Laurel for a Woman of Many Talents

When I found out my dear friend Morwenna was being offered the Laurel, I did a happy dance and then asked if I could do the scroll. 

And then promptly went and asked Signet because we do not accept assignments without Signet's blessing! 

But I was granted the assignment, and I took it happily. 

Then the hard work began. Morwenna has a very robust early period persona. Her encampments are truly enchanted ground - nothing modern. Nothing glaringly out of place. She creates a beautiful space and I knew her scroll had to reflect that, to honor her properly. 

So, that meant vellum and that meant goat skin. Do you know how long it takes to get goat skin vellum? I do now, and I am thankful for fast shipping. 

The source was an easy choice - Book of Durrow. It's her region, it's her time period, and it's just a simply beautiful book. I had full run of this assignment... words, calligraphy, and illumination. I went to my Laurel, Eloise, and sort of cried for help. It's overwhelming to be handed that whole weight, and I understand now why so many Peerage scrolls are a team of people. It's a lot. 

We talked, and she agreed to do words, and because we are who we are, that meant a total of 67 words for the scroll. That's not a lot when you start talking about a Peerage scroll. There are words that must be included, and often the text is long and elaborate to truly praise the recipient. However I knew two things - one, she'd appreciate a scroll that was 1:1 and her persona and two, Eloise and I love small scrolls so, super short scroll text was our only option. 

Eloise's words were perfect, eloquent and allowed me to use the letters as they existed in the manuscript which made my job a great deal easier as now I only had to design the carpet page and not also the lettering. 

The end result was this - a two page layout, 1:1 for the original book size on goat skin vellum with modern ink and gouaches. I did deviate slightly from the original and mixed the barest amount of shell gold (gold with a clear binder) to both deepen the yellow to better match the source, and to add a hint of shine in the right light. 

I simplified the filler illustration around the letters, to give a little more visual space so it didn't outweigh the carpet page. The knot work and medallion are from separate pages within the text, and the corners were done to look like leaves and stems, to mimic the laurel leaves in the center. Her arms were added inside the G, replacing the knot work that was there. The larger letters are all gouache, and I used a sepia ink instead of black ink to emphasize the illustration. 

I now have a dedicated brush for red dots, and that amuses me greatly. 

This is the second scroll I've done on vellum - the first was an AoA for a very dear friend of mine. This is the largest scroll I've done on vellum though, the first measuring 5"x7" and this measuring 8"x10". There is ample framing space around the illustration and text, and I look forward to seeing it framed. 

The presentation in Court: 

A close up of the G in progress, with a ruler for scale: 

Laurel for a Musician

 Every scribe gets to the point where they know they can do a Peerage scroll, and then suddenly realize they could be doing a Peerage scroll for someone they know really well and have been friends with for a long time. 

Well, that happened to me! I was asked to do the illumination on a very large scroll for Ysabel's elevation to the Laurel. 

Of course I said yes!... and then promptly made sure that Signet had signed off on this, because there are protocols in the East that we do not skirt around!

Thus my first Peerage scroll - period in text and size, space for minimal illustration, and no gold, because again - following the extant examples. Exactly my cup of tea. 

Two glorious pages, multiple scribes and wordsmiths working on it, and I was to bring the images to life. I was able to use a good deal of the manuscript for my references, except for the letter M. So, I created one based on the other letters of that style in the manuscript. (thank you to photoshop and my tablet) 

In truth, I cannot remember what
letter the shell was to signify.

 

The letter M

The letter G

Ysabel dancing and playing
for the crowd -This is based on
garb she actually owns

Their Majesties Brennan and
Caoilfhionn

The letter C, 
badge of the Order of the Laurel

I greatly enjoyed this project - the research was great and the whole project was a LOT of fun. I was, also, a huge bundle of nerves the whole time. I'd never done anything of this scope before, let alone painted on pages with THAT MUCH TEXT before. I could not screw it up. Thankfully, I didn't have to scrape it once. 

Ysabel's outfit is based on clothes she actually owns and has worn while playing before. Their Majesties clothing follows the example in the book. The Laurel Leaves were substituted but based on the same size and spacing as a letter O in the original text. Thyra helped form some of letters as well, and suggested references for others. 

Pergamenata, various lightfast and waterproof inks with modern gouache. 

Words by Gundormr Dengir

Calligraphy by Thyra Eiriksdottir

Illustration by Aaradyn Ghyoot

A page from Psalms

For my mother, her favorite Psalm in Latin

A Court Barony for Ruth Baraskaya

 This is the first award of this level I've ever had the honor of painting, and I confess the words put me in a bit of a stressful position! I managed a draft, but the wonderful final draft is the work of master wordsmith Alys Mackyntoich. I am very, very grateful to her for her help. 

The imagery is a woman standing in a field, and in the original she holds an open book in her hand. As Ruth is known for her embroidery, I replaced the book with an embroidery hoop with a few black stitches on it, and a length of thread. I added also a coronet with 6 pearls, evidence of her new rank. 

