This scroll assignment was given to me at the same time as the previous one with the idea of doing them as a pair since both scrolls were for the same recipient. I loved the idea. Needing a fancier subject for this scroll, a Golden Peacock awarded for period appearance in the arts martial, I chose Miyoshi Nagayoshi. The whole ensemble, but especially the hat, just screamed peacock. This portrait also guided my decision on how to incorporate the text on both scrolls.

The translation for this scroll was done by Suou (出雲のすおう) of Ansteorra.

Original English Text

In the reign of Gaia and Ajax, in the Kingdom of Northshield, AS 57, at Pennsic 49. For period appearance in the arts martial, Shin Tate is hereby entered into the Order of the Golden Peacock.

Literary Japanese Text

ガイア女王とエージャックス王の治世に

ノースシールドの国で

AS五十七に

ペンシク四十九で。

武道の歴史的な見た目のおかげで

真盾は金の孔雀の勲章に入られます。

Phonetic Japanese Text

Gaia-jou’ou to Ajax-ou no chisei ni, Northshield no kuni de, AS go juu nana ni, Pennsic yon juu kyuu de.  Budou no rekishi teki na mitame no okage de, Shin Tate wa kin no fujaku no kunshou ni hairaremasu.

The first pass I made on the floor was a wash of the purple I’d mixed for the reign, but it came out pink when thinned, so I went over it again with blue to turn it purple.

The fan and sword got gold treatment instead of yellow, and I moved the polka dots from the border to the blue part of the inner robe to maintain both the increased level of fancy and the continuity of the floor. The white work didn’t turn out as saturated as I’d intended, but I decided not to risk ruining it by trying to go over those parts again and I think the slightly faded white blends in better overall.

Placement of the seal was tricky, since space was limited. So, I gave them a choice between a wax seal off the right shoulder or an inked stamp overlaid on the script.

Materials: Printer, light table, 8″x10″ pergamenata, ruler, pencil, eraser, micron pen, gouache, gold paint