Finding a passion

I've painted a fair number of styles of scrolls, mostly because I wanted to know what I really loved painting and what I really didn't love painting.

I've found a style that I completely enjoyed and it's glorious. Flemish, in the style of the Master of Mary of Burgundy Book of Hours, or the Spinola Hours (also affectionately called "squashed bug" in the scribal community) was the inspiration for my most recent scroll...

I didn't know I'd have so much fun painting this scroll. It was amazing! I loved the detail, I loved the style, I loved the colors, it was all so fun! Each little pane was a new challenge, a new little story to paint and moving around like that, from detail to detail, was the sort of creation I want out of scroll making.

Additionally, a HUGE thank you to the calligraphers in my life- I am for once really happy with how the calligraphy on this scroll looks and it's all because of you guys and your excellent instruction. seriously - thank you!!

One for a fencer

I know many fencers, and I've painted scrolls for people who do fencing, but until this one I hadn't painted a scroll for a fencer.

Check!

This was a fun one - simple but nice.  I've done elaborate and I wanted to know that I could do something with very little paint.  Turns out, yes. I look at this one and I know what I could change - what I'll do better next time. Mostly I think the font size is too big, but I'm a novice calligrapher and I'm chalking that up to rookie mistakes.  Really, I wanted to paint a rapier, and I'm happy with how that came out.

I left a lot more margin this time, so matting should be pretty easy for the recipient. This is almost square too, which is an odd format for me, but again - pretty ok with that since I wasn't using a predefined layout.

Some of my scrolls are definitely "copies" of period works - it's easy to look at the folio and say "yes, she used this one."  I find though that I like to change it up as well, to go a non-traditional route and steer away from the Books of Hours for a while and see what my mind comes up with.  I know the rules of layout, and with those in your arsenal it's easier to create instead of copy.

I love both methods of scroll creation, it's really just whatever I'm in the mood to do when I sit at my desk.

Byzantine scroll for a Silver Wheel

Byzantine is not my chosen time period, and not something that I have delved into painting from before - but I love a challenge so when I was asked to take on this assignment I jumped at it.

And then I went and talked to the only expert I know on this period, and Baroness Anna helped me tremendously! It would have taken a lot longer and I would have been a lot less sure of myself without her aid. (thank you!!)


The text is based on Kontakion One and Oikos One, and Kontakion Thirteen of the Akathist to the Theotokos, the illumination is 13th century Armenian

gouache and shell gold on pergamenata

Calligraphy, Vellum, and Vikings

I heard about an assignment, and in a very round about way put myself to the task of painting the AoA scroll for one of my best friends.  I had been among those who wrote her in, and when I heard it was being done I was ecstatic and fervently asked for the assignment. I was granted it and then set about doing the scroll.

I went a direction I haven't before with this one - I did the calligraphy (something I usually do not as my hand is, to me, very poor) as well as the illumination, and I did it on deer skin vellum from the Guild of Limners.

About the ink and paint:
I wanted to use period ink, and so I went looking and found lots of recipes. At the time I wasn't as deep into period materials as I wanted to be and so instead of using period ink I used what I had. This was done with black Speedball ink and a Speedball nib. There are many problems with this: one, the ink is very, very wet and the nib I used was not excellent at release. Should I use vellum again I will use period ink that is slightly thicker, and a Mitchell nib as they are better at releasing the ink in a more uniform way. I used Windsor-Newton gouache and Shell gold, both from cake instead of from tube. I use straight water as the agent and achieved the consistency of heavy cream before using the paints.

The ink, being far to wet, puckered on the vellum. There should have been far more definition in the letters than there is - as it is, I should have stopped and reassessed. I'm not sure I could have fixed it at that point or not, although I could have kept the nib a little drier and had to refill more often. That may have alleviated some of the problems. My paints were just the right consistency and went onto the vellum smoothly, and did not make it pucker. I'm happy with how the illumination turned out.

About the layout:
I went looking for period Viking/Norse artwork for, really, the first time seriously. Come to discover, there wasn't a lot in the layout I was familiar with (14th c/15th c French and English). Instead I found lots of artifacts, most with actual dates, some with a vague idea of a time period, some so outlandishly modern that it made my eyes hurt. I narrowed my search by sticking to museum sites, and found the Oseberg ship. The more useful images I found on Google, courtesy of Getty Images.

