Making a Scroll based on a Korean Manuscript
Over the last few months, I have been working on my illumination skills. For a long time, I have greatly enjoyed drawing and painting as it is very zen for me, so it was natural to jump to illumination as a new SCA hobby!
Since I love Korean, my first big project involved creating a scroll based on the Illustrated manuscript of the Lotus Sutra (Miaofa lianhua jing), Volume 2 ca. 1340 (where you can find here).
For this project, I used a navy blue multimedia paper – I do not recommend this paper if you plan on using artist’s tape – even with all the precautions I took, the tape ripped off the paper in parts.
I also used gold and silver gouache by Winsor and Newton.
I first taped off the paper to make the tape and painted the gold boxes. I also went ahead and drew circles to help with my spacing:
I then started making the larger flowers in the bottom and top:
Finally, I filled in the rest and made the finished product:
Of course, this wasn’t enough for me, I decided to go ahead and redo it with irises instead, below is my work on a scroll based on Korean irises:
The original wording for this award (Argent Lily) is:
Whereas the quality of courtliness, being that of refinement and elegance, is a precious one rarely recognized. We, () and (), Sovereign and Consort of (Meridies), are minded to recognize this quality in you, (), by conferring upon you the Order of the Argent Lily, Done by Our Hands this () day of () Anno Societatis, being () Gregorian.
I went with Hangul, even though it was not made official until 1446. It roughly translated to:
The quality of the elegant and refined court is rarely recognized. () The Lord of Meridies, () The Meridies Spouse acknowledges this quality by offering you () an order of the finished silver lilies (). Year of Society () Gregorian calendar.
Unfortunately, I did a dumb and left my water out and my cat decided to bat the cup over, spilling water all over the scroll.
I will probably get around to remaking it eventually. Next time, I plan on choosing a different paper and updating the text to a more accurate language.