Why I became a scribe

Quick little bit here for y’all.

The first few scrolls I did were simply because folks close to me were getting awards and I had a cool idea. I’ve always loved scrolls and thought maybe I can help people get scrolls they’ll love too. If you’ve read my other posts here you know I started kind of low key and not traditional.

I had no intention of being a “serious scribe” because I hate straight up copying things. I bristle against it and have to change things somehow. But then the world shut down and suddenly the girl who “does all the things” at events had very few ways to engage. I couldn’t herald or fence or anything. Which is not to say the scribal was “just an alternative”. I absolutely don’t mean to make it sound like that. I have enjoyed painting for some time just not illumination type painting.

Sooo anyway I spent a bunch of money on paper, squash (gouache) and brushes. I even bought an old timey ultimate scribal desk. I cleaned it up and refinished it and kept doing scribal.

Then I actually started getting excited about scribal things. Not calligraphy though. Curse my left handedness. Maybe calligraphy too (but just a little) and mostly to encourage my son. Oh and also to annoy my Baron with “what font is this?” (I’m so getting a quest at some point). Also – oddly – I am starting to appreciate doing more exact copies of things. So I plan keep doing scribal stuff here and there along the way.

Happy Scribing to you all ~Anne

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Dual purpose MoD scroll for Lisabetta

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OSW for Simon

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OST for Leif the Unlucky

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Rams Horn – Kara

STORYTIME! so Kara and I both fence and one Lady of the Rose tourney we had an amazing moment together. She and I had taken our guards and were both being cautious. Very minimal movement. Then a butterfly comes and lands on the tip of her sword. We look at each other and I nod- she drops guard and with perfect grace arcs her tip toward the list rope so the butterfly can get off her sword. Complete Disney Princess moment! She now has dragonflys on her heraldry. So fast forward and she gets a Rams horn and I new I had to make a dragonfly with snowflakes and incorporate a rams horn. Sure – that makes perfect sense Anne (except not really). But I did it. Caine helped me with the words, which read: Small of Stature Giant with Blade Fearsome Warrior and loving friend. Smile to greet or send to Valhalla. So should Rams horn she wear.

Rams Horn – Gwydion

Baronial martial prowess award is a Rams horn. When I made this scroll (along with two others) I was still a little hesitant to do complex scrolls and was actually enjoying simpler scrolls. This scroll – though not busy – taught me a lot. How to correct mistakes and how to appreciate blank space. This was also the first time I did any kind of vine work or used a fountain pen.

Order of the Pine – Deonna

In the Barony of Concordia of the Snows, our service award is the Order of the Pine. One of our long time members somehow had not yet been bestowed this award. I was lucky enough to have been able to make the scroll. Deonna has a German persona and is a musician. It was suggested that I use Fraktur – mind you I’m still not a calligrapher but I try – and apparently I made the German script “too angry”. That is hysterical to me because I belong to a German Fighting household. So I found an image to work from which included a really long horn and a flag. That was perfect for incorporating the Pine heraldry. Deonna often wears purple so I made the dress purple. She also had long wavy blonde hair and I got a little creative with how to do that.

The words read: When history is recited one name is spoken again and again. Autocrat of this Musician for that Chatelaine of many. The rings of the Pine grow from the service of others. Long has Mistress Deonna nurtured our growth as such a pine she should be.

I am especially proud of the W and the hair.

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Silver Rapier for Gaspar

This was the first random assignment scroll I did. I found out the recipient has a Portuguese persona and was fond of boars. From there I decided to look for Portuguese portraits for inspiration. I found a portrait of de Gama that worked and got some actual fencing images of the recipient. Lastly I based the short wording off the  Roman Acta diruna for the “announcement”. The words read:

Tindal and Alberic, Consuls, decree Gaspar Pacheco skill with the sword so notable to have shown that the Order of the Sword of Silver of accompanying worthy he is. 
Done this day in the year 55th after the Festival of the Garden of Diana.

And here’s the scroll:

I am very happy with the shading one this scroll. I am less than happy with the face. Faces are … weird.

Lady Grey gets Silver

One of my best friends in and out of the SCA, Eleanor Grey (mka Rachael), was getting her Silver Wheel. I uhhh … I needed to make this scroll because reasons. See at the time this was happening, my heathen ass had been assigned to take my elderly mother in law to church every Sunday. Rachaels heathen ass got to text me during church to keep me sane. Dear reader I assure you the salt was real and piled high. One thing I did notice while at church every week was DAMN THOSE PRETTY WINDOWS THOUGH! So naturally Eleanor was getting a church stained glass window themed scroll because again, reasons.

Tis was the first time I really played around with mixing gouache for different effects. oh and iridescent medium = SHINY GLASS

Aaaaannnnnd this was ’round about the time that I had to remind myself “ANNE YOU DONT MAKE THE WORDS PRETTY YET.” damn. yeah – I uuhhhhh I can manage this right? I’ll draw the words in pencil and then use a micron (Dear Reader I promise you I have learned the error of such ways)

I tried to incorporate poignant little things in the edges of the windows – a needle & thread, an archery bow, the northern army & chancellor minor symbols. Then I had to make the bricks look like stone. My genius brain said well just thin out the gouache and do layers. Dear Reader, do you know what happens to Bristol when it gets too wet? I DO! it warps – it gets all wavy – NONE OF THAT IS GOOD. You may be wondering what did she do to fix it? How did she manage to get it straight again? Did she start over? Well, I did not start over. I cried – I wallowed with wine then Reader I had a “brilliant” idea. I. Ironed. The. Scroll. …… yup.

At the end of the day it was fine. Eleanor was happy with it. I even got some oooohhhhs and aaaahhhhhs when it went out in court.