Pointy End Goes on the Paper: Beginning Drawing for the SCA Scribal Arts
Scribal culture in each kingdom throughout the known world is unique. As I am Trimarian, I approach things from that perspective. But my hope is that anyone interested in Medieval Illumination can find some inspiration and tidbits in this series of articles which will be helpful.Part 2: The Basics
Later posts will get a little more technical, but this one is dedicated to the basics.Trimarian Scribal Culture:
As afore-mentioned, this class was originally formulated to help new scribes get over their fear of drawing and into the scribal culture of Trimaris. So, I would be remiss without giving at least a brief overview of what that entails.
1. All scrolls used in Trimaris are pieces of handmade original artwork. Behind the scenes this takes a lot of artists and a lot of organization to make work. It is also something that not one or two or even a handful of scribes could manage all on their own without getting seriously burned out. So, in order to maintain a culture where scrolls are handmade pieces of art, we need all the art we can get. This means:
2. You do not need any special training or skill to be a scribe, you just need to participate! Turn in something you have done to the scribes... and congratulations! You are now also a scribe!
3. It is okay to focus on your interests or strengths. You do not need to fully execute a scroll from start to calligraphy, unless you are into that sort of thing. If you like drawing but not painting, turn in some line drawings to get others started. If you like painting but not drawing, pick up some line drawings done by others and go paint to your heart's content. You can even just paint by number the basics and let someone else do the detail work and shading. There are dozens of scribes who only do calligraphy on already illuminated scrolls... and god bless them because calligraphy is not something I have learned to love. (At all.)
4. Art of all skills levels is accepted and used. Your first scroll may not end up as someone's knighting scroll, but it will be used. As mentioned above we need all the help we can get and are not at all exclusive. We have a culture in Trimaris of supporting and training new scribes, and making sure that they feel their contributions are appreciated and useful.... which really is all part of an evil plot to make sure new scribes keep at it and get more practice. And the more practice, the better the art. Funny how that works.
5. Materials are available! The scribes guild does not expect all of it's artists to pay out of pocket for everything, especially if you are just getting started. Just stop by Scribe's Point at any kingdom event and you can obtain enough materials to get you on your way.
Your basic entry-level paper is going to be a standard pad of Bristol drawing paper that you can get at any craft supply store. There are different types of Bristol for different types of drawing, but don't worry about that overmuch. If you get the one for pencil you'll be fine, but if you are wanting to get into painting too there is also one for watercolor. The only difference between the two is that the watercolor sheets are thicker.
Once you feel comfortable, you can graduate to Pergamenata. Pergamenata, or 'perg' for short, is a faux vellum made from vegetable material. It operates a lot like real vellum in that paint sort of floats on the surface of the paper without sinking in. This not only gives your illumination a more period look, it can also be scraped off if you make a mistake! Like, seriously, if you are working on perg a straight razor of some type is your friend. In Trimaris, the current request to scribes everywhere is to use perg for all grant-level or higher scrolls. No, that is not a hardship. Once you work on sweet, sweet Pergamenata you will not even want to go back to Bristol.
And then there is Parchment/Vellum. Unlike perg, real vellum is distinctly not Vegan. In period it could be made from lots of different animals, but these days it is mostly goat. You can call anything made from the skin of an animal 'parchment', but traditionally 'vellum' was finer and thinner as it was made from younger animals. In the SCA I have heard the two terms used totally interchangeably though so I wouldn't worry about the distinction unless you need the info for an art/sci project. Obviously, it's harder to get your hands on (unless you have a goat farm), so it usually needs to be special ordered. If you are interested, check with the scribes guild or your local experienced scribe. They can talk you through the process of obtaining and preparing vellum for use.
Pencils-
Pop quiz! Does anyone know what “Standard #2 Pencil” even means?
Just kidding, no pop quiz, because I am going to tell you! Graphite comes in different levels of 'hardness'. A very hard pencil lead will only leave a very light mark on a piece of paper unless you are really bearing down on it. And have you ever drawn something and the pencil marked the page very dark and then no matter how much you erased you couldn't get the $%^&*! mark out of the paper? That, my friend, just happened to be a very soft piece of lead. If you are interested in the actual scale, just google "Pencil hardness scale" for plenty of resources.
For our purposes though, that standard #2 is just fine. I favor a mechanical pencil myself, because I never have to sharpen it.
Rulers-
Straight lines are your friend! And I promise, there is no way you can draw a long, perfectly straight line freehand. No one can.
...no one.
Techniques-
I'm going to lay some mind- blowing knowledge on you now. Ready for it?
Tracing was period!
What you say? Yes, I say! And I have proof!
This here is from an Italian pattern book that was published in 1532. Note the use of candle light and sunlight to help transfer embroidery patterns. Sure, this is cloth not paper, but the technique still applies. If you want to trace, go right on ahead. I have a $20 LED lightboard I got off of amazon and I love it.
