From: owner-scribes@castle.org (scribes digest) To: scribes-digest@castle.org Subject: scribes digest V2 #161 Reply-To: Sender: owner-scribes@castle.org Errors-To: owner-scribes@castle.org Precedence: bulk scribes digest Wednesday, July 15 1998 Volume 02 : Number 161 In this issue: Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Re: [scribes]: Celtic colours / Meehan books Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Fw: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade [scribes]: FYI: St. Giles Scribal Ithra Classes [scribes]: Notes to the list Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 11:27:50 -0400 From: "Jessica Wilbur" Subject: Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade > > 7) A mechanical pencil. I prefer one with a soft lead (B) which will lay a dark > line with little pressure and then erase easily. Remember, if you press too > hard, you'll end up with a *very* dark line that will *not* erase easily. > 8-a) A good, soft eraser. I prefer the white ones by Staedtler (sp?), > especially the ones in the click-style pen holders. > 8-b) A draftsman's erasing template (about 3"x4" - very useful!) OK... that's one I'm not familiar with. What's a draftsman's erasing template? Inquiring scribes want to know! =) - --Muireann ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 11:27:50 -0400 From: "Jessica Wilbur" Subject: Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade > > 7) A mechanical pencil. I prefer one with a soft lead (B) which will lay a dark > line with little pressure and then erase easily. Remember, if you press too > hard, you'll end up with a *very* dark line that will *not* erase easily. > 8-a) A good, soft eraser. I prefer the white ones by Staedtler (sp?), > especially the ones in the click-style pen holders. > 8-b) A draftsman's erasing template (about 3"x4" - very useful!) OK... that's one I'm not familiar with. What's a draftsman's erasing template? Inquiring scribes want to know! =) - --Muireann ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 09:03:05 -0700 From: "Carolyn Richardson" Subject: Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Gee, I must be a real minimalist. The *basic* tools I need are: 1) My drawing board 2) T square 3) Right Triangle 4) 18" steel ruler with cork back 5) My calligraphy pens & ink (both Speedball) 6) Gouache & brushes (I usually use a 1 or smaller down to 10/0) 7) 3B pencils _and_ my battery operated pencil sharpener which makes a much finer tip than a manual sharpener 8) an eraser - like Thomas I prefer the white plastic ones that come in squares or "pencil" format Of course, I frequently use other things as well (tracing paper, light table, gold leaf, etc) but with these basic items I can do a lot of scrolls. However since I do like to have exemplars I tend to also have one of my books out to the page I'm trying to imitate, but I *can* do them "off the cuff" when I feel like it, as long as I don't have to do fancy things like elephant supporters or people. Floral patterns ala French styles don't require me to have exemplars or much of anything except my own imagination. Tetchubah of Greenlake, Caid ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 10:37:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Eldred@concentric.net Subject: Re: [scribes]: Celtic colours / Meehan books Greetings from Eldred! > Lea Viljanen wrote: > > > Anyway, I'd like your opinion on the *covers* of the > > > Meehan paperbacks. Is the colour scheme used in them > > > historically correct or not? I responded, in general: > I have another thought (I don't have the Meehan handy) is the cover art > for the Meehan books *by* Meehan, or are the covers taken from period > manuscripts that are the basis of Meehan's work? In the later case, you > automatically have your answer.... Anyone know? I checked last night. The Meehan book covers are works by Meehan. More on the color accuracy thing on Monday, then.... In service, Eldred AElfwald Canton of Falcon Cree Barony of Nottinghill Coill Kingdom of Atlantia ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 09:10:00 -0500 From: "Helen Schultz (KHvS)" Subject: Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Hi all, A couple people keep mentioning they use a .005 mechanical pencil to do their preliminary work. Let me say this about that... a set size of pencil lead will foil you every time. Look into getting one of the drafting type mechanical pencils that you can put different degrees of hardness leads into. Then get yourself a GOOD hand sharpener (I like the little ones sold by Pendragon for abut $.50 each, but there are others out there just as good) and keep that point as sharp as you possibly can all the time. A set size pencil lead will ALWAYS be somewhat blunt unless you are willing to try to sharpen it (not easy with that small a piece of lead). The leads for the drafting pencils is firm enough and comes in such a wide variety of harness that sharpening it is not difficult. << Shameless Plug >> If any of you plan