Silica Gel Packets You know those silica gel packets that you find in everything from new shoes to vitamins? They’re there to suck up moisture and combat mold, corrosion, and product deterioration. Well, you can use them for SCA stuff too. Ideally, we would keep our SCA stuff dry in a moisture-free tub, bag, closet or basement. But…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
I’ve mentioned lettering a scroll using a lightpad and a text mock-up to assist with line spacing for my calligraphy. This keeps me from omitting letters or words, wasting time restarting or using more of my limited pergamenata resources. Sometimes I use a preprinted grid in the same way. Both preprinted methods save time. But…
British Library Border Clipping Acanthus leaf from my handout “Acanthus Leaves: Drawing and Painting” I love Acanthus leaves in art. They are an ornament that resembles leaves from the Mediterranean Acanthus plants. They have deeply cut leaves similar to thistles. I like Acanthus leaves because they are a curvy, variable decoration I can use in most any art medium or era. In…
In Russian Persona Recently on the SCA Scribes Facebook page, I came across the question “What script would my persona have used? The short answer is, “it depends.” Of course, there’s more… So my newest readers know, an SCA persona is “the fictional person you wish to have been, had you lived prior to 1600…
Bi-lingual Hebrew-English Scroll After calligraphy heraldry is probably the most common motif I include in a scroll. Whether it’s a recipient’s arms, the order’s device or the Calontir banner I use them somewhere. Even if the recipient’s persona came from a culture that didn’t have heraldry. When I receive a scroll assignment I first collect as much information…
It’s here! My full-size pergamenata sheets arrived from John Neal Bookseller less than a week after I ordered them. With vellum costing $100 for a 12″x16″ page, I find machined pergamenata, a terrific alternative. It comes in heavy-weight, commonly used in the SCA, or a light-weight. I regularly used the light-weight until Calontir‘s Falcon Signet…
To warm-up for calligraphy or test different nibs, I write the “quick brown fox…” thing. For more practice, I have several pangrams I use or give to my students. When I’m waiting to leave for an appointment I sometimes use a chisel point calligraphy practice marker to doodle universal strokes or specific letters I want to improve. I try to fill a whole page,…
British Library’s Arundel 11, f. 9 Detail I find designing and painting puzzle versal initials refreshing. They are uncomplicated, decorated capital letters that don’t take long to make. They may be created on most any size versal, whether average or impressive. And they can be used with any script from Caroline to Gothic–except Fraktur. At least I haven’t seen…
I was honored and excited to do a late German scroll recently. Excited for the opportunity to create cadels, as many late period German texts have. This is how I went about it. After receiving the text, I researched legal illuminated German works from the 15th century and calligraphy cadel images. I had my plan and did the layout. I…
“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, from the Cotton Nero A.x manuscript 1400s. Via Wikimedia commons One of my favorite scribal books is The Illuminated Alphabet by Patricia Seligman with calligraphy by Timothy Noad. I value it for its 12 oversized illuminated letter projects taken from five historic eras. These versal letters are used to teach illumination…
Scroll creation is like cooking. You begin the creative process knowing for whom you want to cook and when you want to serve it. You collect the essential ingredients you want to use, calligraphy, paint, and support. Using medieval sources, you add a pinch of intuition, a dash of inspiration, stir them together hoping for…
When you adventure into using a dip pen you will find its use noticeably different from cartridge pens. Even the supplies needed are different. Besides the obvious pen nib holder, nib, ink and paper I have a few other things I use along with my dip pen set up. Most of my nibs also have…
I’ve collected numerous calligraphy manuals over the years, searching for tips and tricks to improve my lettering. As an SCA scribe, my book criteria differ from calligraphy books for modern works. Here are my preferences. Traditional Calligraphy Guides The book should focus on the nib-lettering technique I want to learn. For most of us in…