Paint-
For the love of all that is holy, please do not use acrylic. Not that there is anything actually morally wrong with acrylic. I'm sure it's a very nice paint that calls it's mother regularly. But it doesn't act like the paint that would have been used in the Middle Ages. That paint was a lot more like our modern watercolors. Acrylic is also just not very forgiving. What you actually want is a paint called gouache, which is a fancy word for tiny bits of colored pigment suspended in water and thickened with a kind of glue to make it stick. You can get tubes of gouache at any arts store, or hit up the scribes guild for some free samples!
I was planning on getting into sketching in this post, but apparently I'm more wordy than anticipated, so stay tuned for....
3. It is okay to focus on your interests or strengths. You do not need to fully execute a scroll from start to calligraphy, unless you are into that sort of thing. If you like drawing but not painting, turn in some line drawings to get others started. If you like painting but not drawing, pick up some line drawings done by others and go paint to your heart's content. You can even just paint by number the basics and let someone else do the detail work and shading. There are dozens of scribes who only do calligraphy on already illuminated scrolls... and god bless them because calligraphy is not something I have learned to love. (At all.)
4. Art of all skills levels is accepted and used. Your first scroll may not end up as someone's knighting scroll, but it will be used. As mentioned above we need all the help we can get and are not at all exclusive. We have a culture in Trimaris of supporting and training new scribes, and making sure that they feel their contributions are appreciated and useful.... which really is all part of an evil plot to make sure new scribes keep at it and get more practice. And the more practice, the better the art. Funny how that works.
5. Materials are available! The scribes guild does not expect all of it's artists to pay out of pocket for everything, especially if you are just getting started. Just stop by Scribe's Point at any kingdom event and you can obtain enough materials to get you on your way.
Materials:
Paper-Your basic entry-level paper is going to be a standard pad of Bristol drawing paper that you can get at any craft supply store. There are different types of Bristol for different types of drawing, but don't worry about that overmuch. If you get the one for pencil you'll be fine, but if you are wanting to get into painting too there is also one for watercolor. The only difference between the two is that the watercolor sheets are thicker.
Once you feel comfortable, you can graduate to Pergamenata. Pergamenata, or 'perg' for short, is a faux vellum made from vegetable material. It operates a lot like real vellum in that paint sort of floats on the surface of the paper without sinking in. This not only gives your illumination a more period look, it can also be scraped off if you make a mistake! Like, seriously, if you are working on perg a straight razor of some type is your friend. In Trimaris, the current request to scribes everywhere is to use perg for all grant-level or higher scrolls. No, that is not a hardship. Once you work on sweet, sweet Pergamenata you will not even want to go back to Bristol.
And then there is Parchment/Vellum. Unlike perg, real vellum is distinctly not Vegan. In period it could be made from lots of different animals, but these days it is mostly goat. You can call anything made from the skin of an animal 'parchment', but traditionally 'vellum' was finer and thinner as it was made from younger animals. In the SCA I have heard the two terms used totally interchangeably though so I wouldn't worry about the distinction unless you need the info for an art/sci project. Obviously, it's harder to get your hands on (unless you have a goat farm), so it usually needs to be special ordered. If you are interested, check with the scribes guild or your local experienced scribe. They can talk you through the process of obtaining and preparing vellum for use.
Pencils-
Pop quiz! Does anyone know what “Standard #2 Pencil” even means?
Just kidding, no pop quiz, because I am going to tell you! Graphite comes in different levels of 'hardness'. A very hard pencil lead will only leave a very light mark on a piece of paper unless you are really bearing down on it. And have you ever drawn something and the pencil marked the page very dark and then no matter how much you erased you couldn't get the $%^&*! mark out of the paper? That, my friend, just happened to be a very soft piece of lead. If you are interested in the actual scale, just google "Pencil hardness scale" for plenty of resources.
For our purposes though, that standard #2 is just fine. I favor a mechanical pencil myself, because I never have to sharpen it.
Rulers-
Straight lines are your friend! And I promise, there is no way you can draw a long, perfectly straight line freehand. No one can.
...no one.
Techniques-
I'm going to lay some mind- blowing knowledge on you now. Ready for it?
Tracing was period!
What you say? Yes, I say! And I have proof!
 |
| Image from a 1532 pattern book by Alessandro Paganino. https://www.metmuseum.org/ |
This here is from an Italian pattern book that was published in 1532. Note the use of candle light and sunlight to help transfer embroidery patterns. Sure, this is cloth not paper, but the technique still applies. If you want to trace, go right on ahead. I have a $20 LED lightboard I got off of amazon and I love it.
Paint-
For the love of all that is holy, please do not use acrylic. Not that there is anything actually morally wrong with acrylic. I'm sure it's a very nice paint that calls it's mother regularly. But it doesn't act like the paint that would have been used in the Middle Ages. That paint was a lot more like our modern watercolors. Acrylic is also just not very forgiving. What you actually want is a paint called gouache, which is a fancy word for tiny bits of colored pigment suspended in water and thickened with a kind of glue to make it stick. You can get tubes of gouache at any arts store, or hit up the scribes guild for some free samples!
I was planning on getting into sketching in this post, but apparently I'm more wordy than anticipated, so stay tuned for....
This all is wonderful. Thank you and I shall be following faithfully.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoy it!
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