training wheels for calligraphers

[ursula]

Recently, the caid-scribes mailing list had a conversation about the kingdom's use of charters, that is, pre-printed award certificates that can be painted and personalized for individual award recipients. (Technically, Caid doesn't call these things "charters", but the scribes themselves seem confused about what word they DO use.) Somebody mentioned lack of experienced calligraphers as a reason that the kingdom can't handle more original scrolls. To me, this seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy: if one of your main ways of creating scribes is encouraging people to paint charters that have pre-printed text, you will inevitably end up with more experienced painters than experienced calligraphers.

I wonder if there's a way to make charters for calligraphers? I know that as a calligrapher, one of my main psychological barriers to taking on a new project is the tedium involved in ruling lines. If someone picked a standard calligraphic hand, pen size, and award text, kingdoms could mass-produce charters with blank lines. This could be done directly on the paper if folks were willing to trade pre-ruled lines for individual calligraphy, or budding calligraphers could use a translucent paper and place the pre-ruled lines underneath as a guide.

Comments

[holyschist]

if one of your main ways of creating scribes is encouraging people to paint charters that have pre-printed text, you will inevitably end up with more experienced painters than experienced calligraphers.

Ye-ep. Ansteorran painters blow me away. Ansteorran calligraphers seem to be rarer than hen's teeth.

I think I'd do more scrolls if I had a lightbox and could use ruled lines underneath the paper, but my preferred paper is too thick to do that without one. I think if the preprinted lines were very very narrow it wouldn't be too bad a tradeoff for beginners; they often left lines visible in period.

[thistleingrey]

Or one could prick guide marks for rules onto multiple sheets at a time, like medieval English scribes.

[chemicallace]

Same problem in An Tir. I only have one original scroll, but the painting on all my charters is lovely.

[ursula]

I'd offer to make you a scroll if I weren't moving to Northshield! Some day . . .

[holyschist]

We still need to chat about that, if I ever get my act together enough to start painting again and stuff. I still owe some people (including you?) websites, too.....