How to Adapt an Illumination for a Scroll
I saw this image (from Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 17, p. 63v) and I knew that I wanted to turn it into a scroll. The thought that popped into my mind was to remove the image of St. Augustine and replace it with a Keystone (AEthelmearc's AoA level award for service). The idea is that one has to struggle with service.
Step one, was to crop just the image:
I used paint.net for all of the work I did: I did not see the need to use Photoshop for such minor work. Step two was to remove St. Augustine:
Now, remember, there is no need to make it perfect as this will be used as a template on a lightbox. I suppose that if you are one of those people with talent who can draw free hand, you can skip these steps and go right to using your fancy-schmancy artistic skills.
Once the 'O' is empty, it is time to drop our Keystone badge into it:
In retrospect, I should have removed the yellow circle. I changed my mind after I had traced and inked the image. I could have had a larger escarbuncle to work with. I must remember that the next time I try this. I love the fact that AEthelmearc has such a simple device, but sometimes it's a pain in the you know what. Once the digital image was done, I printed it out and traced it.
The strange blurring on the traced image was due to me not scanning the image before I started painting it. I had painted around the Keystone with gold before I realized what I had done. So, I dropped the image into paint.net and digitally removed as much of the gold paint as I could. With that brief delay, it was back to painting.
Since the original image had minimal paint, I was free to do whatever the hell I wanted, 'cause I'm the artist. Always remember that: you are the goddamn artist. If you want to use pink and lime green on your scroll, and you think the recipient will like it, go right ahead. If you want to customize an image to match the face of the recipient, go ahead. If you only want to use one element of a manuscript, you can take it and just work on that and leave out the elements you hate doing, you are the artist. If you want to use this image and paint on Crocs.... Okay, there are limits.
As you can see, I had plenty of space around the Keystone. If I had made it larger, I would have had an easier time painting around the spokes. I used the same red for the tunic as I did the Keystone, since I had plenty in the pallet. I made the 'O' ultramarine blue because I love the contrast of red and blue in early period illumination.
And there, we have it. A simple, but nice looking Keystone inhabiting an 'O' that's ready for wordsmithing and calligraphy. The beauty of this is that I can use the same image for a Millrind (AEthelmerc's GoA level service award), or a writ for a Pelican, or a VOID (service award for the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael), or for another Barony or Kingdom. I like how the dude is hunched over lifting the heavy service award.
Award scrolls do not have to be complicated and illumination does not have to cover most of the paper. A simple, well made design can be elegant.
