Artifacts of Life is the first art event that I have actually entered and competed.  I showed off a piece of art  many, many years ago at GNE and wasn't real keen on doing art competitions.  Two years ago, I entered my first try at the paintbrushes at a small Carolingian event (just display) and then at Artifacts of Life, the first one.  I was scared, hearing about the type of people who judge arts and feeling out of my element.  Baron Jean du Lac, bless his joyous heart, welcomed me in, helped me get situated and made sure that this wasn't going to scare me away.   I have complete faith in His Excellency.   I wasn't competing, just showing the first time.  And it was enjoyable and I liked the concept of delving into a person and what they would have left.    What's more, I was able to speak to people about what I was doing and also try to push myself as to what I should do next. 

As many of you know who have been reading along, I have written about the paintbrushes for nigh on two years in this blog, and this year it was a chance to present the research on this journey.  I wanted to push myself even more and work on the idea of making a person who would have used these things, so I happened onto the idea of a female artist of the 16th century who was a member of an art guild and what she would have had.   Artifacts of Life II was scheduled for September 26 and I actually entered the competition.

Lorenzo Gorla with his living history presentation of a 16th century Italian master of fence.

My presentation of a 1590s Italian female artist, with paintbrushes, quills, apprentice contract.

Elena Hilton's Italian renaissance dress.

Ysabella de Draguignan's ceramics.    It is 15th century Hispano-ware from Valencia Spain.

Lissa Underhill and her beautiful beads and research.

Alesone's won second place in the Elite category with her presentation of a 16th century Grocer's apprentice.

My presentation still could use some work.

First entry:  I entered my latest paintbrushes, but brought all the ones from the beginning to discuss the development.

Second entry:  I also entered an apprentice contract which had several elements in it, but I did it start to finish in a period method using period tools.

I researched the wording and used a piece of vellum (bought at Guild Mirandola this summer), with holes pricked in it so that it would be added to a book.  I wrote the words on the vellum using a quill (which I made and that was the third entry) and oak gall ink (bought at Guild Mirandola also).  I've made oak gall ink a couple of years ago and wasn't prepared to do that again for this one off project. 

Third entry :  I entered several quills that I made.  I brought the oak gall with me so that people could try them out.

Fourth - ish entry: I mixed up some period pigments to allow people to use the paintbrushes.  But seriously, I ground up the pigment, mixed it with water, then gum arabic as a binder.   I also found out that while crushing bugs is really cool to talk about, the scarlet that you get on Wednesday when you crush the bugs does not LAST.  It was a murky brown by Saturday.  Very sad and lesson learned.  The ultramarine though was beautiful.

Close up of the Artist apprentice contract

I learned quite a bit.  My research is coming along.  I think I need to come up with a way to make the presentation look more like an artist's garret.   I included the tri-fold poster to give information, and received feedback that yes it was helpful and another that said no, it detracted.  I think I am becoming far more aware of my information and that is good, but there are some small holes that I can clean up, and of course more research to be done.   I thought that the judging was pleasant but somewhat frustrating as the research that I had printed and brought was not really reviewed.  I, myself, need to make sure that I have time between when I do the presentation and actually read the judge's comments.  I read them right away and it seemed like my presentation wasn't understood, but giving it a week, I was able to decipher some positive ideas that I think will be helpful.

All in all, I might do this again. ;-)

                                  I find it, easiest for myself, if I post the assignment in its parts in front of my work station on the mirror - the inspiration, my practice sheets, any information that is necessary for the project.  The inspirations are to the left and right slightly off of camera, but will be included below.  The sheet on the bottom left is my color testing sheet and paint sheet, and as you can see, it is usually a recycled piece from some other project that did not make the cut.   I am very Yankee in that I don't believe in any waste and from my research of artists of the time period that I am interested in, the artists did the same thing. So I reuse my paper as much as possible as test sheets.   Reflected in the mirror is the practice sheets for calligraphy.

                                As you might be able to see the set of instructions in the middle are far more detailed than I am usually dealing with in a scroll assignment.  The size of the illumination was very specific, the paper needed to be 11" x 8.5" and the illumination would be 10" x 7.5".  There were also restrictions on metallic leaf and inks (they don't photograph or scan well, and certain pigments don't reproduce well with four color printing.  Ultramarine, one of my standbys for my blues would present a challenge.  Also certain yellows and oranges were difficult and would scan brown.   That meant that I needed to do more test sheets with a different palette than I might have normally chosen.  

                                   Below is one example of the many test sheets that I used for this project.  I am experimenting with the colors that I wish to use on the project on the same type of paper that I wish to use.  I want to see how the shading will look, get the right colors and if any adjustments have to be made, I need to do it before the final piece.

