Pencil sketch and start of inking.shown. In my post The Making of a Scroll, Part 1, I briefly comment about roughing in the border with a 4H pencil then going over those lines with a permanent .005 Pigma Micron pen. I’ve been asked, why I do that? When I start a scroll I research and develop…
Iluminators were known to layer paints more than mix them. Yet there are written notes and illuminations that show they mixed colors too, especially later in the Middle Ages. Mixing colors makes its own problems. The more colors you combine, eventually ends with mud. Over-mixing also dulls the paint combination. Learn by doing: mix two gouache primary colors…
I was asked by a scribal friend last week how I would critique another scribe’s scroll. In Calontir we often talk about this and how to do it. Critiquing another person’s work is tricky because of the personal pride held by the sharer and the hearer. Some encourage gentleness. Others recommend a quick comment like my…
I bought myself a present. I love the writer/artist Austin Kleon. He has a new book, Steal Like An Artist Journal. I’m flipping through the pages, seeing a little of everything. The first image I came across relates to scribes so well. Kleon describes simply the difference between plagiarism and creative repurposing. He calls it good theft…
My rocks for paint collection. Every year this question pops up in the scribes guild, “Is gouache period?” I use it because it is more convenient than making paint from rocks and plants. I get favorable results, too. But, how Medieval is it? I have a tangled answer. Unfortunately, it is a lengthy story. To…
Are you puzzled about paper? Even in this digital age it supports writing today, as it did in the past. Besides it has myriad other uses I’ll avoid. I prefer to focus on the papers commonly used in the SCA. Paper selection for calligraphy is knotty. The best looking papers may be too slick and…
Ladies Christine and Aleit checking in people. Yesterday, I joined with many others to celebrate 12th Night in the Barony of the Lonely Tower. These winter festivities extend my New Year’s celebrations a week and enliven my dreary winter. This annual event jump starts Calontir’s event calendar, with its striking armored combat and steel fighting challenges. Populace…
Scribes painting preprint scrolls. When I was painting preprint awards with scribes at a recent event, I was asked what colors I preferred. I had commented on colors I missed having because the paints provided for our use were Reeves gouache paint sets. I missed the colors I used at home. Gouache is an opaque watercolor used by…