Scribal Mouse

Update - kinda!

2011-04-19T05:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe its taken me this long to get off my arse and actually do some scribing again! Perhaps it is something to do with every weekend being about continuing to unpack the new place (yes, yes 7 months later and we still have boxes!), or just a general inertia towards things of an illuminatory nature!

But I am happy to say that I have picked it up again (not before time as the two commissions I have are now massively overdue!). I hope to get at least those two done over the coming weekend, which means a chunk of my backlog, which will hopefully get me some momentum to continue until I am finally up to date!

*sigh*

Not done a huge amount

2010-10-29T05:42:00.000-07:00

Moving House always takes a considerable toll!

I have managed to make one piece of illumination - just a quick fancy piece of calligraphy really based on an original in the Library of the Lambeth Palace in London.

On the plus side, once I get unpacked I will have a whole load more room in which to play!

Backlog Mark 2

2010-07-29T06:01:00.001-07:00

*sigh*
Why do I do this to myself? I have now accumulated a backlog of 6 scrolls - yes 6!!!

2 - for Suibhan
1 - for Lutr
1 - for Trin
2 - for Dawn

At least I get paid for the final 2 !!!

Backlog

2010-06-14T00:41:00.000-07:00

I need to start working on my own backlog! I have 3 scrolls on the backburner and a fourth newly commissioned, but without a fixed deadline. I need to knuckle down! Once I get those out of the way, then I can concentrate on the Book of Hours. My conscience will not let me do otherwise! Thankfully I have the designs lined up for all four, unfortunately none of them are simple! I am a masochist!

Some old favourites

2010-06-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

I was leafing through my portfolio of images and came across this one which remains among my favourites. At the time I did it, I was quite apprehensive. It is taken from a 15th century German illuminator's manual.

Squee!

2010-06-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

I have been given a wonderful gift! A large collection of hand-ground pigments to play with! Granted it included cadmium yellow rather than orpiment, but I am grateful that the giver obviously did not desire to poison me! I can now work on my Book of Hours project using proper pigments instead of gouche. This has brought its projected completion date forwards quite considerably. I was planning to have to save up to buy most of the pigments, which would have taken time and a lot of savings (Cornelissen not being a cheap purveyor of authentic pigments!). If I really concentrate hard, I could potentially have it ready by the end of the year or even earlier!

So…..
Parchment – check! (all cut and pounced)
Text – check! (just needs to be scored and scribed)
Pigments – check! (squee!)
Real Gold Leaf – check!
Gesso to raise the leaf – check!
Gum Ammoniac for flat-leaf gilding – check!
Quills cut for calligraphy – check!
Oak-gall ink – check!
Leather for binding – check!
Parchment strips for binding – check!

Still to prepare:
Designs for illumination
Hammered brass decoration for book cover
Thin boards for hard-binding

Now I just need to actually start making it!!

I dream therefore I do!

2010-06-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

My Book of Hours project!

The text is a poem that my husband and I collaborated on called the Lay of Marcus. It is the tale of a mighty feat of Prowess and Honour undertaken by my Lord’s Knight – Sir Marcus Eisenwald, which he accomplished during his second reign as King of Drachenwald.

It tells the tale of how midway through his reign, Sir Marcus is reminded by some great ladies of a promise he made many years previous when he was just a young squire and had newly won the title of May Count for that year, and of how he failed in the May Count’s main duty of ensuring fair weather to the Principality of Nordmark during his tenure. The foul weather so offended the populace that he was called to book for his failures and he took an oath to fight a bout for every month ruined by inclement storms, and furthermore, to do so for every Lady who felt herself offended by his shortcomings. This undertaking was supposed to take a year, but alas circumstances were such that after a few such tournaments, the promise fell by the wayside and was forgotten. Now the ladies recalled his oath to Sir Marcus who stood forth and removed his Crown and chain of fealty and declared that he would not wear them again until he had fulfilled the vow he made so long ago. With his faithful squires documenting all comers, Sir Marcus undertook to face every fighter on the field for 12 bouts each, and every fencer for the same. For the entire day, with barely a pause for food and water, Sir Marcus battled on until with the coming of the evening, the Ladies declared that honour had been satisfied. Then it was calculated that the King had fought in excess of 200 bouts in one day. To great acclaim, Sir Marcus once again put on the accoutrements of rank and honour and was lauded and proclaimed by the populace.

