More botanical fun!

Featuring a four-o-clock, a lemon, and something I cannot remember at the moment. I have a little bit more detailing left on the four-o-clock, like the flower stamens. Finish up a few page shadoes for the lemon and the mystery flowers and I should have this wrapped up. Hurrah.

Sorry for the slightly blurred image. I do not rock as a photographer.

Vanessa atalanta

In my many year since I have started with scribal arts, I have never once made a single piece of art that I meant to keep or was really even slated for me. I ended up with my first original illuminated border coming back to me as my AoA (and as a lesson in leaving proper borders), but since then I have none of my own art on my walls. I hear there are some nice collections of my scribal arts on the walls of my friends though, so at least that's something.

However, I was feeling unwell this week and decided to paint to take my mind ouff the hurt. I had no books of illumination to pour over and find inspiration, instead I had some printed out photos of butterflies. Thus, I was inspired.

I chose a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) as I have ever enjoyed the brilliant flash of red as these butterflies wing by. The deep velvety blacks and browns of their wings set such a gorgeous contrast for their more brilliant hues.

The first image is the butterfly photo and my rendition, one above the other. The second photo is of my painting alone.

Another sort of Inke

A few weeks ago, my apprentice Lady Bres decided to cook up some ink for an upcoming Art/Sci project. It was quite a fun day for all involved. Below, the recipe and some pictures of our lovely experience. Note the delightful color of the wooden spoon as the ink progresses.

This type of project is easy to do in an afternoon and as it involves wine it just makes sense to buy some extra a while away the cooking time with a glass of vine in your hand. I must recommend leaving open a window or two though, as it is somewhat stinky.

Take a quart of strong wine, put it into a new pot, and set it on a soft fire till it be hote, but let it not seeth, then put into it foure ounces of gauls, two ounces and a halfe of gum Arabike,and two ounces of victriall, al beaten into smal pouder, and sifted through a sive, stirre it with a wooden sticke, and it will be good inke.

Find more period ink recipes here: Ink Corrosion

A great big thanks to Bres for getting this project going and hosting the ink making at her home.

Elena's County

This was done some 6-7 years ago. One of my first pieces on vellum, this was a bit of a learning experience. It was also the second time I was using ground mineral pigments, making my own glair, and I was still not so sure-handed with gilding.

Why my friends asked me to produce work in this period, I have no clue. I look back at pages done years ago and can see only the flaws.

Based upon folio 124r of the Manesse Codex depicting Walther von der Vogelweide sitting in a pose described in one of his most famous songs, I adapted this page for Elena's County. I used a more feminine border from another page of the Codex Manesse and left out the helm and scroll depicted in the original.

One personal addition, a tiny purple goblet, was inserted at the bottom of the frame as a bit of fun-poking at my dear friend Elena.

I do have to say it is very odd looking with fresh eyes at a project done so long ago.

Elena's Duchy

I executed this duchy for Duchess Elena several years ago (maybe five to six years ago) but this is the first time I have had access to an image.

Executed in ground mineral pigments, shell gold, red vermillion ink, on vellum.

I need to look up the origin of the piece to give any more information. Honestly, its been years.

My Heart Swells

My former foster apprentice, now one of our newest Laurels, Mistress Maeva scored a very impressive 25/25 at the Gulf Wars Art/Sci competition. A perfect score. Rare and impressive.

Trimaris won the Gulf Wars Art/Sci War Point!

Clearly, the standards for inter-kingdom Calligraphy and Illumination Art/Sci entries have been set and the bar is fairly high. These masterwork pieces all encompassed the use of vellum (some made from inexpensive drum heads), period pigments, real gold leaf, hand-made quills, hand-made brushes, oak gall ink, and period techniques straight out of period sources.

I know this may seem daunting, but this truly is all about the process of a medieval scribe and the challenges of working with materials that were then standard for this art. Sure, modern substituted materials are just perfect for knocking out C&I for award charters and such, but when it comes to Art/Sci we need to keep the bar high. Using modern materials, one can practice period painting techniques and then transition to period materials (as time, skill and cost allow) at their own pace.

