Pikestaff cover

Back in January,  Lady Katerine atte Wyshe put out a call for Pikestaff covers.  She assigned me the May cover and this was what I designed.  I haven't done portraits in a long long time, but I'm not displeased with this one.  It's based on a photo taken by Lady Camille DeJardin at King Edward and Queen Thyra's Crown Tourney in Endewearde.  If I were to do this again, I would extend that background pattern under the two pointy bits on the top of the P.  I'd also remember that like hair, beards have a shape that should be drawn in, rather than drawing the shape of his face and adding the beard after.  Rookie mistake, but it did spawn my new favorite exclamation of frustration "Gregor's beard!"

Scroll for Johannes filius Nicholai

My first official kingdom-level scroll!  I was assigned a backlog AoA for Johannes filius Nicholai, a man from Bergental who was given a promisary scroll for an AoA at Bergental Yule.  The information I was given about him was that his persona was roughly 13th century.

Since All Things Scribal isn't until this weekend, I scooted over to Honig's for a quick lesson in proper gilding.  It's sooooo much easier with the proper tools and sizing!

The piece was inspired by a 13th century Bible, with select Masses, in Latin, Illuminated in the style of, and perhaps by, William de Brailes.  I was fortunate that this Lord had regestered arms already, and so was able to complete the scroll.  I remembered to "sign" it this time with my crane and martlet and hopefully, it will bring him much joy to look upon.

Toys For The Royal Toy Chest

Queen Thyra put forth a request for toys for the Royal Toy Chest.  As the kidlet has been given the opportunity to choose a toy donated by some generous individual, I felt like I should create something to give back.  Plus, I really like making toys.

I made these wooden soldiers.  The knights are dressed in the colors of the east, but the one in green is based off pictures of King Edward at his crown tourney.  Her Majesty later commented that she really wanted to keep that one for herself, so there are plans to do another one for Her amusement.

I also did a soft doll with a lovely embroidered face and a simple dress and, much to my dismay, I  didn't get a picture of it.  I hope that whichever child received her will think she's pretty cool for a toy that doesn't light up.

Scroll the Second

Now that I've stretched my hand and learned that I can do scroll work, my second effort is a little less scattered.  It's based on this 16th century Exchequer File from the reign of Henry VIII. It is an account of tackle and other material provided by John Hopton, a bishop of Norwich, for the King’s ships.

I'm still using my homemade Elmer's sizing for the gilding.  The rest of the piece was done with Windsor Newton Spectrum Red, Primary Blue, and Permanent White gouaches and Holbein Yellow Ochre and Jet Black gouches.  Still using Nana's loose leaf gold and it's still a bear to work with.  Gold flakes everywhere!

I'm keeping with the crane and martlet signature on my scrolls.  I like the idea of signing them with marks instead of with a name.

I like how this came out and hopefully the recipient will too. 

Scroll the First

There is a scribal largess and competition being held at Crown in Endewearde next month.  The idea is that scribes of the kingdom create blank scrolls to donate to the Crown for emergency last-minute scroll giving and there is a competition for best in category.  I haven't done a scroll in over 20 years and I've never done a scroll for kingdom use, so this is my first attempt at creating something worthy of giving.

The artwork for this comes from an assortment of sources across a couple of centuries.  The Aberdeen Bestiary and the The Alphonso Psalter plus assorted vinework and drolleries.  It's not really a good example of a period piece, but it was amusing to do and I think it has a certain charm, especially if the recipient is someone who's interest lies away from scribe stuff.

The gilding on the piece was certainly the trickiest bit.  Lacking a good gilding size, or really any knowledge whatsoever about how to do this kind of thing, I looked up directions for how to do it.  There aren't any really clear directions, but I did find a sizing recipe that is Elmer's glue, water, and a little gouache so I could see where it was on the paper.  I used an archival bookbinder's PVA instead of Elmer's and hopefully it will withstand the test of time.  Once it was mixed up, I painted it onto the areas where I wanted the leaf to go and let it dry.  Once dry, I "activated" it by breathing on it, like you would breathe on a window to fog it up, and pressed the leaf to it.  The leaf I'm using came from my grandmother's art supplies - about 30 years ago.  It's certainly older than I am and it's the loose stuff which wants to float around at the slightest hint of a breeze.  This was not an easy task, but it turned out alright in the end for a first go.  Hopefully I can pick up some tips and tricks to make this process easier.

The rest of the piece is done in Windsor Newton and Holbein gouaches.  I signed it with a crane to represent me and a black martlet to represent House Fulton.  It was cute and fun and I'm totally hooked.

Favors for Queen Thyra

A short time ago, the design for Queen Thyra's favors was published and I decided to make four to send along. 

The basic design is a T with an ivy leaf on the end.  The directions say that we can use some artistic license  with the pieces and that we can, instead of using the single leaf at the end, wrap the T in an ivy leaf.  I opted to do two of each.

The two ivy vine pieces were pretty straightforward.  I filled one in entirely with a stem stitch and did French knots on the other one.  Queen Thyra's personal arms have three lozenges on them, so on the ones without vines, I opted to put three lozenges in the thick part of the T.  One of them is done with silver thread, the other is outlined with silver beads and has some bead-work in the middle section.  They aren't the fanciest favors she'll probably receive, but hopefully they will respectably convey her favor to whomever she deems worthy.