More scrolls

And still more scrolls.

Another three scrolls complete. One of these three is for an assignment, the other two will go into the Big Book of Scroll Blanks For a Rainy Day. 

I had started these right before Fall AEcademy and painted these, and others, at the event. It continually surprises me that other scribes do not work on multiple scrolls at the same time. I keep explaining that it is more efficient: Mix up the ultramarine blue and paint all of the scrolls with one layer of it; by the time you finish the last scroll, the first one will be dry and you can put on a second coat or move to another color. Apparently other scribes only work on one scroll at a time.

Now, I can fully understand concentrating on one really, really complicated scroll, but for smaller, more simple, scrolls (such as the one on the far left, above) there is no excuse not to work on two or three at a time. One for your assignment and one, or more, for a rainy day. I am occasionally asked if I could take on an assignment a week or two before the event. If I have a private stash of blanks, I can "work a miracle" and produce a scroll right away. Also, if my Kingdom calls for blanks, or if a friend needs help with one of their assignments, they can call on the Candyman. [1]

At AEcademy, someone looked me in eye and told me that I shouldn't do any scroll blanks: all scrolls should be custom made for the person and that it's disrespectful to hand out a generic scroll. 

What?

The scroll, above, on the far left can be used for anyone's AoA scroll, regardless if I know anything about the recipient. It's nice to receive a scroll with art custom made for me. but I do not see any disrespect if I am given a scroll with a random image. It's the scroll text that should be custom written for the recipient. If it is an award. A tourney scroll will most likely never be custom made for the winner.... Well, you could hedge your bets and make one for Duke Maynard for the annual Summer's End Duke-Maynard-is-the-winner-for-the-umpteenth-year-in-a-row tourney. But, someone will be really disappointed if  his Grace doesn't compete that year.

Scroll blanks are a great way of building one's skills in illumination. I've done a few hundred and I attribute my current level of skill to all of the practice I got while making a buttload of scroll blanks. [2] If I only made scrolls if I had an assignment, I would not be half the scribe I am today. There are more illuminators than calligraphers. Logic tells us that the bottleneck will be finding a calligrapher with free time. If the shire, baronial and Kingdom signets have a stack of scroll blanks, they can be handed to calligraphers to complete when needed and we can eliminate the illumination bottleneck for tourneys and entry-level awards. 

Now, there are scribes who need to take weeks and months to make one scroll. But, if every scroll took months to paint, we wouldn't have enough scribes to produce the volume required. It's 1 week before Pennsic, five top tier scribes are busy trying to finish peerage scrolls. Everyone else is busy packing and doing their own assignments. Their Majesties discover that Lord Babar the Elephant will be at Pennsic: his first event in 3 years. Their Majesties want to induct him into the Noble Order of the Sycamore for his mad A&S skills [3] and no one knows when the next event he will attend. So, here are our options. 1) Induct him and tell him that the scroll is a work in progress. 2) Find an illuminator, wordsmith and a calligrapher to knock something at the last minute. 3) The Kingdom Signet reaches into the Big Book of Scroll Blanks For a Rainy Day, pulls out a nice blank and tracks down a wordsmith and a calligrapher. One third of the work is done.

Scroll blanks are good for every Kingdom, every Principality, every Barony and every Shire. They are good for every illuminator, every calligrapher and every signet. 

[1] First scroll blank is free.
[2] A buttload is a measure of volume equaling two hogsheads, or 108 imperial gallons (490 l) for ale or 126 imperial gallons (570 l) for wine.
[3] His skills do indeed pay the bills.