It's a step I skip, but I heard today that the design phase of a scroll, where one ACTUALLY starts, can be intimidating.
This falls under layout and recipient research. Scrolls in the SCA are not... well, they are ASSIGNED... but you aren't told what to do. You are told a name, a reason, and "go, make a gift by this day." For some of us... YEEHAW! LET'S RIDE!
"But..." some of you ask, "how?"
The wibbly-wobbly, scribey-wibey response is "you... choose? And you paint it?"
Because we don't wanna slow your ride! We don't wanna take your reins!
"BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE THE REINS!"
Oh. Oops. Hmm...
So there are your supplies. Your palette. How to do calligraphy. How to construct various illumination elements.
"How do you CHOOSE?!?"
Pick your favorite style. Is it the Book of Kells? Fancy late-period Italian? The scrolls with the jousting rabbits? Find it. LOOK at it. REALLY look at it. What do you like about it?
"But it's too FANCY!"
For now, maybe. Pick your favorite element. Your VERY favorite part. Is it the grumpy weeding merduckman?
I like the grumpy weeding merduckman.
"But the source has super hard calligraphy, and LOTS of fancy ornamented letters that are... so not my thing!"
Yes, yes it does. But you don't have to do them.
You can, don't get me wrong. You can, with enough practice, get to the point where you CAN do those things in a timely manner, but if you're reading this blog, you're either here to offer me teaching advice, or you're just starting out. And finishing scrolls in a TIMELY MANNER is important.
So. You want a merduckman. You want a basic blackletter hand. You want the award badge. You want the award text.
Take a few minutes, tinker with the words. You may not change them beyond the person's name. You might add sentences, reword them for an inside joke, remove phrases that are not required.
Then you start with your layout.
"I really just want the merduckman to do a handstand on the badge!"
Really? That'll be cool.
"But I can't do JUST that, can I?"
Along with your award text? Yes. I'd do that with a landscape format. Handstanding merduckman on the badge on one side, text on the other, trying to get the calligraphy nicely blocked? That'll look nice. Might be a bit simple for an armigerous award, but it's a nice design.
Wait, Back up. I wanted this pretty Italian thing!
Pick ONE set of those acanthus leaves. Put them under your award text, and the badge above, or vice versa. Really focus on making the shape and/or shading JUST so.
Oh - you wanted the layout? Copy the layout. Omit the troublesome elements. All those gold dots and filler bits? The flowers and the angel dude? Leave them out, and focus on nailing those acanthus leaves. Simplify the shading if you need to. Reduce the number of ruffles and poky bits if you need to. As you get more proficient, you can add in more things, but do what you feel comfortable with.
You don't have to be proficient at every element right out the gate to be a good scribe.