Inktober is an artist challenge dreamed up by illustrator Jakes Parker. Its original purpose was to improve his personal inking skills. But the challenge has been taken on by others. It's an excellent scribal experiment and personal challenge. A way you can play with new scripts, different papers, unique inks.
What's in manuscript illumination details? How do you create them? Find out how to increase your scribal detailing skills.
I’m taking a non-SCA class. One assignment was to write a haiku. I thought “great – Haiku are probably period”. Well I had a few things to learn. You may already know they’re a three-line poem with lines having five, seven, and five syllables each, in that order. Now haiku didn’t begin that way. They started as a something called […]
Last year about this time I gathered together my prior posts I’d written about scroll creation. The post was Easy Does It: SCA Scroll Creation. Though I didn’t plan it, the posted links round-up made a scroll creation how-to table of contents. And it’s been a very popular blog post. Since then I’ve added more, In case you missed any, you can see them below. Beginning SCA AoA Award Painting Tracing Uses Illuminated Diapering Guide To Blank Border Scroll Creation The Secrets Of Black And White Gouache Testing – Which Gouache Brand Rewets Best? Why Are Vellum And Parchment So Expensive? Secrets Of Artist Brush Repair Tips To Preventing Rusty Dip Pen Nibs How To Sharpen Your Broad-Edge Calligraphy Nib Tips To Drawing More Period People The Best Beginner’s Paint Making Post Tips And Tricks To Making A Neat Scroll Tips For Saving Money As An SCA Scribe Between last year’s list and this one, there’s a lot to take in. Please realize my offerings are not the only way you can do things. Create your art with your style and skill while striving to make it appear as a long lost page from a medieval illuminated manuscript. And take joy in what you create. Related Prior Post: Easy Does It: SCA Scroll Creation Post Round-Up
Entries Showing Documentation The Barony of the Lonely Tower will be having their Arts and Sciences Championship competition this coming February. In this competition, the current champion sets the challenge for those interested in earning the honor. This year, Honorable Lady Cristina la Ambeler challenged each entrant to submit two entries for judging -something you excel at, and another of something you […]
With western art books and resources being mostly produced by white people they tend to assume the white European as a human standard. And in Western European illuminated manuscripts there is a dearth of people of color. But they do exist. And all ethnicities are welcomed into the SCA. Dijon – BM – ms._0562 f. 181Vcreated around 1260-1270 representing the Holy Land So how do you create an award scroll for a non-White friend with people that look like them? Or maybe your scroll recipient has assumed a Saracen persona. How do you create a scroll creating accurate historic art combat scenes? You seek out original works. There are a few Western European illuminated manuscript pages including people of color. But they may be inappropriate to use such as this one portraying people in the Holy Land created in the late 13th century. Some 13th -15th century popular French illuminated manuscripts feature Christian-Muslim interaction pictures such as the British Library’s Histoire d’Outremer. And various copies of the Grandes Chroniques de France and the Roman d’Alexandre en Prose. But the best place to search is the website MedievalPOC. It is a blog showcasing European works of art featuring people of color from the fall of the Roman Empire until about 1650. Often these works go unseen elsewhere and you might see them differently now viewing them from a fresh perspective. The blog is searchable and even gives you a guide to its use. If you search digitized manuscripts you’ll see the […]
Calontir’s Queens Prize just happened a month ago, September 15th. You may have seen pictures on FaceBook about it. Sadly I wasn’t able to go, but I had many friends that attended. Some were novices who didn’t enter. Why? Many people make authentic medieval items but lament writing documentation. Are you like them? You make something from start to finish […]
Deadline Made – Court Presentation So you finished a scroll, and you’re pleased. You’re also glad. Glad you didn’t have to start completely over. Glad you made it with time to spare before the presentation deadline. But is that all to finishing a gorgeous scroll? What about finishing touches? Getting the finishing touches right can elevate a scroll to something special […]
