Orientalis

Orientalis - The Lady of the East
gouache and gold leaf on goat skin vellum

Several years ago I did a piece entitled The Monster at the End of this Manuscript, a 1:1 piece on vellum where I did my first attempt at gold leaf on vellum rather than perg. Building on what I learned from that piece, I embarked on my second piece - Orientalis.

The original piece is Somme le Roi - c1279, Add MS 28162 f6v, British Library

http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_28162

Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 255 x 185 mm (text space 165 x 125 mm).


This section is part of a 4 square page layout depicting Virtues. The background is gold leaf - the most ambitious background that I’ve ever attempted.

The whitework on this piece is extensive, and as whitework isn’t always my strongest section I chose this piece as it would push my skills.

My piece:

Changes I made:

• I chose to create this as a stand alone piece, rather than a part of a larger piece.
• Instead of using the depicted “Friendship” as was in the manuscript, I created her as Orientalis, Lady of the East and used the colors of the East Kingdom in her styling.
• Her face is indistinct, as there is no one woman who depicts the East.
• I did not use period pigments. This was painted with Holbein and Windsor-Newton gouache, and was inked with Pelican ink.
• The rough outline of the piece was traced, the fine detail was done freehand

Issues I am aware of:

• I did not succeed in creating a “shrouded” face in my painting. It’s messier than it should be, and I think that comes down to me not waiting long enough between layers.
• further conversation with my Laurel, Mistress Eloise, leads me to think that it's a failing of the materials as much as it's a failing of my skill. I'm going to try this again, with changes to my materials to test it. 
• Blackwork and shading are far too dark. My shading is a darker shade of the green/purple of her dress, but I think I went a little too far.
• The whitework isn’t as delicate as in the original, specifically on the columns to the left and right. I am happy with the whitework above the buildings, and in the footer.
• The gold in the background of the original is stamped. I made an attempt at stamping that did not show clearly enough. Instead I etched a design into the gold with the point of my agate burnishing tool. It wasn't true to the original, and to do that I think I'll need to do raised gilding. I will work on this on the next piece. 

Overall I am very, very happy with this piece. It is very recognizable to the original, and I think my execution was good. I am happy with how everything worked with the vellum and I’m getting more comfortable working with a period ground. It’s very nearly 1:1 as well, and working in a period size is the focus of my scribal work as I move forward. The goal, ultimately, is to also incorporate using period materials as well, and create original pieces in documentable styles. I feel like this piece is an excellent step on that path.

Benedicta vita arma... A scroll for a Deed

For the third time I was asked to create a scroll for the winner of a pas d'armes, and was honored to be asked. I greatly enjoy watching Deeds of Arms and being able to create something to add to the splendor of the day is a wonderful feeling.

Each Deed scroll I've done reflects something of the day itself, either the scenarios the fighters will be participating in, or the talents and strengths of the winner, or just the process of traveling far to reach the tournament itself. None of these paths to create a scroll for the Deed are even remotely period though.

See, winners of Deeds usually received goods and money for their wins. They were given passports by the noble of the region. Often the prize was that they lived. We know of these things from written accounts of these deeds:

• Monstrelet, Enguerrand de, The Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet. trans.Thomas Johnes, two vols., (London, 1877), Book II, Chapter cclxix-cclxxi
• Cripps-Day, Appendix II. xiiii, giving Memoires de M. de Peiresc as source.
• Landsdowne Ms. 285(John Paston's copy of the Grete Booke) fo. 15b, reproduced in Cripps-Day, F.H. The History of the Tournament (London, 1918; reprint New York, 1982). Appendix, p.xxxv

Each of these retells the people involved, what they fought with and how, and who oversaw the deeds so as to determine the winner. 

Some of these deeds were recorded in illuminated manuscripts, but the images were not usually so accurate to what happened, but were allegory (Diana loosing an arrow on a stag in a temple with a group of men watching) rather than the battles themselves. The scrolls I'm creating are exceedingly anachronistic.  

In the past the words for the scrolls have been provided to me as well. For this scroll I had license to use my own words, and so went to a period source for them. 