to be at Pennsic this year... I will be doing a class (set up to be) for newly starting scribes (both callig & illum) on what I consider to be the best type of materials, supplies, and resources to use. I will probably have some handouts after Pennsic for those who cannot attend. Get with me privately for those, please. Just my $.02 worth. KHvS (from work... I know, I need to get back to work) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 08:07:34 -0700 From: John Stracke Subject: Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade Thomas Brownwell wrote: > The good lady Genevieve has started a list of things necessary for the > >>4) a range of sized black ink pens (.005 and up) I've actually moved away from tech pens. One of the people that more-or-less teaches me around here was ragging on me for using them (not period); my main objection was that the crowquills tended to splay out on me, and deposit lumps of ink. But lately my Rapidoliner has been cranky (the cartridges start leaking after about a week, I have to wipe them down with a paper towel before I start working, and the ink flow is uneven), so I started wondering if a crowquill could be that bad. Then I realized: OK, sure, they used to splay out, because I used to press much too hard; I don't (so much) any more, but I must have damaged them when I did. So I bought a new one (much cheaper than a new Rapidoliner cartridge), and, sure enough, it's fine. The lines are thin (thinner than the 0.25 Rapidoliner), it doesn't leaves blobs (so far), and it'll hold enough ink to finish a respectable amount of work. > 8-a) A good, soft eraser. I prefer the white ones by Staedtler (sp?), > especially the ones in the click-style pen holders. I use those, but I also use the little rectangular jobbies for when I have lots to erase (e.g., erasing my pencil lines after I've inked everything). 12) A compass. I have a fancy drafting compass (picked up at a garage sale for $5 ;-); it's much steadier than the things I used to use in school. 13) Different sized rulers. I have 6", 12", and 18" (all with cork backing); the long ones are important for ruling the borders, but the short one is handy for smaller work. 14) A sketchbook, to practice an image I'm going to copy. (I have one that's ordinary lightweight paper, for pencil, and another that's watercolor weight, for practicing the paint job.) > And remember that you're very rarely going to trace directly from a book. In > general I need to photocopy the original and resize it, either up or down, to > suit my own layout. 15) A computer. Not having a light table, I copy things by grid, so one of my standard tricks for difficult pictures is to scan the image, paste a grid on top of it, then print it out. - -- /=================================================================\ |John Francis Stracke | http://www.thibault.org |S/MIME & HTML OK| |francis@thibault.org |===========================================| |Crosston, Mists, West| Any time somebody has a conditioned | |My LAN, my opinions. | response, they *always* think of Pavlov! | \=================================================================/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 12:04:04 -0500 From: "Helen Schultz (KHvS)" Subject: Fw: [scribes]: Tools of the trade I sent this once earlier but didn't see it come up on the list... so if it did and I just didn't get it, sorry. KHvS - ---------- > Hi all, > > A couple people keep mentioning they use a .005 mechanical pencil to do > their preliminary work. Let me say this about that... a set size of pencil > lead will foil you every time. Look into getting one of the drafting type > mechanical pencils that you can put different degrees of hardness leads > into. Then get yourself a GOOD hand sharpener (I like the little ones sold > by Pendragon for abut $.50 each, but there are others out there just as > good) and keep that point as sharp as you possibly can all the time. A set > size pencil lead will ALWAYS be somewhat blunt unless you are willing to > try to sharpen it (not easy with that small a piece of lead). The leads > for the drafting pencils is firm enough and comes in such a wide variety of > harness that sharpening it is not difficult. > > << Shameless Plug >> If any of you plan to be at Pennsic this year... I > will be doing a class (set up to be) for newly starting scribes (both > callig & illum) on what I consider to be the best type of materials, > supplies, and resources to use. I will probably have some handouts after > Pennsic for those who cannot attend. Get with me privately for those, > please. > > Just my $.02 worth. > > KHvS (from work... I know, I need to get back to work) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 12:56:57 -0400 From: "Dorinda E Courtine-White" Subject: Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade OK... that's one I'm not familiar with. What's a draftsman's erasing template? Inquiring scribes want to know! =) - --Muireann A draftsman's erasing template (sometimes called an erasing