Tracing is not cheating. Well, it is if you are passing something off as your own work. But meticulously copying a medieval manuscript you admire is excellent practice. It works well for copying illumination motifs and is a period practice. This image of the manual is from the Public Domain Review Tracing is even better for calligraphy. It helps you learn the best tools and strokes to use to achieve a manuscript’s same result. It’s also a good exercise warming up your hand-eye-brain connection before a lettering session. To better understand your favorite manuscript’s letter formation select a page with mostly script. Download and print all or part of it in a size that suits your premium printer paper and nib sizes. (Any printer paper less than premium bleeds ink for sure.) Adjust the page size and density through your photo editor. Select your nib size to approximate the printout. Then go over the letters your print out. If you go to the British Library’s Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts advanced search on the right there is a box where you can enter a script’s name. Their terms are rather specific so you might have to try more than once with different script names. Or select a manuscript by location and era. You might also practice letters from this 1510 pattern book from Swabia, Germany made by Gregorius Bock that I’ve pictured. Once you have your printed page you can trace the script and form the letters like […]
Recognition in Court Do you know someone worthy of an SCA award? Someone who deserves recognition for their outstanding medieval recreations or plentiful service? If you do you can help them out by writing an award recommendation. Yes, you can do this. Anyone can submit one. In Calontir the easiest way to do this is by the Online Award Recommendation Form. Much simpler […]
One of the easiest ways you can embellish a scroll is to add diapering. Diapering is the geometric checker-board pattern you see in illuminated manuscripts. It adds dramatic visual interest and fills the vacuum medieval art abhorred. Link to image. Link to image. You may see them include gold leaf or without it. Link to image. Link to image; You may even find it decorating a grotesque animal or clothing article. Diapering isn’t difficult. You can make it simple or complex, whichever you want. The more complex patterns are easily created when worked in steps. It’s all based on a supporting grid, even if it’s invisible. You first construct a grid then systematically insert your chosen colors or patterns. Quality diapering is determined by evenly distributed grid lines. While you want an accurate grid I think extreme precision detracts from a medieval feel. You don’t want it to be vector-graphic perfect. With every diaper pattern, you begin with a grid. If you want you could generate one on Incomptech and trace it using your light-pad. I use a ruler and a 4H pencil, and evenly measure each side of my chosen space and make marks. I then connect opposing dots. If you want your lines visible go over them with ink then erase your pencil lines. This first diapering pattern was done into the late 14th century. It is the less complex one I’m sharing. It’s also easily modified using other shapes and patterns. You begin […]
M. Giraude’s laurel scroll showing interlinear and filigree lines. For years I’ve fussed over painting straight lines on a scroll. I keep coming back to starting with a ruler and light pencil lines then painting over those lines. The problem is when you use light intensity paints like pink, white, or yellow you see the pencil line through the paint making them seem […]
Previously I wrote about drawing calligraphy guidelines with a ruler and pencil. It’s one of the two simplest ways you can rule up a scroll page. The other easy way is the one I’ll tell you today. Use Incompetech.com’s free plain graph paper generator and print off the size grid you want. When using the graph generator you have many options. Unless you want to […]
M. Rolf Hobart’s blank border entries at the Barony of Mag Mor’s 2017 Cattle Raids. At last falls Cattle Raids event in the Barony of Mag Mor, I was asked by a passing RUSH student, “What are those?” as he pointed to the blank scrolls’ displayed. I admit they might look a bit lost to the scribal-less-aware. So, what are they? […]
Baronial Preprint Looking back over my posts I realize I haven’t told you about painting AOA award scrolls. Oops. Whether your Kingdom calls them “preprints” or “charters” they are a great way to learn illumination. And as you’re learning you’re doing a priceless service for your Kingdom or Barony. Monarchs of any SCA kingdom need hordes of preprint scrolls to […]
Unidentified Pinterest Image You know those lovely illuminations you find on Pinterest when you search for scroll inspiration. Your perfect source but it has no manuscript information. There’s a way to find the source using the image. It’s called a “reverse image search.” This technique is called “a reverse image search.” It analyzes the image contents itself comparing its colors, shapes, and textures with a known sample. It does not use a picture’s associated keywords, tags, or descriptions. This helps you because you don’t need search terms or keywords. It saves you guessing at words that may not be related or use people’s fuzzy labeling. It helps you find images related to the sample or its popularity. It may also discover any altered or derivative works. To reverse image search using Google Chrome: find your chosen internet image right click on it click on “search Google for image” It’s simple, really. You can try it on the above Pinterest picture. What did you find? When I did it Google found more than 5 sites to check plus several computer-designated similar images. One interesting enough to explore further. While not something you’ll use daily, it is another research skill for your tool-kit. A handy tool for those pesky undocumented manuscript images. Related Prior Post: How To Google For Illuminated Manuscript Inspirations