First, I used the opening from The Pas d'Armes of Charlemagne's Tree, 1443 and the ending from Challenge of Arms of Piers de Masse, 1438 to create the following text: 

Before the Tourney of the Fallen Stag, several gentlemen, with Their Majesties permission, and for Their amusement, had proclaimed throughout the East, and other realms, that if there were any men of name desirous of gaining honour and renown by deeds of arms, there were gentlemen of Caer Adamant, whose names shall be presently declared, who offered to receive and furnish them with arms suitable for the enterprise. 

And that they be appointed for to do and accomplish these said arms on foot before these excellent nobles of the Gallery of the which Their Majesties of good grace hath appointed will be the judges that same day. 

These be the arms that ___________ did accomplish within the Shire, in the year of our Society 54, done the 28th day of September, during the first reign of Ozurr and Fortune. 

The calligraphy was done with Pelican ink and a Mitchell #5 nib. The gold is patent gold leaf, and the gouache is Holbein and Windsor-Newton. 

The image is from Psalter-Hours MS M.729 at the Morgan Library f. 289v, and the text is from the same book, f. 96r. Total size is roughly 1:1 for the original manuscript, painted on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of pergamenata. 

I left the shields blank completely, with the thought that the winner could chose what arms I should paint there (household, kingdom, etc) but due to the extreme humidity of the day, I was unable to paint anything, let alone calligraph the winner's name onto the scroll. It went home with her, to Ansteorra, for the scribes there to complete. 

In past Deeds, all the combatants and members of the Gallery were asked to sign the scroll. We did not do that at this event. 

I am going to continue my research on manuscripts that contain descriptions of Deeds, and I hope to find something more historically accurate for future deed scrolls. 

A Sagittarius for a Sailor and Archer

This was a fun assignment, as it finally gave me a good reason to paint water and a boat - something I haven't actually done yet.

Early English persona meant I could use one of my favorite sources: Yates Thompson MS 26

The exemplar:




















And my finished piece:

In technical terms, I know where I went wrong. My red paint was not thin enough and so I had streaking left by brush strokes. I am very happy with my gold, and happier with my calligraphy than on past pieces.

This piece is 1:1 for the original, although there is much more room around the outside than there is in the exemplar. I did that for ease of framing - the finished size is 8x10.

A page from i.33 for a Silver Rapier

When I got this assignment I read it over, and sent my acceptance email back to Kingdom. Then I flagged it to come back to later when I had more time, as I always do. 

Once I actually sat down to read it carefully I was overjoyed to find out I was painting for someone I actually knew, and had the opportunity to create for him as he'd created for me. Izzo is the one who made my Silver Brooch medallion. (it's actual a brooch, pin and all, and is perfect for my time period. I love that medallion so much!) 

Nataliia kindly sent me a link to the manuscript he was studying at the time and it was clear this was the perfect source for the scroll. Some poking around the internet found me fragments of the original manuscript, as well as all the bits a scribe needs to work from it - like size ;) 

Then came words. I have SO MUCH I could have said about Izzo, he's an excellent artist and the words of the recommendation sang with praise for his martial skill. However, the manuscript was not particularly verbose... in fact, some pages had only a short sentence or two. 

I took a page that I liked and the word layout from a separate page, and set out to create a scroll in that style. It was a no brainer that two of the four figures on the page would be him, and thanks to the book of Face I even had an image of his buckler to use. 

And thus, this scroll came to be: 

The scroll reads: 

Depicted here is a fighter in excellent stance, showing a strong guard and a balanced blade. It is said that swordsmanship is the ordering of diverse blows, but the kernel of the art resides in the langort in which all actions of the sword find their conclusion. 

Regard Lord John Ysseaux as he presents to Their Majesties, Ozzur and Fortune, and is commended to the Order of the Silver Rapier and joins their ranks in the halls of Great Northeastern War on the XIII day of July, AS LVII in the Province of Malagentia. 

R.

R. 

This scroll was done on pergamenata with modern gouaches and ink made in a period style by a scribe of Drachenwald. The manuscript can be found here: http://www.thearma.org/Manuals/i33/i33.htm 

I admit that my technique with the color was heavier than in the original, but I don't think the piece suffers for it, I simply note that I need more practice in that style. I enjoyed adding the ruling lines as in the original, and I feel the piece would not have looked the same without them. 

Celtic Award of Arms for a Herald and Fighter

For Southern Region War Camp, a last minute assignment came in for an AoA in a Celtic theme.

