[Scriptoris] Re: New Charter Designs

[Elaine Crittenden]

You're going to do fine. Wanna know how I know? Because you *care* enough to
want to do well or you wouldn't have sent out that SOS.

Suggestions:
Check out Marc Drogin's books "Medieval Calligraphy" and "Your Truly, King
Arthur", or one by Jackie Svaren, "Written Letters" (though hers isn't as
historically oriented, it's still very informative).

Prime rule to follow:
In calligaphy, *consistency* is the key to making things look "good".

Some hints:
Concentrate on keeping the pen at the same pen angle (the left/right corners
of the nib, not the hand holding the staff!). Don't use too big a nib for
the style of the letter. Don't get wiggly with your straight-line strokes or
the little decorations at the tops/bottoms of the ascenders/descenders. Keep
the bottom of the letters on the writing-line straight. Don't let the most
of the little letters' tops pass the middle line (the "waist" line) unless
they have "ascenders". Most of all, relax and *s-l-o-w d-o-w-n* to do
lettering. Do all that, and you won't get into too much trouble.

Choosing a hand (in computerese--a font):
Depends on the date of the design style of the artwork as to which hand
you'll want to choose to use, in order to match them, or, at least get them
into the same ballpark, er, 'scuse me, same time-slot of courtyard. ;-)

For later:
When you aren't going to enter a future charter into competition, what about
teaming up with a calligrapher and let them do the text?

I haven't seen any SCA rules that the designer/painter has to do the
calligraphy as well. Besides, that wouldn't be Period, anyway. In some
Period scriptoriums, as many as eleven people worked on a single production,
including one person who just did all the red stuff and was called a
"rubricator."

Steppes has done it (team production) rather successfully in the past, and
the Accuracy Police haven't come after us yet. ;-)

Hugs,

Lete

----------
>From: "beth" <beth at stormreaver.net>
>To: "Scribes within Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <scriptoris at ansteorra.org>
>Subject: [Scriptoris] Re: New Charter Designs
>Date: Mon Sep 22,2003,2:09 AM
>

> I'm kinda sorta working on a new charter for Rising Star as my first A&S
> entry, but I have no idea how to do calligraphy... I was hoping to get some
> critiques and suggestions on this first attempt at Namron Protectorate if
> folks are going to be there...?
>
>  -zubeydah
>
>
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