Not every piece will be a masterwork. However, if you want to create a masterwork and watch it go all the way... you need to recognize what is expected. Calligraphy and illumination executed with the materials and techniques of the middle ages scribe. Clearly, it can be done. There were three perfect scores in C&I at the war... all of them had the same high standards and remarkable skill.

I had a great time judging Art/Sci with Mistress Anna Niki and a lovely apprentice lady (her name currently escapes me). Truly a fantastic experience.

Gilded Lessons

This past weekend I worked with yet another of my students on the art of gilding. I think I have finally realized that I do not like to teach gilding as a class, but rather as a more personal one on one or maybe two student basis. The students learn better and I don't fly about the room trying to catch loose pieces of leaf before they become expensive confetti.

My favorite part of teaching gilding... once the lesson ends the student looks up baffled and says "That's it?". Once I tell them that is indeed all there is to it I usually get the response of "But that is so easy!".

Indeed. And it just looks so much better than paint. I do love the gleam of gold on a page.

More Mira

While demoing calligraphy and illumination this past weekend I reached a near completion state on two more pieces inspired by the Mira calligraphiae monumenta. They were quick pieces completed in between answering the mostly pedestrian questions of visitors, but I think they ended up as passable, even with all the table jostling.

The first piece has not yet been fully shaded and still requires the page shadows of the items. The subject matter is a poppy, a poppy pod, and a blade of reed grass. Clearly I had opium on the brain. The obverse section of the blade of reed grass pierced through the page has not been executed, and I may or may not get to that.

These three items were each found on different pages of the Mira calligraphiae monumenta, but I liked the feel and composition of them together on a single page. This illumination is on a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of smooth Bristol. The paints are various brands of watercolor gouache. All painting was executed with a series of extra long liner brushes size 2, 1, and 0.

I have to admit that the center of the poppy is my favorite part of the whole piece and may have taken the greatest length of time to get just right. The startling colors of the poppy were a bit difficult to work with as cadmium red is pretty offensive as a color by itself. Luckily the addition of various other shades helped to tone it down from eye-popping.

The subject of the second piece is blackberry and odd catch-fly flowers. This composition of the two plants is original to the Mira calligraphiae monumenta and has been recreated without a great deal of alteration. I did make a choice to use brighter green hues for the blackberry leaves as the original has a somewhat sickly yellowish cast and I wanted something a little more 'upbeat'.

The catch-fly flowers were a bit of a challenge as they largely lack definition. White flowers on a white page. Fun, really. The blackberries presented a whole different challenge as it took a remarkable umber of shade to give them the subtlety they require. This page has a 5x7 inch writing space in which the illumination has also been completed. It will be a tiny page overall. Bristol board, watercolor gouache. Painted with extra long liners size 2, 1, 0.

Blogging my art

Hi everyone, I'm Melesse.

After a number of years of cranking out illuminated pages, I am attempting to collect images of some of these pieces. Many of them were never scanned or photographed. Some, I have photographs that I will scan in (just as soon as I find that binder... I think it is still in a box somewhere). So anyway, there will be an odd combination of low and high end pieces shown here. Pieces that took a day and pieces that took months. Pieces done over the better part of a decade. My early work will look like early work... it goes to figure. Everyone has a learning curve and none of us start as masters.

If you happen to own a piece I have done, I'd really be interested in getting a digital photo. If you can help me out with that, I'd appreciate it.

It's kind of sad to know that at least one of my best pieces has been mostly destroyed due to carelessness, and I never did get a photo of it finished and whole. Another piece went to a person who will probably never speak a civil word to me again... so I'm not holding my breath for a photo on that one.

I am still amazed that you can put so much effort into a single page for a person, and they will tell you that they love it, but after years of begging you may never get a photograph of your art from them. A word to the scribes out there, photograph your work yourself... even if you are sick of looking at it now... someday you will care and kick yourself. Just like me. Never expect anyone to photograph it for you after the fact. You'll probably just end up disappointed.

Cherish, Countess

This page was from yet another unremembered French book. Too bad I didn't write any of this down while working on these pieces. I guess deadlines were looming and when time is running short who has time to blog?

