From: owner-scribes@castle.org (scribes digest) To: scribes-digest@castle.org Subject: scribes digest V4 #77 Reply-To: Sender: owner-scribes@castle.org Errors-To: owner-scribes@castle.org Precedence: bulk scribes digest Sunday, November 19 2000 Volume 04 : Number 077 ======================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with unsubscribe scribes-digets in the body of the message. Leave the subject line blank. Do not include any additional text. Re: [scribes]: Cool new book to add to your "must own" list! Re: [scribes]: New to illumination ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 11:10:58 -0500 From: "Susan Carroll-Clark" Subject: Re: [scribes]: Cool new book to add to your "must own" list! Greetings-- > I was at an event today and bought a copy of a most wonderful book that I > must share with you all. It is called "The Historical Source Book for > Scribes" by Michelle P. Brown and Patricia Lovett (ISBN 0-8020-4720-3), > published by the University of Toronto Press, $29.95. Dr. Brown is Curator > of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library, and Patricia Lovett is a > professional scribe. This book shows historical scripts and breaks them down > pen stroke by pen stroke so that you can see how they were done, and is > lavishly illustrated with period exemplars as well. It also includes a > valuable section on tools and materials and discusses both period and modern > tools. I consider this book, along with Drogin and Harris, to be the three books which together form the foundation of any calligrapher's library. They compliment each other nicely. Brown and Lovett's book is particularly useful if you're to the point in your scribal studies that you are trying to duplicate a script found on a particular piece you like--you can take the techniques shown in the book (determining spacing, pen angles and the like) and apply them to any script. But even for a beginner, the book is a really good overview of script, with a lot more palaeographical material than most calligraphy books. Nicolaa =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 17:20:57 -0500 From: "Sally Burnell" Subject: Re: [scribes]: New to illumination > I would love to try my hand at illumination but have absolutely no idea of > where to start. I have brushes but am not sure what kind of paints. I do > have acrylics as they are what I use mundanely. I don't have too much cash > flow so dont want to spend a fortune on supplies if I dont have to, > especially as I "want to try before I buy" where possible. First off, what kind of brushes do you have? I use Windsor and Newton Sceptre Gold series brushes, which are great for illumination. They are a sable/synthetic blend and are far cheaper than the "top-of-the-line" Series 7 pure sable brushes made by Windsor and Newton. You might want to consider finding brushes that are more suited to working in gouaches and watercolours as opposed to acrylics. Paint wise, well, a lot of the Windsor and Newton gouaches are going to be a bit pricey, so if you don't have a lot of cash flow and want to just try your hand before sinking bucks into supplies, I recommend buying a set of Pelikan opaque watercolours. You can buy them in 6, 12 or 24 pan sets. They are not expensive, have a matte finish and work just great! I've used mine for years for illumination and they look quite nice! I have a 6 pan set that has these colours: Carmine red, Ultramarine blue, black, yellow, orange and green (it's a green with a lot of blue undertones, really nice colour!). I can blend these colours to make others and that has worked fine, too. For white I have a tube of Windsor and Newton Permanent White, although if you buy a Pelikan set, it'll come with a small tube of China white. This is a great and inexpensive way to "get your feet wet", so to speak, and not have to deal with a heavy cash investment before you are sure what you want to do. Paper-wise, well, every scribe is going to have his or her preference. I talked to a friend last night at an event who is a fellow scribe and we got into a discussion on paper, and he prefers Pergamenata, which is a really nice vellum-like paper that I've never tried. I asked after the price and he pays less for his sheets of that than I do for what I use, which is Arches 140# hot press paper. I pay, at my local art store, $5 a sheet for Arches, which comes in 22" x 30" sheets. I can get several scrolls out of it. I like Arches because it is so forgiving for the most part. It takes correction beautifully and is non-acidic. And somewhat period, too - it's been made in France since 1492!! If you'd like more information about those Pelikan paints, try visiting their web page at: http://www.pelikan-srw.com/ or go to your local art store and ask them about it! I hope this information gives you the encouragement to get a good start! If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask any one of us here! Good luck and keep us posted on your progress! And welcome to this list, too! You'll find us to be a very friendly bunch who just LOVE to talk scribal stuff! You're going to learn a lot here - I know I sure have! Enjoy! And please feel free to contact me if you need any more help! Saradwen Midrealm =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ End of scribes digest V4 #77 ****************************