The actual ship is huge, and seeing as I was working with a 5x7 piece of deer skin I needed to modify the layout to accommodate a few words as well as the illumination. Having never worked on real vellum before, this was a lot to take on but I had a few things going for me - mostly that the piece was small (5x7 total sheet size, with a 1/2" border drawn for matting and framing) and that the piece was going to a very good friend of mine, Gudrun, who would understand any small blunders I made.  And I did, but that's ok too - it's period!  ;)

Ultimately I decided that the front and back of the vessel would work well, in the method of bookends, and connected them through the bottom of the ship. I free handed the knotwork on each and am happy with how both turned out. If I could, I would change how I handed the wood of the ship. I should have followed the actual ship and laid out planks, complete with the scroll work on each. As it is, I know Gudrun likes it and I am satisfied.


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So I had written this entire post and was ready to put it up immediately after Investiture.... but couldn't as Gudrun was called out of town and wasn't there to be called into Court.  So I waited, and we all waited, and finally last weekend at our Baronial Thrown Weapons and Archery Champions our Baron and Baroness were able to bestow the AoA and scroll on behalf of their Majesties.  In a great stroke of luck, The Duke and Countess who were sitting Royals at Investiture were at our Championship, and so got to see the scroll presented as well.

Their Excellencies presenting Lady Gudrun

An Award of Arms

I really love doing Award of Arms scrolls.  This is the first scroll people receive in the SCA, and it's often the one they think most fondly on - it's certainly one of their favorite stories to tell.

I've done a few of these over the years, and I try to make them all special, although that's not always possible when you don't know the person. Sometimes I just try a style that is new to me instead. 

Often I work very small - my scrolls when I started were no more than a 5x7 sheet of paper, making the scroll itself very small! I've gotten larger over the years. This one is 8x11. ;)  There is a little more space around the scroll itself than the image shows - I'm trying to get better about matting space... that's a particular trouble spot of mine.

I got to see this scroll awarded in court, although the gentle wasn't present to receive it.  Their Baron and Baroness graciously are going to carry it home and present it there in her home Barony - it was wonderful to meet someone who knows the person and can pass on to her my congratulations.

The tolls of emotions and the power of painting

My family is slowly losing a great woman - we're watching her slip each day, and it is harder than anything I've felt to this point in my life. That sort of pain, as many of my friends know, takes a toll on you. It weighs you down till you can do nothing but stop, and sit, and cry.

But, because I have (as we all have) obligations to keep, I (we) push on and do what it is we need to do. We go to work, we make dinner, we meet with our friends and we go to events we're scheduled to be at. We keep our mundane promises and we keep our SCA promises.

My SCA promises include painting scrolls and being present and active as our Barony's Chatelaine. Even while out of town these promises sat in my mind, reminders of things to do when I got home. I walked by my scribal instruments last night after a long day of flying and I smiled. Painting engulfs me, and I can forget for a short while everything else and just create. I can create something that will hang in someone's home, something they'll show their relatives and friends, something that will help them remember with pride an achievement they earned. That knowledge is a great motivator.

So that's what I'll be doing over the next few days - immersing myself in painting, letting the brush strokes help me deal with realities, and not crying on my work. ;)

There are times you get to see the presentation

Which, honestly, is not often these days. I have, in the past, painted only backlog scrolls and while I enjoy it a great deal, I don't get to see the look on the recipient's face when the scroll is presented in Court.

Recently I've started painting current assignment scrolls - I'm enjoying it more and more each day! While I was actually at Great Northeastern War, I wasn't able to get to Court (any of them actually) because of other schedule conflicts. I painted and did the calligraphy for an AoA - I'll admit, I love doing AoA scrolls.

Sometimes an AoA is the only award someone will get - it is, at least, the first scroll they'll get. I like to make them special - I know the tears in my own eyes when I noticed the thistles on my AoA scroll because the scribe knew me personally. I want the person I'm painting for to get that feeling too.

So, here are the images - the scroll I did for a very deserving Lady of Malagentia.

 

gouache and gold on bristol 

Her Majesty Etheldreda presenting the scroll to the populace, photo courtesy of Brendan Crane