M. Giraude’s scroll showing gouache ink interspace lines and filigree. Here’s something intriguing I tried on M. Giraude’s scroll. And it worked well. Better than I expected. I used gouache as ink. Since then I see several modern calligraphers online have done it. So my apologies if this is common knowledge. Even so, I am excited about it because it’s […]
Surfing YouTube I came across these well presented scribal videos. This series by Patricia Lovett is a perfect place for you to begin or review things scribal. They’re inspiring too. Lovett is a long time professional calligrapher. She also wrote Calligraphy and Illumination: A History and Practical Guide, The Art and History of Calligraphy, and others. Her information in the videos is great, but she also shares items she’s created or is selling. Most of these videos are less than 5 minutes long. Calligraphy – pens Calligraphy – papers Calligraphy – measuring lines Calligraphy – Setting up a calligraphy sloping board Calligraphy – using a pen Calligraphy – inks and paint Calligraphy – three golden rules Calligraphy – Spacing 1 (again) Calligraphy – Spacing 2 Calligraphy – sharpening nibs Calligraphy Clip – vellum and parchment Calligraphy Clip: Colour mixing in the pen Book of Hours Recreation Project 7+ minutes I combined the following videos for you into playlists based on one calligraphy script. Each script is taught by Patricia Lovett in Youtube videos. Uncial Script Playlist 6 videos Gothic Script Miniscules Playlist 7 videos Gothic Script Capitals Playlist 5 videos Italic Script Playlist 6 videos This is such a wonderful bunch of calligraphy videos. I hope you find time for them all or recommend them to a friend. Enjoy. Related Prior Post: The Art and History of Calligraphy, Book Review
There’s something I neglected to include when I posted about searching the internet for illuminated manuscripts. I left out telling you how to exclude something you know you don’t want, like Pinterest or Wikipedia items. It’s simple. You can eliminate things from your search by putting a minus before the term of the things you don’t want. Any word you google immediately preceded by a “-” sign excludes those items from your search results. Specifically, you type a space before the minus sign and none between the minus sign and your excluded things. When I search for illuminated manuscripts without “Pinterest” I enter illuminated manuscript -Pinterest. If you tried that link you’ll find the results come up under Google’s option “All”. If you click on the “Images” header you get this. Or just start your search on Google’s “Images” page. You can also exclude multiple items, but each term must include a minus sign immediately before it. Try illuminated manuscript -Wikipedia -Pinterest. Or possibly this, illuminated manuscript -French -Pinterest. And don’t forget the space just before the -. Omitting Pinterest boards may be important to you because not all image collections are well verified. Some board owners are better researchers than others. It’s your choice, but using the – operator will reduce your search clutter. Related Prior Post: How To Google For Illuminated Manuscript Inspirations
New Year’s Eve I spent time considering what I wanted to do with this blog. One goal is to be more organized and focused on my post topics. That should make the topics easier for you to follow. Scribal Art Collection Display To begin, I ferreted out my prior instructional posts. Previously they related to a project or class I was doing. That’s […]
Ignorantly flailing through historical clothing
Discovering the joy of art
Traveling Fashion Designers 🌼
Photography
Poetry, Positivity, and Connecting!
historical clothing, cosplay, and beautiful acts of whimsy
Cooking, Crafting, and Bad Ideas....
Shorts, Novels, and Other Things
History is Beautiful
Women's Lives in the European Middle Ages
Going Medieval At a Scholars Pace
ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Allergy warning: contains young-earth creationism and form poetry. Made in a place which processes Tolkien and Chesterton.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
The thoughts and deeds of a writer, fighter and re-enactor
Learning the arts and sciences of the Middle Ages through research and practice
A tiny obsessive perfectionist sewing her way through history
Mostly costuming and project updates with some philosophy and autobiography for color.
A trip back in time to learn about all sorts of interesting things.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Join Me In The Adventure!
Sewing, Embroidery, and a Bit of SF/F Geekery
Marya Kargashina's Medieval Research
Musings on Daily Life in the Ancient and Early Medieval Mediterranean By Sarah E. Bond
SCA: Addressing Authenticity for a Gaulish Persona
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Exploring the 16th Century and Beyond
Make All The Things!
Weaving, Recruitment and Other A&S Projects
Balancing the SCA and the Mundane
Where the Middle Ages Begin
a blog about medieval manuscripts, by Kate Thomas
Erik Kwakkel blogging about medieval manuscripts
News from Calontir
SCA Adventures in A&S
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Eulalia Piebakere's adventures in recreational medievalism
My Life and Times, Here and There
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
An Itinerant Scribe 