shield) is a thin metal card, a little smaller than an index card, with various shaped cut outs. The cutouts usually include circles, squares, wedges and long thin lines. The purpose of the template is to allow you to lay the appropriate sized and shaped opening over a spot that needs to be erased, and erase your little heart out without worrying about erasing neighboring pencil lines. They are great if you have one mistake in the middle of small, detailed work where a regular eraser would take out too much. They are also good if you need to erase a long line right next to line that needs to remain in place. Dorinda ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 13:34:07 EDT From: Varju@aol.com Subject: Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade My basic tools are: light table 18" ruler .003 mechanical pencil with soft lead Pentel click eraser paints paitn palette water jar brushes ranging from a size 2 down to a 20/0 pen and ink (right now a, dare I say it, a Schaeffer pen, still practicing with a dip pen) tracing paper good Bristol board lots of books to get ideas from Noemi Outlands ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 10:36:51 -0700 From: "Karen Jarvis (General Employment)" Subject: [scribes]: FYI: St. Giles Scribal Ithra Classes This is for anyone attending or wishing to attend the An Tir July Coronation in Shittimwoode (Bellingham, WA - 20 min south of the Canadian border) Lady Valerienne de Menton Madrone Baronial Scribe (Seattle,WA) > -----Original Message----- > From: kendal@lightspeed.bc.ca [SMTP:kendal@lightspeed.bc.ca] > Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 1998 10:33 AM > To: steps@antir.sca.org > Subject: [STEPS] St. Giles Scribal Ithra Classes > > St. Giles Scribal Ithra - September 26/27, 1998 > > For More Information, To Receive A Catalogue and To Register > Her Ladyship Arianwen (Jennifer Case) - (250) 920-7948 - eMail - > ui820@victoria.tc.ca > - #3 - 740 Wilson St., Victoria BC Canada V9A 3H2 > OR Amanda Kendal - (604) 988-0304 - eMail - kendal@lightspeed.bc.ca > - 1192 Shavington St., North Vancouver BC, Canada, V7L 1K9 > > Saturday Morning > > Basic Calligraphy - Uncial - Turpin Deigja > 2 hrs - $2.00 > A course for learning the basic strokes of Basic Uncial with samples > shown of finished results in both period style and mundane uses. This is a > hands on class, not a history class. Practice paper will be supplied. For > degree credit, homework must be done outside of the class. Bring > calligraphy pen and ink. > > History of Illumination - Gerhard Kendal of Westmoreland > 2 hrs - 50¢ > A lecture and demonstration on illumination styles and techniques with > emphasis on the latter. > > Anglo Saxon Gloss - Adv Calligraphy - Cathal Sean O'connlauin > 2 hrs - $1.00 > This class will teach Anglo Saxon Insular handwriting as used as > glossary notation in the Book of Kells, Lindisfarne, etc. Note: Students > must have experience with calligraphy or the instructor's permission. > > Saturday Afternoon > > Lettre Frizee - Adv Calligraphy - Jacobos mapos Catomagli > 2 hrs - $1.50 > A novelty hand from the English and Italian Writing Masters of the 16th > Century (the hand used for the scroll that Don Mathieu received at > Daffodil Tourney). Students must bring pencil, eraser, ruler, > pen-holder. A pen nib, paper and ink will be provided. Prerequisite: > working knowledge of one hand. > > Gothic Hybrid - Adv Calligraphy - Jacobos mapos Catomagli > 2 hrs - $1.50 > A Dutch hand from the 15th & 16th Centuries. Students must bring > pencil, > eraser, ruler, pen-holder. > A pen nib, paper and ink will be provided. Prerequisite: working > knowledge > of at least one hand. > > Scroll Tools and Materials - Gerhard Kendal of Westmoreland > 2 hrs - $1.00 > Lasting and pleasing scrolls demand proper materials. This course will > cover papers, inks, paints and many of the tools that will help your > scrolls look better and be completed more quickly. > > Scroll Layout - Gerhard Kendal of Westmoreland > 2 hrs - 50¢ > A good beginning makes for a better, easier-to-work-with scroll. This > class will cover simple methods to plan and execute a scroll, including > both calligraphy and illumination. > > Basic Knotwork - Cathal Sean O'connlauin > 2 hrs - $1.00 > Learn to draw knotwork borders, panels and other knotted forms as > displayed in various medieval Celtic Manuscripts. NOTE: Students should > bring drawing tools & drawing paper. > > Celtic Capitals - Cathal Sean O'connlauin > > 2 hrs - $1.00 > Students will learn to draw Celtic capitals, from various medieval > Celtic Manuscripts. NOTE: Students should bring drawing tools and drawing > paper. > > Sunday Morning > > Advanced Knotwork - Jacobos mapos Catomagli > 4 hrs - $1.00 > In depth look at the methods of drawing double strand knots, tapering > knots, filling in irregular areas, as well as how to apply these > techniques > to borders, illuminated initials and animal interlace. > Prerequisite: Basic Knotwork or Instructor's permission. Bring