                                 I did quite a bit of research for this subject to come up with a historical shark that would fit the parameters of the assignment. It also was interesting finding out the different mythical and not so mythical beasts that dwelled in the sea as seen by medieval eyes.   The assignment was initiated in June of 2015 and would be due September 1.   I received the wording written by my good friend, Alexandre Lerot d'Avigne, current Prince of Insulae Draconis which is below:

"The shark is the laziest of fish, but is fierce when roused.  When hunting, it swims in a circle which it draws tight around its prey.  If its victim remains still, the shark will often lose interest and swim on.  It is the foe of the lava otter, for they are too much alike to live in peace.  It is found throughout the world, but schools most heavily along the eastern shores."

I ended up really enjoying the research and it gave me a better idea of what I wanted it to look like overall and what the medieval person was thinking of when they thought of Shark/Whale/Sea Monster.

I give you the research. Many were found on www.strangescience.com under its gallery on sea monsters.

taken from the vignettes on Olaus Magnus's Carta marina

1514, by Albrecht Durer

1575, Conrad Gesner,  Historia Animalium

Year:  520 - 510 BC, A Ketos in Early Athens: An Archaeology of Whales and Sea Monsters in the Greek World" by Papadopoulos and Ruscillo in American Journal of Archaeology and "Monk Seals in Antiquity" by Johnson and Lavigne in Mededelingen No. 35
_

1569, The True Discripcion of this Marueilous Straunge Fishe

1575, Conrad Gesner,  Historia Animalium

1575, Conrad Gesner,  Historia Animalium

Try as I might, I was unable to find the original manuscript for the above Shark with little hat!  I found it on http://www.medievalists.net/2015/02/09/week-medieval-manuscript-images-19/ which showed several images that had been tweeted.  If anyone has some clues to the original, I would be eternally grateful.

British Library, Harley MS 4751, Folio 69r

                                            I chose the last two for the project because I liked the colors and the Shark eating its prey and it delighted me that there was a reference for a Shark doodle, almost marginalia that I could include in the paragraph about the shark.

Century: 13th, MS. Ashmole 151, folio 086v, 81, 9, housed in Bodleian Library

Above:   Much less colorful paint palette.   We had specific instructions that gold/silver and ultramarine do not photograph well, I had to avoid my usual standbys.  The lovely grey of the shark gave me a different color palette to work from.

I made several test layouts for this one before I settled on the above layout.  Words with illuminated Capital T, with room for words by Alexandre Lerot d'Avigne and calligraphy by Eleanor Catlyng.  I used Windsor Newton Payne's Grey with a 00 and a 1 brush.   I made a gradation of the grey with a dark grey, light grey, lighter grey and then a pot of permanent white. 

Once done with the shark proper, on to the lovely green sea that is depicted in the original.  Holbein green, mixed with black, white and yellow ochre gave me the right look that color matched the original.  Holbein yellow ochre was the surrounding ground, as I could not use mosaic gold or leaf gold for this project. 

Filling up the background, touch ups.

I used lamp black for the waves of the sea, and yellow ochre (again, I could not use gold) to highlight the sea.   Then I painted (not inked!) the shark face upon the Capital T complete with jaunty hat.

At this point, it was handed off to Eleanor to work her magic on the calligraphy.

I was asked to participate in the Bestiary Calendar which is a fundraiser for the Kingdom.   I can't show you the work yet as it is yet to be advertised, however, I can let you peek under the slip a bit..... ;-)  Here is my work space prior to arting. 

Summer comes and there is more time to complete assignments, especially backlogs.  Eleanor Catlyng did the original scroll and did not like how it came out.  So we discussed it, and it was decided that she would do the calligraphy and I would do the illumination.   No surprises, we are a good team, especially when it comes to peerage scrolls.  I had to get the other items off my list and mid summer dove into it.  It was done before July, however, since I could not get the original to Marie, I didn't feel right about publishing it until it was in her hands.  At Uber Crafty, I was able to hand it off and thus I am able to publish it now.

As always I start with a layout.  The calligraphy is already there, setting up most of the layout, but then I draw in the elements that I wish to use.  We had very specific items that the recipient wished to have on the scroll so I tried to make sure that those were featured.

The above is a Grant of Arms to Sir Nicholas Bacon English, 1568/9. Illuminated document granting arms and signed and sealed by three of the Kings of Arms. Illumination consists primarily of heraldic shields and a portrait initial.

The one directly above is a Grant of Arms  to George Toke English, 1547. Illuminated document granting arms and signed and sealed by Gilbert Dethick, Norroy King of Arms.  


