Scroll: Order of the White Scarf

This is the scribal project I have been working on. It was awarded this weekend at Uprising War, alas I could not be there to see it happen. I had anticipated doing spirals beneath the birds originally, but scrapped them in a fit of scribal rage. I decided they were looking too feminine for this man.

This project was also full of lessons learned. Yes, even a very experienced scribe learns something every time they work on a project. Number one, confirm all name spellings, even if you are sure you've got it right. Check and double check.

I finished the knotwork bar on the left while doused with lortab after oral surgery. I'm a little surprised it didn't turn out more sloppy than it did. All in all, it was a very fun project, and I'm thrilled that Maestro Azir thought of me when choosing a scribe. I did his White Scarf scroll a number of years ago, and this was for his student, so that's pretty meaningful to me.

Scribal Project Sneak Peek

I'm in the middle of a scribal project which has left me a bit angsty. I'm doing it in a celtic style which is completely unforgiving for brush wibbles and squiggles. To further annoy me, Uncial used to be my strongest hand, and it is soooo very not anymore. Ladies and gentlemen, Calligraphy is not like riding a bike. Unless you practice your hands, you will lose them.

I do wish I had time to scratch it and restart, but alas I'm committed due to time restraints. The good news? I do like the birdy's face. After this is given out, I'll post the whole image.

On a different topic, I offered my blackwork to Serafina for her elevation (or for whatever - her choice!) because I *heart* her. She busted her ass to make me look good at my elevation, and this is the least I could do. I'm super excited to see what she does with it.

Progress Photographs

Blogger kindly made my post about linen Norse pants go away. Remind me to send a card. Heh.

Ah well, today I have nothing to report as to the progress of said pants due to the insanely busy weekend I had which included guests visiting and the flurry of cleaning that always happens when guests are expected.

Instead, today I'd like to discuss the fine art of progress documentation. No matter what art form you practice, there is not only nostalgia involved with reviewing photographs you may have taken during the course of creating something, but other reasons as well.

I stumbled across this rare photo of a scroll in-progress, circa 2005. I say rare, because I didn't take progress shots except a small handful of times. This particular piece, however, was much more of a time investment than any other piece I'd done to date, and I had my camera handy, so I took one on a whim.

Why would seeing this be of use to anyone? Well, for starters, you can see the techniques I used for spacing and *very* rough sketching - something you cannot see in the final product. It can be used as a learning tool, and a reminder of some things *not* to do. For example, I saved the miniature along the top border as the last thing to paint. This was the most important part of the scroll, containing imagery important to the award itself... (Gold Scarf of Artemisia - a rapier award), but I had run out of time, and to this day, I hate how it ended up because I rushed in the end.

Lesson learned: do not wait to do important parts of the scroll... do them first.

Studying the Past

As a scribe, one of the most important things I did was create a tool for self reflection. I recommend that anyone who does scribal arts keep a record of every piece they do - scan it, take a picture of it, do whatever it takes so that you can look back and not only see a visible way to track your personal growth, but also to learn from your own mistakes.

I keep images of most of my work (not all - it's nearly impossible to get everything, particularly when there's a large number of on-site scrolls to be done in the SCA), in a Photobucket album. I also print these out in color and keep them in a binder for demonstrations and examples for others who are learning. It can be somewhat relieving for new scribes to look back at some of my old work and realize how far I came from my own "starting place."

So let's analyze some past mistakes, shall we?




This is a piece based on the Visconti Hours that I did five years ago. I had to digitally splice several scans together in order to get the whole image (it was too large for the scanner), which is why the corners look odd. The original looked quite normal, I assure you.

There are several things I would do differently, if I could do it all over again. The medallions around the border, for example, are sloppy and uneven. I should have created a clean, measured model and duplicated that rather than "eyeball" it, particularly the blue flourishes around them. The straight red lines around the border were all free-handed. This wouldn't have necessarily been a problem because historically I had a very steady hand, but unbeknownst to me, I was showing some of the first symptoms of Graves Disease which include shaking hands. The second I noticed the wobbling lines, I should have used a ruler to ensure the lines were nice and straight.

I am still quite happy with the freehanded red flourishes and would do another piece like this just because doing those was so much fun.

The Visconti Book of Hours was made for Gian Galeazzo Visconti, ruler of Milan, c. 1370-1389.  The text was written by a brother Amadeus, and the illumination is by Giovannio de ‘Grassi, whose work is distinct for his architectural features, and his careful representation of animals and humans in which pink and blue tones are predominant.

Crinelli, Lorenzo  Treasures from the Italian Libraries.

Thames and Hudson Ltd., London and The Vendome Press, New York, 1997. pp 102-103