There will be around 8 full-page miniatures, 6 versals, 4 small miniatures and sundry marginalia. The book itself will be around 4”x5” total measurement for one page. I think it should be around 20 pages in total. The style I intend to use is broadly international gothic in the early 15th century style.

*takes a deep breath….*

Thoughts

2010-06-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

Today I made a list of all the styles that I want to do, but have yet to try:

Ottoman Islamic-style Scroll
Book of Kells Carpet-style page
Dyed parchment style
Oriental –style calligraphy/painting

So far, in no particular order, my favourites remain:
Bar & Ivy style borders
Romanesque of any kind
Grisaille or monochrome work of any period

2010-06-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favourites to make - in a 16th century style, done for a friend at Double Wars last year.

2010-06-02T06:03:00.001-07:00

I must get up to date with posting about my work. This is the most recent work that I have done. It is based on early 16th century woodcuts by Burgkmair.

New Scrolls

2009-06-18T04:43:00.001-07:00

First Peerage Scrolls

Protectors Scroll

2009-03-24T01:49:00.000-07:00

I decided to enter A&S Protectors and found it to be the toughest challenge so far - both in the piece of work I decided to make and in the competition from the other entries. I did a piece based on a 15th century French book of hours featuring St. John of Patmos - the author of the Book of the Apocalypse. I did it on goat parchment and gilded a substantial part of it. Here it is:

New Scroll

2009-01-05T01:24:00.000-08:00

I can finally post this, now that the recipient has received it.

This was the toughest challenge I have set myself so far. I used a different method and I have to say that it worked better for me than I had hoped. Following the example from a 15th century German illustrator's handbook, every little element that I started, I finished completely before moving onto the next element, building gradually. It went smoothly and ever so encouragingly.

I know that I still have alot to work on and so much more still to learn, but I am satisfied with what I have achieved so far.

Lady Trinite, the Kingdom Clerk Signet, and Baroness Ursula were instrumental in the scroll being entered for the Kingdom A&S Competition at the recent 12th night Coronation that I was unable to attend. To my amazement the scroll won!!! I am so surprised by this as I know how many wonderful scribes there are in the Kingdom!!

Still, here is a scanned image of the scroll.

And just when I thought I learnt to say No.....

2008-10-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

....I end up saying yes!! but this time, they are simple ones and I managed to do all of them over one weekend without totally killing myself.

The hardest day

2008-09-19T05:56:00.000-07:00

Raglan came I spent most of 1 day scribing my hose off in our new pavilion. I managed to finish 2 before the event, but the second two just had to be done there and then. I will not be offering to do so much again in such a little time. But it was nice to know that people will be getting scrolls at the same time as their award!

Finally

2008-08-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

And thank goodness my collection of images of scrolls I have created, is once more complete! I forget the name of the wonderful person from Nordmark who took this photo, but I am so thankful that they did otherwise I would not have had a record of it. It is particularly important to me as it is (and probably will remain) the only A&S item I have ever won a prize for - in the Blank Scroll competition at Double Wars!

Glee!

2008-06-06T02:30:00.000-07:00

I got some wonderful presents for my birthday! My thoughtful family decided to club together and get me the following:

1 pre-cut square of Sheep parchment
1 pot of powdered Sandarac
1 pot of powdered Lapis Lazuli pigment
1 pot of powdered Vermillion pigment
I packet Gesso di Bologna
I packet Rabbit Hide Glue

I would love to paint a miniature on parchment, using real crushed Lapis, Malachite, Vermilion and Red Ochre with raised gilding using real gold on period recipe Gesso and gum ammoniac size and scribed with Oak Gall Ink!!!

And now I have all the ingredients!!

I feel a project for an A&S competition coming on!!

Scroll with a difference

2008-05-21T01:03:00.000-07:00

I had great pleasure in being asked to do a Panache Scroll for my good friend Jahanarabanu. She has a 7th century Sassanian Persian persona which made it a challenge.

In the 2 or so weeks I had at my disposal, the only research I could do was online, so I trawled the net for anything and everything. On manuscripts or any similar scribal stuff I drew a complete blank, although I did manage to find a couple of guides to the Pahlavi script and language.

What I did find was an article written by an Oxford Professor on the Gutenberg website which included sketches and renderings of extant architectural decorations and reliefs from the 1930s (presumably the last time anyone was able to study the remains) and some pictures of objets d’art held in various different museums. I therefore was given no option but to lift motifs and design elements from what I had available in order to create the scroll.

