), with some background on the manuscripts and the texts.

These are the manuscripts we're working from:

A bestiary (manuscript from around 1350):

http://www.kb.nl/bladerboek/dernaturenbloeme/index.html

Biblical history (manuscript from 1332):

http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/exposities/rijmbijbel/indexNew.php#

So, if this sounds like fun, we'd love to have lots of scribes join us!

For more information and reservations:

http://www.bertrick.nl/maerlant-eva-uk.html

Hannah

Two illuminated pages from the Rijmbijbel

Introduction

Greetings!

Bertrik and I have been doing scribal stuff quietly in our little corner of the world for a few years, but we think it would be nice to show some of what we've done to the other scribes in the kingdom. 

Also, we're planning to do cool scribal stuff at our next event (Maerlant's World), and we think the Dragon Scribes ought to know about it, so that will be my next post :)

We get together sort of regularly, and have been experimenting with making paint and gesso (or to be fair, Bertrik experiments and I use up what he makes...).

Most of the time we work on our Big Project: The Polderslot History Book. It was started over 10 years ago when Queen Eanor called for the histories of the shires to be written. We got the text written and the pages layed out, and some actual writing and illuminating done, and then it gathered dust for a long time due to being a far too ambitious undertaking. In the last few years we've worked on it again, making slow but sure progress and we've done a few scroll blanks from time to time.

You can read about what we've been up to here:  http://polderslotilluminatie.blogspot.nl/ 

Hannah of Hanecnolle