August 8, 2023

Strathmore Bristol paper 19×25”, Holbein Gouache, Windsor Newton Gold Gouache and Calligraphy Ink

Illumination by myself
Calligraphy and Words by Eamon Grey

I had taken a few months off from scribal so that I could move, I know, again…  Once I had settled in to my new place I let the Signet (the office that gives out assignments for Award scrolls) know that they could put me back into the rotation.  Shortly thereafter I received an assignment for an Order of the Tyger’s Combattant (OTC).  This is a high-level award for prowess in Martial activities, and one that is rather difficult to obtain.  When I saw that the recipient was a female I was elated.  Although it is becoming much more common for women to be fighter’s it is still rather rare to see them advance to this level.  

I do not personally know the recipient, however Lillian has an outstanding reputation.  I did my research on her Wiki page and the Order of Precedence.  I saw that she received her first award 23 years ago, a Tyger’s Cub, so she has been in the SCA since childhood.  She has received numerous honors over the years, including being Champion of Horse three times.  Knowing all this I wanted to make a scroll that would be worthy of her and this great accomplishment.  I searched for manuscripts depicting female warriors.  As one might guess there are not many.  I came across a miniature of Joan of Arc on horseback from 1504 in Antoine Dufour’s Vies des femmes cèlèbres.  It was perfect.  

I got to work, sketched and traced the image onto my 19×25” paper.  It was rather comical trying to work on something that is about twice the size of my easel, but by adding cardboard to the desk I made it work.  As always, I started with the background, painting the sky and then the cityscape in the back.  I approached this style much like I would watercolors, thinning my paint out and doing layers of washes for the sky.  The exemplar has a very inexact, painterly style, which can be quite challenging to replicate.  

On the buildings I added the background colors, then put details over these colors.  In some areas I added dry brushing and/or washes to give the effect I was looking for.  The next area that I did was the grass and roadway. Like before, I did my base colors in washes and added the finer details over that as well as dry brushing some areas.  

The horse was the next step.  I painted it in various tones of gray and then overlaid that with numerous brushstrokes in grays, whites and blacks.  It took many, many layers of the small brushstrokes to get the right tones.  Next I added the decoration on the horse and the banner.  These I modified to match Lillian’s heraldry, which is black and green with a white seahorse and shells.  

Moving on to the depiction of Joan was the next step, which is what I was most excited for.  I used a base of yellow ochre on the armor and then I added shading and highlights as well as metallic gold paint in various shades.  This is the point that I really felt the painting come to life.  Next I did the face and hands of Joan.  This is always the part that scares me the most as portraits are something that I find quite difficult.  However, this one went fairly smoothly and I was happy with how it turned out.  Lastly I completed the frame and the OTC Badge.

I handed off the scroll to Eamon to complete the calligraphy.  He did not disappoint and crafted some stunning words and letters to compliment my illumination perfectly.  Overall I am incredibly pleased with the results of this scroll and enjoyed painting it immensely.  I hope that Lillian can feel the love and joy that went into making it.