This was my first backlog assignment and it was for an award that had been given over a decade ago. I took the rare opportunity to speak to the recipient directly for suggestions on what kind of scroll he would like. The answer was Luttrell Psalter. So, off I went to look it up and landed upon the perfect page for an award for the Order of the Pisces. It had a bearded fish with legs.

After tracing out the stripped down and cleaned up template, then adding the calligraphy, I decided to to the gilding next, which I could only get away with because it’s paint. Actual gold would have needed to go on last.

I added leaves outside of the illuminated J to close the gap I’d accidentally made starting the rest of his name a bit too far to the right. This scroll was also my first time doing shading.

I was even able to get it signed!

Materials: Printer, 8″x10″ pergamenata, ruler, Ames lettering guide, pencil, eraser, 01 micron pen, metal scraper, Finetec gold paint, Winsor & Newton gouache, Princeton heritage 2/0 round paint brush, Speedball Super Black ink, dip pen