My first person!!!

If you know me, you know that I can't draw PEOPLE! They are hard to draw and when I do they look..."off".

Anyway, I semi-passed the hurdle and completed my first person!

Calligraphy & Illumination by: Ding Li Ying Nu Shr (that's me =))

Words by: Maestra Dresden Pennello di Quadro Voce

"Rejoice and clap hands, make jubilation for praising becomes the virtuous.

A natural teacher and perpetual student, this luminary gentle shares freely what she knows, nurtures others in their pursuits and continually endeavors to improve her own.

Having noted her many and varied worthy efforts within Our esteemed scribal community and the impact her good work has throughout Our Eastern Realm, We, King Brion and Queen Anna, are well moved to acknowledge the scholastic and skill of Alayne Alexandra Nyvern Nightwatcher by inviting her into Our Order of the Manche.

Done by Our hands this twenty-third day of September AS XLI, at The Tiltyard of Linenfield in Our Barony of Concordia of the Snows."

Materials:
Pergamenata (antique double weight)
Winsor Newton gouache
Schminkie gold watercolor
Micron pens (black, red and blue)

My first Cadel

"Let all attend that you shall know
Matthuas Plattnersohn
Did to our Kingdom beauty show.
This quiet gentleman
By his hand created
Art and armor, clothes and more
And yet his muse, unsated,

By these alone, he turned his hand
To glorious stained glass
And the Renaissance Masters grand
To study and surpass.
He who was largely self taught,
In arts and sciences diverse
Is his life now fraught.

With all his skill he is now bound
By King and Queen’s commands
To join companions all around
Within these Eastern lands,
Created by our hand a
Companion of the Maunche is he,
In fair Malagentia.

Fifteen July, year Forty-one
At Great Northeastern War
By Anna Queen and King Brion
Have set their Hand full score."

Words by: Mistress Alayne Alexandra Nyvern Nightwatcher

After the style of Hans Sachs (September 5, 1494 - January 19, 1576) a German meistersinger ("mastersinger"), poet and shoemaker.

Calligraphy & Illumination by: Ding Li Ying Nu Shr

Inspired by “The Revelation of St. John (Apocalypse) – Title Page” (1497-1498) a woodcut by Albrecht DÜRER (1471-1528), German Renaissance artist, painter and printmaker.

Materials:
Pergamenata (vegetable vellum), Winsor Newton gouache, black WN calligraphy ink, and various nibs

Bling bling...

...the beginning of some pretty goldwork scrolls.



This is the outline of the scroll and the goldwork complete...



Finished product!

"May it be told unto all good people that it is the duty of the Queen to encourage and nourish chivalry and courtesy throughout the Realm, it is also in her power to recognize those of Her subjects whose display of such behavior makes them worthy of note. Therefore, We Roxane Regina are pleased to induct Duke Ronald Wilmont into out Queen’s Order of Courtesy, in recognition of his attainment of these virtues. Done this 27th day of September, A. S. 38 at the Last Court of Darius II and Roxane II in Our Barony of Dragonship Haven."

Words, calligraphy & illumination by me...

Inspired by the Visconti Hours

Materials:
Bristol Board (acid free, vellum finish), Winsor Newton gouache, permacoll, 22K gold leaf, black permanent calligraphy ink (WN) and #2 brause nib.

Next...

Scroll reads:

"All Hail Elizabeth Hawkwood, who hits the mark in her service to the Kingdom of the East.

Whether making the rounds to promote the Royal Rounds in rain and shine, or encouraging folks to horse around in the Equestrian Arts has this Lady served not only her local Barony but groups near and far.

By her tireless service has she earned a place in the ranks of our Order of the Silver Crescent, done this 22nd of November, AS XXXVIII in our Royal Forest of Rusted Woodlands on the occasion of the 100 Minutes War.

By Our hand:

Balfar, Rex Luna, Regina"

Recipient: Elizabeth Hawkwood

Award: Silver Crescent

Date: 11/22/03

Event: 100 Minutes War

Royals: Balfar IV and Luna IV

Inspired by: The Black Hours, ~1475, Bruges, Folios 18 verso/19 recto

Materials:
Winsor Newton gouache, black card stock (acid free), silver and gold schminke watercolor, permacoll (for gilding), 22K gold leaf and 10K white gold leaf.

For the calligraphy, I watered down the schminke silver watercolor and mixed it with a little WN imitation silver gouache. I used a #1 Brause nib.
____________________________
This is one of my favorite scrolls. I was so pleased with the way this turned out. I wanted to keep it for myself!! It was amazing working on the dark paper and I loved how the calligraphy came out in silver.

First piece...

not the first piece that I ever did, just the first piece that I'm going to showcase.



Recipient: Chou Fei-Hong

Event and Date of Assignment: War of the Roses XXIII K & Q A & S Archery Champions – Barony of Concordia of the Snows on 5/24/03 (AS 38)

Documentation:

On the scroll...I painted the bamboo. The reason I chose to paint bamboo is because it is one of the 4 traditional plants in Chinese paintings. Bamboo is referred to as the "Perfect Gentleman", which I though perfectly reflected the nature of the recipient of the award.

My dad did the calligraphy...he wrote on the top left hand corner, the recipient’s name in Chinese. Below that is a famous poem that says, “Work, if you don’t do work, you don’t grow. The Road, if you don’t walk down the road, you cannot arrive” and under that is my dad's name (in Chinese (mandarin) his name is "Shr Ti Fun") and he states that he did the calligraphy. On the bottom right hand corner is the date and my name. My chop and my dad's chops are on it (chop is a seal carved in stone with your name on it. They were pressed onto white rice paper and glued to the scroll - to show the color contrast).

The scroll itself was a pre-made blank scroll. It is high quality rice paper mounted on silk. The time period for this style goes back to the Han Dynasty when the Chinese first painted on paper and then mounted it on silk (prior to this they painted directly on the silk). The poem that is on the scroll is by a Chinese scroll that is approximately 1000 yrs old. It is in the old style literary language, poetic form (in modern Chinese is form is literally translate into "white language" or everyday language). The words on the scroll are a poem that basically explains that he's a hard worker and that's how he got where he is.

As for the medium used, the bamboo and calligraphy are done in ink where the Chinese ink stick is rubbed into an ink stone with water until you get the color you want, which is very dark black (takes a good 20 minutes of grinding the ink stick). Then I watered the ink down to paint the stalks. In traditional Chinese painting, the stalks are a lighter gray with dark joints shoots and leaves.

The award is an AOA for a gentleman that's been in the SCA over 10 years...he is a hard worker who has contributed much for his Kingdom and barony.

*Please NOTE: I originally did on plain rice paper with gold speckled paper to back it, but in the process of backing it...it got ripped in half! HORROR STORY from this weekend. In order to make it up to me my dad gave me the pre-made scroll that he had had and that's what the final scroll is on.*

Place to post scrolls and documentation...

With the recent crash of my home computer and the limited disk space at work, I've decided to keep a blog on all my scrolls and documentation.

I have other places where things are scattered, but this will be all MINE!!!!

muh ha ha ha ha

*can you hear the evil laugh in the background?*

*can you tell that I like to be in control!*