With this in mind, I was going to have an achievement of arms on the left, a person in heraldic dress wearing a tabard with the Kingdom Arms of Outlands (she has moved to the East, but was formerly of the Outlands) and the flowers and greenery across the top.

I've sketched in the Pelican, the heraldic person, the achievement, the enlarged letter E for Edward, and the leaves and flowers across the top of the border.

I mixed up some paint that I wished to use and made up some fresh mosaic gold, below.

Mosaic gold

Close up:  Inked in the details, started with mosaic gold, started the white for the Pelican, and painting in the black and green.

The entire piece.

Close up of the Pelican, after doing some shading.  The Pelican is permanent white with grey dulled with more white for the greytone shading.

Slightly blurry, but the Achievement of arms, lamp black with mosaic gold and permanent white, all Windsor Newton Gouache.

Happily zipping along with Windsor Newton ultramarine gouache for the flowers, and Holbein green for the leaves, and Holbein purple-red for the larger red flower, and Holbein yellow for the highlights and the yellow stockings.  This was taken before I began work on the shading work on the Pelican.

More details.

Close up of the detail work, and beginning the diapering behind the main figure with the Capital E. 

Diapering with details of three white dots to each blue space.

Finished product.

I bought an honest to goodness carving tool and made two quills (technically three, but the third one is not here).  I have even used them with some modicum of success.

I will be bringing them to the Uber Crafty in a couple of weeks and perhaps some others can make their own quills. :-)

Pennsic, with its loads of lovely time the first week is a great time to adjust to not going at a hectic pace.  I brought my art gear with me, including some feathers, fish glue, hog's hair, an ermine pelt, thread, and wax.

Research information:
You can see some of my previous research on the paint brushes and my earlier trials here and here and here

I did realize that I started this paintbrush journey in August of 2013. 

I took a piece of wood from the wood pile and with the guidance of Gaius, and borrowing a wood carving tool from Nicolette, I took a piece of wood and split it into some straight pieces.

And then sanded, whittled and made them into the nine inch long brush handles I needed.

As I was relaxing doing this, and at Pennsic, there are no process photographs because I really don't believe in using a phone at Pennsic unless it is an emergency.  So it didn't even occur to me to take photos.  Ah well.

I have refined the process down to whittle the brush handle, snip the tail off of the ermine, using thread that I have waxed and tying the hair into a neat bundle.

The next step is hollowing out the feather base for the ferule, slipping the hair into the feather case, and applying fish glue affix the case to the hair at the base.  After that has dried, applying fish glue to the brush handle and pushing it in snugly into the ferule.

Voila!

I was given a backlog assignment for a dear friend, Katherine Stanhope.  I wanted to do something spectacular and even asked if she had a preference.  She didn't, so away I went with a riff on the Black hours manuscripts.  I used arches black 80 pound paper.

Research information:

You can find references here.

I used mosaic gold, silver windsor newton goauche, windsor newton ultramarine mixed with windsor newton permanent white.   For the calligraphy, I brushed the silver windsor newton goauche onto a calligraphy pen.

And now the pictures.

Layout, Penciled in design, words in silver goauche.

I laid down the augmented arms first and then laid down the mosaic gold.  Finally the blue was added as the background.

Finished product.  Background in ultramarine, tiny circles in silver and the initial T in silver.

I have a dear friend who lost his beloved cat.  He asked me if I would be willing to make a piece of artwork with the inked paw print from the vets.   He asked me to do it with Italian white vine work in mind, so off I went.

Things I learned - you can never count on the paper that the vet uses.  I discovered that the paper that the paw print was on was waxed.  How I discovered this - blech.  Fortunately Bob gave me two paw prints, so when I put a pencil line down to write the name of the cat, Monty, and then tried to erase the pencil marks and got ugly marks, I had a second paw print to work with. 

I also thought outside of the box with this one, by framing the paw with mats, one black for the interior, then red for the exterior, that gave me more surface to put art work on.  I can't take total credit for this, my beloved gave me the suggestion and I ran with it.

Now for the pictures.

Final finished piece.  I framed it for Bob.

I hadn't realized that it was so long since I last updated.  When I arrived to update my latest work that went out this weekend, oh my, it was April when I was here last.  Oh dear, bad artist! :-)   Artwork happened, but I have been stupidly behind.  One reason was the flu (which the flu shot did not stop by the way) :::Shakes fist at sky::::, a second reason was school, and a third reason is that the Order of Defense was born and that means lots of assignments in very little time.

So onward -

On May 2, the first three Masters of Defense were elevated.  I was chosen to do Donovan Shinnock's scroll. Donovan is a friend that I have known for years, and I know of his deep interest in Fabris. 

