400 scrolls for King and Country

And for Queen and Barony.

I completed by 400th scroll since I started actually taking it seriously, in 2011.

I think that it's fitting that this was the milestone (I didn't plan it this way) because this is an image that I did way back in the day when I didn't know what I was doing. Here and here for the complete scrolls.

This image comes from Citeaux Moralia in Job MS 173, fol 148, 

I changed the threshing flail into an axe and I was so proud, 8 or 9 years ago, that my illumination was just as good as my source. They were okay, I guess. Today, all I see are how bad they are. 

I have several posts about my method of painting that you can find on this blog (Check out here, here, here, here and here). But, I would like to reiterate one point, here. practice makes perfect. Now, I know that I am not perfect, and neither is my illumination skill, but seven years and 400 scrolls later and I can clearly see that I have improved.

Coloring is a stress reliever for myself; something I can do while relaxing on the couch watching TV. I do more scrolls than I get assignments, and I never work on one scroll at a time. So, I have plenty of practice. One cannot become a better illuminator if one does not constantly practice.

Keep records of what you do, scan your scrolls or take pictures of them, even the ones you screw up, and take notes about what kind of paint you use, or any techniques you try. Take classes whenever you can. Talk to other scribes. Ask if you can try their paint to see if you like it better. 

I am a perfect example of how anyone can do illumination. I don't think that my artistic skills are very high. I can't draw free-hand. I can't do perspective. I can't do gold leaf. I look at my scribal "peers" and see the work that they crank out and think that, by comparison, I'm barley coloring between the lines. 

I stick with early period designs because, I am told, I am kinda good at it. I haven't had any complaints from the people who have received my scrolls and my work gets their share of "ooohs" and "ahhhhs" when they are held up in court. I will most likely never stop seeing my scrolls as a pile of flaws and mistakes, but that should mean that I won't stop trying to get better, and I recommend that any reader who wishes to become a scribe take the same attitude: practice and always try to get better.