pencil, > eraser, paper, compass, ruler. > > History of European Calligraphy 0 Gerhard Kendal of Westmoreland > 2 hrs - $1.00 > An illustrated lecture on the development of calligraphy, both formal and > cursive, during the SCA period. > > History of Islamic Calligraphy - Gerhard Kendal of Westmoreland > 2 hrs - $1.00 > The development of this very important Islamic art. A course in style > not translating & calligraphing. > > Versals - Adv Calligraphy- Cathal Sean O'connlauin > 2 hrs - $1.00 > A basic capital letter used in many variations throughout Europe from > the 11th Century to the 16 Century. Bring drawing supplies and suitable > paper. > > Literai Florissa - Adv Calligraphy - Cathal Sean O'connlauin > 2 hrs - $1.00 > A style of decorated versal capital using fern and clover-like plants. > Monte Cassino is one example of its use. Bring drawing supplies and > suitable paper. > > Sunday Afternoon > > Elizabethan Secretary - Adv Calligraphy - Jacobos mapos Catomagli > 2 hrs - $1.50 > A formal variant of the working hand of England in the second half of > the 16th Century. > Prerequisite: working knowledge of at least one hand. Students must bring > pencil, eraser, ruler, pen-holder. A pen nib, paper, and ink will be > provided. > > Graphic Heraldry - Gerhard Kendal of Westmoreland > 2 hrs - $1.00 > The art and craft of heraldic design for both the person wishing to > design their own device, and for the scribe. Design, elements, composition > and esthetics will be discussed. > > Vine and Leaf Borders - Acanthus Borders - Cathal Sean O'connlauin > 2 hrs - $1.00 > A vine and leaf hands-on class according to the Gottingen Model Book, > circa 1450. Students need to bring drawing supplies and paper. > > > > > --------------------------<< "steps@antir.sca.org" > >>---------------------- > The Cathedral Steps - Kingdom of An Tir email list > To subscribe, email "majordomo@antir.sca.org" with "subscribe steps". > To unsubscribe, email "majordomo@antir.sca.org" with "unsubscribe steps". > Digest version of the list available - subscribe to "steps-digest". > For more help, email "majordomo@antir.sca.org" with "help". ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 11:25:24 -0700 From: Kenneth Stoner Subject: [scribes]: Notes to the list Notes to the list are OK. For those of you who have teaching materials that you want to share, you may also send them to me for inclusion on the web page. Cystennin ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 15:49:04 -0400 From: "Dorinda E Courtine-White" Subject: Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade >Gee, I must be a real minimalist. >Tetchubah of Greenlake, Caid I should say so! So far the whole list seems to be minimalists! I am the scribal equivilant one of those ladies who carries the big purse everywhere and jumps up when someone needs a can opener or a 1983 calendar. I think my "basic" tools include: - - a dozen rulers - plastic ones for the drawing board, cork backed steel for normal use. Some triangular ones. Most in both metric and English. - - a 45 deg triangle and a 30-60-90 triangle with a lip on them - - a .5 mm pencil - - a click eraser and a regular eraser - - a lettering guide - - my calligraphy pen and accessories - - a full size drafting board - - drafting tape - - a computer generated line guide for practice - - several brushes - - 20 small plastic pallets with every shade of guache known to man except the one I need. None have any open spots and I hate to waste paint so I just buy more. - - a pan of sumi gold - - gum arabic - - a french curve that I can't seem to use without making a mess - - a circle template, a computer template and a small protractor - - a compass - - all the gold leaf stuff (that is a whole separate list!) - - a practice run at wording with all the names spelled right. - - a magnifying glass - - an erasing shield - - several plastic pipettes (I love these!) - - toothpicks. I can't live without toothpicks - - tissues or paper towels to clean up spills FAST - - my exemplar I also have a bunch of stuff that doesn't really work for me (like those straight edges that you can flex to different shapes or those rolling rulers). For field work, I pack up almost everything on the above list (except the one item I will need that day and the drafting board) into the biggest fishing tackle box I could buy. Then I usually lug it around and never open it. Maybe I should learn to be a minimalist. Dorinda Courtenay ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 14:36:29 -0500 (EST) From: Sara Harless Subject: Re: [scribes]: Tools of the trade On Wed, 15 Jul 1998 Varju@aol.com wrote: > pen and ink (right now a, dare I say it, a Schaeffer pen, still practicing > with a dip pen) I started with a Schaeffer pen with three nibs. My Laurel still uses one for those last minute scrolls right before court. Now I use Rotring Artpens. I have been declared hopeless in the dip pen arena. Evaine, techno-scribe ------------------------------ End of scribes digest V2 #161 *****************************