Research information:

If you are interested in Rapier Research, you will find his research on his blog here.  So the choice of artwork was very straightforward - I had to do something from the Fabris manual.  So scanning Donovan's blog and looking up ARMA, the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts, I was able to combine elements from the cover page of Salvatore Fabris' manual, plus the plate from page 3 to make a quite nice two page on one sheet scroll that resembled the pages of a manual in tribute to Master Donovan.

Outsourcing the wording

I contacted Alys (or she contacted me) and Alys quickly came up with the wording for the award.  Here, you will find the blog by the Extraordinary Alys Mackyntoich, with the words for Donovan's scroll.  As you can see, she has such a depth of knowledge that she could write the wording based on her medieval mindset.

The process

We will start with the final and only picture that I have of this Scroll because unfortunately process pictures were not in the cards this time.

Did I say that I had approximately 3 weeks to do this assignment?  Not because I didn't know about it, but because at the time, I did not know who the recipient would be.  I have found as an artist that to WHOM the award is going to very much affects what I chose as art and the entire process. I didn't find out about the recipient until April 11.

Did I say something about the flu?  Um, yeah, April 19 to the 25th was pretty much spent horizontal because of the flu.  I was doing this piece of art an hour at the time, getting up from bed, writing a couple of lines, going back to bed.  This was happening at the same time that Donovan's former cadet, Anastasiia was sick and making an embroidered glove for Donovan.  But I pushed through.

But that means not many process photos.  Therefore, the finished product.

Process in words. 

First layout with two pages on once piece of paper.  The main face page I penciled in, and then I penciled in the fencing plate above where I would place the words.  As usual, words were inked in first, then I moved over to the actual illustration/painting.

I wanted to experiment with a wash rather than go straight for a pen and ink replica of wood block printing that I have done previously.  I liked how it came out, but I struggled with the wash.  Too much and it was.............a wash.  The technique I used was Windsor Newton burnt umber diluted in three different pots to three different consistencies so that I could get the light wash, a dark wash, and then the actual paint to do detail work.  I started with a wash, then came in with the darker highlights, going back and forth for the three pots as needed.

Once the left side was painted, I returned to the right side and filled in the figures from Plate 1 of Fabris.  Far less in the way of wash as these were teeny, tiny figures and I didn't want them to get lost.

The importance of symbolism:

I took certain elements from the cover of the Fabris manual for their symbolism, which I believe Donovan appreciated.  I included Mars, the god of War, who is also seen as a guardian and a keeper of peace, and a nod to the idea of a mature, aged combatant with spear (!) in hand, ready to fight.   I included Mercury, the god of commerce, poetry, messages and communication (heraldry - I thought Donovan would like that also, as this is another thing in the SCA that he does) as a counterbalance to Mars, as the youthful fencer, resting and waiting for that next bout. 

The new symbol for the Order of Defense took a central place with Donovan's arms right below it, flanked by the two gods, making three symbols next to each other, and there were three initial Masters of Defense, there ya go.  Like I said, symbolism.   Lots of symbolism, which is totally appropriate for a piece of artwork in the medieval and renaissance time period.

Around the badge for the new Order, since this was a new order, I felt it was important to include words that befitted the Order. 

I included community, champion, training, skill, perseverance, service, style and research.  That is what the Order of Defense means to me, and to many fencers.  Along with the new title of Master of Defense, and then a miniature scroll with Donovan's name and his new title declared to the world.

Things I would have done differently?   I would not have had the flu. :-)  I would also, if I had more time, experimented with even more detail, but I actually like the fact that this is so clean and uncomplicated in its presentation.  I like the way that it really did look like the pages of a manual, and the recipient has told me several times how much he loves it, which is really the point for me.

Thus ends the story of this scroll.

Second Master of Defense scroll.  A little bit better timing, from May 6, to June 13.  Five weeks.  Who's a super artist?  That's right, go get 'em.

Again, I have known Jean Xavier for years.  The information was green and gold were his colors, that he loves owls.  Since he was the former baron of An Dubhaigeainn, the appearance of white ducks, the symbol of that Barony would not be out of line.  I obtained a copy of his arms, and started researching. 

Research information:  

I was looking for something French or English and was pouring through a book a friend gave to me,  "Illuminating the Renaissance, the Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe", Kren and McKendrick, The J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2003.  The exemplars were lovely and gave me some great ideas, but the one on page 438 caught my eye.