The source for the scroll is Add MS 54782, housed at the British Library, f.66v for the imagery and various pages for the text. I had to modify the text layout significantly to accommodate the expanded text necessary for a Court Barony scroll, but was able to keep the feel of the scroll in tact. I am quite pleased with how it came together. 

gouache and shell gold on pergamenata, Pelikan ink

8 1/4" x 10 1/4" finished size
3 3/4" x 5 1/2" image size
3 3/4" x 5" text size 

Silver Wheel for Patience Faircloth

 I had so very, very much fun painting this for Patience - when I heard the award was going out, I did ask for the assignment and was thrilled I was able to get it. 

The words are by me, and the reference book for the scroll is Add MS 15281 from the British Library. 

gouache and shell gold on pergamenata
8 1/4" x 10 1/4" finished size
4" x 6" image size
2 3/4" x 4 3/4" text size

When you have to repair your own scroll...

A while ago I was in a relationship with someone who fancied themselves a great artist. Without asking me, they took my AoA scroll and painted on what they thought were my arms. Yes. They painted arms that weren't mine on my Mistress Sarah the Limner Award of Arms scroll. And if that wasn't bad enough, they painted on the scroll with testors and citadel enamel model paints. If I ever see this person again I might actually hit them.

The repair of this has been an interesting two days. First, scraping off the paint resulted in the paint dust beginning to stain the bristol ground... which meant that I stopped immediately, and changed tactic - I did keep scraping, but this time I tilted it so the dust fell straight away. A staedtler eraser took care of what was stuck to the bristol. I couldn't get all the paint because it's soaked into the paper, so I did what I could to rough up the surface. 

Then I painted an even layer of titanium white over the whole area, crossing over onto the paper. It is much, much larger than I think the shield area was every supposed to be... but, I wanted my paint layer to have at least some hold on the bristol, so here we are. 

I let that sit for 24 hours. 

Then, I painted on my arms with the lightest touch I've ever used, in an attempt to not pull up the white layer into my colors. I'm happy to say that it's worked as best it could. 

I let that sit for a few hours till dry, and when back to the the line work. 

I'm happy with the results. It's getting framed as soon as I know it's totally dry and then, hopefully, I never need to worry about repair or correction on this piece again. Yes, I should write my arms in eventually but I think I'll wait till my calligraphy is better to do that. 

AoA, with incorrect arms

AoA, with correct arms

A Silver Mantle in the style of a book of artifacts

It's been my goal for a while now to create scrolls that are both historically accurate in both look and size, as well as decidedly different than what we usually see for scrolls in the East Kingdom. 

I had an excellent chance with the Silver Mantle for Cathain Reiter. 

The source is a Heiligthumsbuch - that is, an itemized record of artifacts in Bamberg Cathedral circa 1508. It is a beautiful book that shows mantles with the arms of various donors and noble families and Saints, as well as semi-detailed watercolors of the actual pieces themselves. I chose two pages that were not connected to create a scroll that encompassed all the elements I wanted to display. 

f.2r: The banners and mantle 

                

f.13r: The reliquary containing a horse and rider

I stayed faithful to the lining and calligraphy style though I admit the calligraphy was the very hardest part. I used a #6 Mitchell nib and even still felt that was too large for the spacing I had - it turned out well, but it was very frustrating to finish. I practiced the calligraphy more for this scroll than any other I've ever done. For the sake of sanity I omitted the ink blotches and bleed through that is seen in the original. 

I used the arms of the East and of the recipient for the banners, and created a Silver Mantle mantle out of the mantle with arms. I'm coming to find I really absolutely love to include fabric on a scroll because I find great pleasure in painting fabric. Most important when you're painting a pattern on fabric that is folded is to follow the direction of the fabric - the mantles that are on the part folded over the bar at the top are upside down. Though the recipient's arms are fieldless, I drew inspiration from a heraldic dress she is wearing in a photograph to create her banner. 

The reliquary in the original shows a horse with rider, and a person kneeling next to the horse. I omitted the people from that imagery and focused instead on the horse. It's shown wearing a drape, as her horse has a drape in the photo from which I drew her banner inspiration. 

Many, many thanks to Mayken van der Alst and Alys Mackyntoich for their help in a, translating the original German for me and b, helping smooth phrasing. 

gouache and Pelican ink on pergamenata

Behold, the standard of the East Kingdom born by the Consules of the East, Magnus Tindal and Alberic von Rostock, come to bestow honors on Herrin Cathain Reiter. 

Behold, the arms of Cathain Reiter, a Champion of Horse, a Champion of Archery, to wit: a drawn Horsebow endwise knocked with a Needle threaded Or.

Behold, the badge of the Order of the Silver Mantle, given for prowess in equestrian arts, first given by our Royal Ancestors Brion III and Anna III in the 51st year of the Society.  

Behold, for her unquestionable skill on horseback and unfailing dedication to this martial pursuit, the Consules do by these present letters bestow and endow Cathain Reiter with the Silver Mantle, this gift to be proclaimed to the world in their Second Ethereal Court in the 55th year of the Society.