Done, Safely.

Now it's no longer a safety issue.

As I said in my Nobel Prize winning post Hold! Hold I say! [1] This group of archers from the Luttrell Psalter were not performing safe archery. In my scroll, I made sure that the archers are shooting according to current SCA target archery standards. 

Now, these archers are no longer shooting behind the back of the archer, here depicted in red. The gaggle of archers are shooting at a dot-shot and only one of the archers have managed to hit the dot. But, at least, no one is in danger of getting an arrow in the back of the head.

[1] Seriously, who actually listens to Caleb?

The Scroll Progresses

I Had the Blues, Today

With the crappy weather. I spent a few hours today, between naps, trying to work on some scroll blanks. Here is one based on the Luttrell Psalter, with safely placed archers, with the first layer of ultramarine blue applied and half way through the 2nd layer. 

As I have written before, and taught to other scribes, I prefer to use very thinned down coats of paint. Yes, it means that I have make more passes, but each layer dries very, very fast. I also have better control on the final appearance and can avoid blotchy images. 

Modified to meet SCA Standards

Now it's no longer a safety issue.

As I said in my Nobel Prize winning post Hold! Hold I say! [1] This group of archers from the Luttrell Psalter are not performing safe archery. That one dude standing in front of the other archers. Where is the marshal?

Well, I am working on this image, once again, and I am making it adhere to SCA target archery standards. The dude in front is now in the rear, perhaps acting as the marshal. Or, perhaps, talking smack to the other archers. "WTF! The target is ten feet away, and only three of you punks have manage to hit it! It's bigger than you are. Y'all are not Pennsic ready and we're going to lose the War Point!"

Apparently, the dude I drew is a jerk.


[1] Caleb has never done anything deserving of a Nobel Prize. And they don't hand them out for blog posts.

Shot Through the Heart

And You're To Blame.

Magnus, you give archers a bad name!

Tonight, at the Hael archery practice, I lost an arrow. Blam! A clean hit. I blame Baron Magnus. It appeared that Thalia Papillon shot the killing round; but I'm blaming Baron Magnus. Just 'cause.

You know, once in a while it is my pleasure, and my privilege, to shoot some of the great arrows of our time. And tonight, I had one such arrow. My Lords and Ladies, an arrow which I've always personally admired, perhaps more deeply, more strongly, more abjectly than ever before. An arrow, well more than an arrow, a weapon of the gods, a great god, whose personality is so totally and utterly wonderful my feeble words of praise sound wretchedly and pathetically inadequate. An arrow, had it feet, whose boot I would gladly lick clean until holes wore through my tongue, an arrow which was so totally and utterly wonderful, that I would rather be sealed in a pit of my own filth, than dare miss the target with it.

Anyways, it's done broken and dead. C'est la vie.

I think that this is the first time in like 30 years that I had an arrow from a dozen break before loosing a tip. 

A pretty good shot. Thalia split my arrow and Magnus dropped a round in between the halves.

Here's the thing about arrows: They will break. They will get lost. You will have to buy new ones at some point. Arrows, and crossbow bolts, are like potato chips: you break some and you buy another bag, possibly one of those new flavors, like Maui Onion or Spicy Cayenne and Cheese. And how come Lays offers Smokey Bacon flavored chips in Canada and not in the 'States? Huh? What's up with that? And have you seen some of the flavors they offer in England? Cheese and Onion, Prawn Cocktail, Beef and Onion, German Bratwurst Sausage, Italian Spaghetti Bolognese, French Garlic Baguette, English Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Dutch Edam Cheese, Australian BBQ Kangaroo, Welsh Rarebit and Marmite. Why does England get awesome flavors and we don't? Well, except for the Marmite flavored chips. They can keep them. And the Haggis flavored chips. Yes, they made haggis flavored potato chips in 2010. What the hell, England.....

Er, I feel that I got side tracked. My point is, don't get upset that you lost an arrow or two. Put money aside and buy more. If it's that troubling, don't spend a couple hundred bucks on arrows. Buy cheap arrows and let them fall where they may. If you are too hung up on your ammo, you won't go out on the fun ranges and you will subconsciously drop your arrows away from the bulls eye to keep them safe from other archers. 

Hold! Hold, I say!

I was looking over this groups of archers that I had painted on a scroll and it occurred to me how unsafe this is. From a marshal's perspective, I would have to call "hold" and, perhaps, kick one or more of these archers off of the range. Look at them. The dude in green has an arrow at full draw while standing behind the guy in blue and green. That's a major safety violation. Either the blue and green guy is standing in front of the shooting line and the dude in green doesn't care, or the dude is shooting from behind the shooting line and still doesn't care that there is another person in the shooting arc. And the four guys standing at the rear? Why didn't they call "hold"? Where is the marshal? Who is running this range.

If I ever do this image, on a scroll, again, I will put the guy in blue and green at the back of the group so that it doesn't look like he is about to be shot in the back.