Plus I looked at a lot of French and English exemplars from the period and borrowed from quite a few. The Henry VIII to Thomas Forster has some very poor exemplars online, and the one that I used was from the book "Illuminating the Renaissance, the Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe", Kren and McKendrick, The J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2003, page 438.   You can download it here and I highly recommend it for sources.   The specific piece was :  Letters Patent of Henry VIII to Thomas Forster. England, between April 28, 1524 and February 8, 1528.  The google books give the reference here:

Outsourcing the wording

I asked Anastasiia Gutane if she would be willing to write the words for this scroll.  She had been told that I did not care if it was long, that I was a scribe that wasn't afraid of long scroll texts.   Okay, then.  I was delivered of 633 words.  Six hundred and thirty three Beautiful words.   Words are online here.  When I received the wording, I spent a day practicing the hand at a Camelot Spring get together.  They did not fit on the paper.  There would be no room at all for any illumination.  No seriously, not a bit.  I didn't want to cut it, it was lovely.  The reference material is :

http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/noblesse.htm
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/peerage.htm
http://corpus.enc.sorbonne.fr/actesroyauxdupoitou/tome12/1733

And I'm sure that Anastasiia's journal goes into more detail.

After the first run, in the slightly immortal words of Martin Brody in Jaws, "We're going to need a bigger piece of paper."

Larger paper is acquired and I begin the process of writing the words again.  This took several test sheets.  I think some people benefit from looking at what doesn't make the final cut, so here you go.

Above left is learning the alphabet of the English chancery hand that the original had which took some doing, as it seemed the curves all went in the opposite way than I am used to.  The photograph on the right is the first run through on what became the too small piece of paper.  As you can see, I just stopped writing because it was clear it wasn't going to fit.  The writing changed somewhat as I was going also, as I began to get comfortable with the particulars of that hand.

Basic layout of where I wanted things to lie, so that I could write in the words.  I cut this sheet from a larger sheet and I used the final dimensions of the original piece of 13 x 24 inches.  I don't think that this picture really reflects that well.  Once done with the writing, on to filling in the rest of the design with pencil.

Penciled in, and then inked in.  The inking was giving me quite the trouble in the upper right hand corner, and I ended up cleaning that up with paint, and a little bit of scraping with an exacto knife. I used some of the elements from the original piece, and then dropped in the badge for the Order of Defense on the left, with the achievement of Jean Xavier's arms above it, two ducks in the upper corners right and left, and an owl on the bottom right to balance out the composition.

Things are getting busy, and so much work, and not as many pictures.

So I'm sitting on the floor, grinding paint and my sweetie comes in and says, "What are you doing?"   I say, "I'm making paint."  Response, "Oh, huh."  I decided to try some yellow ochre from pigment as a stretch.  I will not tell you it was easy.  I mixed it happily enough but the first time I put it on, I had to scrape nearly all of it off as it dried weird.  All the paint for this particular project was drying weird, and I ended up with spots that had to be scraped off and reapplied.  I suspect it was due to the humidity, but it could be because of the paper, or I could have mixed the paint wrong.

My plan is to experiment with the paint when I don't have a deadline looming.  I know that this may be a pipe dream, but one can try to dream.

I also worked with Mistress Eleanor to try and figure out the shiny quality of the paint as it was definitely not gold leaf, but had that shimmer.  More research pointed to shell gold, so I borrowed some from Eleanor to try out and that seemed to do the trick.  I then had Lady Doselena from Guild Mirandola quick send me shell gold.  I will tell you that shell gold is rather pricey, but was well worth the effect.  I used a pen and ink type stroke that is used in period painting and it punched up the yellow ochre.  Score!

The paint for the achievement was holbein's green and holbein's yellow, which work very well.  A little bit of white added to both and I had working colors.  I would use the green again later.

Close up of the achievement.  The square surrounding the Initial letter is with mosaic gold, and old standby for me.  You can see the shimmer from the shell gold on the rectangular pieces.

A better closeup of the yellow ochre with the shell gold painted with the period technique.

The initial letter.  As you can see, the lower leaf is not quite dry, so that shows you the change in color from wet yellow ochre to dry yellow ochre which are the other leaves. 

Close up of the initial letter D.  I surrounded the letter with burnt umber to punch it up, and the leaves that had the yellow ochre on them received a layer of shell gold and then burnt umber (make that two different pots of burnt umber, one with a little bit of white, then the second one with a VERY little bit of white) for the detail work.  I finished with green background which echoed the green from the achievement.  I think I would like to practice the painting of leaves more so that there is more detail in future ones.

As you can also see in the meantime, I painted in the red (Holbein's cadmium red purple, again slightly dulled with a very little white, I highly recommend this color) for the background.  It really punched the yellow ochre and gold up.

Below is the finished product.

Detail pictures above.