I did not want to make anything that resembled European manuscript design from the same period as the cultural influences were totally different. Some of the pictures of column capitals and reliefs had a distinctly Indian flavour so I decided to err more in that direction. I also rendered the design without shading, but with many small details to break up the block colours.

Another thing I had to make a (hopefully) educated guess on, was whether to use loose leaf gilding or not. I could find nothing that referred to the Sassanian culture using it or not. However in Byzantium it had been in use since the 5th century, and the Sassanian Empire bordered Byzantium. I figured that something as distinct and awe-inspiring as gilding would have crossed a border, especially travelling to an empire that was obsessed with decoration and the use of precious stones and metals, so I used a little, but only in the fine detail.

Finally I needed to decide on colours. The recipient is also known as the Purple Lotus, so that took care of one colour. I thought that the best for contrast (and the fact that she wears a lot of it) would be green. The majority of the design would be in those colours and as a tertiary I used yellow. Small elements of other colours were used in the flowers and leaves.

Due to the complexity of the design I took a photo at almost every stage of its construction. I have assembled these in a slideshow on youtube for anyone who may be interested.

I don’t know if this is the proper way to go about constructing a scroll without an original to base the design on, but it’s the best way I could think of with the time and skills I had at my disposal. All in all, I think I could have done better if I had had more time to think about it, but its not too bad. If anyone has better knowledge of the period and what I should have done, I will welcome the advice.

The link is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCYU0lnPDpE

Latest Scroll

2008-04-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

This is my latest scroll based on a 12th century Passionale in the British library. I am really pleased with how its turned out. The paint is flat rather than lumpy (and believe me when it started it some of it had me worried), and the gold is 100%.

It will be delivered next week and I now have to figure out a way to transport it safely as it is only slightly smaller than A3 size!

Tangent

2008-04-07T01:18:00.001-07:00

Not a scroll, but a giftbox I painted for Lord Matthew Baker as a thank you for the Rope bed he made for us for which he still has not demanded remuneration. It is painted in Acrylics as Oils took too long to dry. The interior has been varnished too. The main picture is a hunting scene based on a woodcut from the 1480s.

New Box

2008-04-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

Yay!

I am the proud buyer of a wooden Easel box off of ebay! My lurid red plastic one gave up the ghost a while ago and cannot be moved without falling apart. I was given a lovely one at Christmas which stores my paints. But I was specifically looking for one whose lid turns into a slanted Drawing Board as well as carrying paints, brushes and pallets - it means that when I have to travel and intend to paint, just one container will carry everything and I don't have to worry about carting along my A3 size board.

What made the deal (£12.39 incl p&p) more appetising was that the ebay box comes with paints (acrylic and watercolour), several brushes and a couple of canvases!!! Sweet! Can't wait to receive it now. It will be excellent for Sweden!

2008-03-31T05:19:00.000-07:00

This is my latest Scroll - a Sigillum Coronae for a good friend - The Honourable Lady Genevieve de la Flechiere. It is based on the Codex Manesse, but still an original composition. It is a first for several reasons - firstly because I screwed up my courage enough to tackle human figures, secondly because I tested out a more watery (and therefore smoother) consistancy of gouache, thirdly because its my first attempt at using Pergamenata paper and finally because I also decided to make a serious attempt at proper shading. I am not happy with the Calligraphy I think I used the wrong nib. But overall I am satisfied with the attempt.

2008-03-31T05:15:00.000-07:00

Another couple of Scrolls I did - both AoA Scrolls. These were last-minute jobs. I was contacted by the Clerk Signet the Monday before a weekend event and was asked if I could do them. I only had available 3 weekday evenings before they had to be posted in order to arrive on time, so I knew they couldn't be something too complicated. I did them on A5 size smooth Watercolour paper and in view of the speed with which they had to be completed and posted, and I am modestly pleased with the results. It was especially my first attempt at intricate penwork and I really enjoyed it.

2008-03-31T05:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of my second Scroll - a linguistringe for Lord Acarin Saint-Cyr. I will think twice before I do something as paint-heavy as this. I was not using Pergamenata at this point and the paper started to warp. However labour-intensive it was, it was also fun to do as I did not feel as out of depth as I do when painting figures.

2008-03-31T05:08:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my first ever Scroll. It is an AoA Scroll for Lord Maredudd ap Gwylim using a fussy Gothic hand that I am rather fond of. I agonised over the historiated Versal and settled for this final image. It was also my first attempt at gilding and it nearly went very wrong. All in all I am not too upset that it, as it is my first effort, but I can now see so much that could have been done better!