The piece itself involved a lot of miniatures, and I have to say I was never happy enough with the capital miniature... but I could never figure out what it needed. The whitework in the capital and throughout the leaves made me much happier.

Slightly more amusing however, this image of me painting was captured by one of my roommates. Yes, this is actually how I work. A litter of paints, pallets, and diet coke cans surround me. I prefer to work directly above pieces which involves me standing, but my feet get tired so I swap off. One knee on the chair and then the other. It looks perfectly ridiculous. I fully admit that. If you have a piece of illumination I have produced, this image is probably indicative of how it was produced. If you can just mentally fill in the loud Depeche Mode in the background, you mostly have it.

Odo, the Bad Monkey

Odo needed a Duchy scroll and had spent the better part of his reign tormenting me. For months I had been telling him he was a bad monkey.

As he had no preferences on what I painted... I painted bad monkeys. The one at top left is scratching his backside. The one at bottom left is stealing a jewel while flagellating himself. The one at top right... well his hand is interesting position and he looks quite happy about it.

The original piece was French and actually included all of these elements. Even the very naughty monkeys. Isn't that handy?

Gunnar's rock

Not your ordinary scroll. We needed a Duchy for a Viking, and as we know, Vikings liked to carve things on large rocks to commemorate big events. We took a chip out of their granite.

This 'rock' is a hydrocal (nearly concrete) cast made from a plaster mold that was created from an original piece carved in a closed cell hard foam. This was a huge undertaking between myself, Gwenhwfyr, and Jeanette du Lac based upon the Jelling Stones of Denmark.

First we started with the text. I based the verbiage upon the opening of Beowulf attempting to maintain the same rhythm and kennings (compound words) as the original. Then I translated it into Futhark, truncating the text as necessary to make it fit on the 'stone'.

In English, the text reads:

Kings are made for honor, not for long life.
Praise to the warrior, leader of spears
Gunnar son of our three sea land
Once and twice in might did he rise
Konnunger of swords and great eagle prince
Led he Trimaris to glory and battle
Gave he the rings of gold gleaming bright
Now Cherish his sister with Bytor her King
Let these runes be cut for memory sake
Are raise high this stone for Yarl and Hertig
To name Gunnar Duke on their reign’s first day.

Gwenhwfyr and I sat on my back porch using all manner of odd implements to carve the foam. Wood carving tools, steak knives, and even a feather quill. Gwenhwfyr worked the top section of the piece, carving the designs. I carved the text. It was not much fun, to say it gently although Gwenhwfyr is a masochist and seems to remember enjoying it more than I can recall.

As I had never made a mold of anything before, I worked with a non-SCA friend who is a great sculptor and mold maker. We mixed the plaster and poured in over the foam. A day later I began the laborious task of 'evacuating the foam from the mold' which roughly translates to making your fingers bloody trying to dig foam out of the plaster cavities. Once finished with that it was time to cast the final piece. I mixed hydrocal (a quick-set concrete like product) with fiberglass for strength and a concrete dye which stained the concrete a medium grey. I coated the inside of the mold with soap to help the final cast release once it had dried and then poured the dyed hydrocal mixture into the mold.

One day later we attempted to crack the mold away from the final cast. Here is where things went terribly awry. The plaster held on... like a face hugging alien... and refused to let go. I asked nice, I begged, and I think I cried a little. All to no avail. I then resorted to the use of tools. Hammers, chisels, screwdrivers, etc. Once I broke away the large portions of the mold I had to pick the tiny chunks of plaster out of each letter and design groove. It took days.

I finally finished and Jeanette came over to do some finish work on the rock. The overall grey color gave it a look of being concrete, so she used all of her powers of faux finish to give it the look of an age old rock, slightly moss covered. It worked.

When presented to Gunnar in court, a group of his squires carried it in on a shield. I picked up the rock and balanced it on my knee. Gunnar had no idea what we were doing for his scroll. His jaw fell open and a communal gasp went up from the crowd. We were all pretty proud of our work, and our recipient was entirely stunned. Success at last.

Someone asked me that night if I would make something similar. I responded with a 'hell no' and then revised that to "ask me again in a decade when I have forgotten this experience."