Using the Book of Kells, I created a page where, for once, the knotwork didn't make up the first letter of the first word. These aren't usual, and I liked how simple the knotwork was here.

gouache on perg

On the words...
Cassel-Irra is the location where Saint Bron lived and served in Ireland. It is near what is now called Cashel, and was a friary near the Rock of Cashel.

June 8th is the feast day of Saint Bron.

As my focus is toward creating period manuscripts, my challenge here was to add in the blazon and the visual depiction of the arms without adding anything that would detract from the period nature of the page. So, I put the arms into the O of "Or", the last word in his blazon. It is tiny, I admit, but to me the look of the page is better for not stuffing in a large shield with arms on them where one would not have been.

This is for a herald, and so where I usually have to leave room, this time I had a blazon to enter. I have to say it was considerably easier to just write everything together.

The exemplar has the crowned R in the lower left corner, and part of my decision to chose this page was to use that specific letter. I am very happy with how this turned out.

Things I left off: the dots.

I completed this scroll in basically 24 hours, including research, wordsmithing, and practice calligraphy. My courier was arriving as I finished the header, and given timing and the state of my hand I did not have the control to do the dots. The piece feels somewhat incomplete without them, but I still like the overall look of the piece.

A Brooch for a Lady of many talents

I was, happily, able to accept the assignment for Lady Katerina Falconer de Lanark. I say happily, because when you're able to not only create a scroll for someone you know, but also to have such excellent feedback and information from their friends and family... it makes your job very easy.

gouache and shell gold on perg with Pelican ink

This was taken from the very manuscript she referenced to create the dress shown in the left panel. The stance with bow is directly from the manuscript, and she has a photo of her recreating that scene... very, very excellent.  On the right is the garb she made to reference Captain Marvel, and including her buckler made me happy. On the left is her dog, looking on as she hunts.

And, something I don't always see, a photo of HRM presenting the scroll in Court:

The scroll itself - my spacing was not as exact as I wanted; I didn't practice the text enough to ensure that the balance was correct. Because of the nature of the text I wasn't able to easily incorporate the large capital that is the hallmark of this style. I don't think the scroll suffers for it, I am happy with the illuminated capitals I could include, but for exactness in historical accuracy I acknowledge the deviations. Additionally I did not use the end blocks correctly, and that is an area that I will be working on in the future.

I feel that on this scroll my white work was much improved. My color matching was not exact to the period, but instead I matched the colors of Captain Marvel, for the recipient. I am happy with how the difference works, and while I didn't follow the manuscript, I did use period colors.

The Virtues: Grace (in progress)

With all the talk of Deeds lately, I've been thinking about the virtues most often assigned to Knighthood.

I've also been thinking about my desire to paint another piece on vellum.

And thus is where I landed for this project: Grace. In the original she is not Grace, she is Amity, and she is not alone. She is in a square of 4 virtues, not alone.

pencil on vellum

source

inked

The inking is where everything went sideways. My nib size was much too large, and the lines are far too thick. I plan to work around that as best I can, but I realize it will change the look of the final piece.

I altered her face for this - she is not wearing a veil over her face in the original. I can paint faces, but as I was sketching her she felt hidden to me, and I decided to veil her instead.

This piece is on hold currently as I work on a project for King and Queens Arts and Sciences Competition in the East.

A Japanese backlog

Malagentia held a Scribal Moot a few weeks back and I attended, as eager as I was when Quintavia held Iron Scribe.

Where Quintavia's event was a head to head "competition" (which here means a great day of painting and laughter and a bunch of scribes going "oooo! look at this one!!"), Malagentia's was a more laid back event. No competition, just a drive to complete assignments for the East.

I was given one that was already calligraphed and asked to add artwork. It was not my usual style, if I can even say I have a usual style... but I took the assignment none the less.

The result:

gouache on bristol, illumination only

A Japanese style, for an award that entails far too much block color for the time. I went with as simple an option as possible, minimal color and mostly line in some cases. I revised this heavily from the source material - the source was a painted screen, and had far more flowers and reeds. The words took up a lot of space, and I felt the openness was lost, so I went for less and didn't try to color the flowers much so they would add to the open nature of the piece. 

Overall I am happy with the piece. It is far outside my comfort zone, and so working on this with the aid of so many of my fellow scribes around for a "hey, does this look ok?" was really helpful. It was great to get outside my comfort zone like that.