Supplies

Paint

Majority of the scribes who do illuminations use watercolors or gouache.  Painting with watercolors in the SCA is different from modern watercolor painting.  When mixing your paint with water, try to get it to the consistency of melted ice cream.  You want to have a smooth, solid layer of paint as opposed to think washes. 

It is recommended to stay away from acrylic based paint since it is not period.  Also, avoid any oil base paint since it will increase the rate of corrosions of your paper if it is unprimed.  Many model paints contain oil so it is recommended to stay clear of them.

While majority of the scribe prefer to buy their paint in tubes, you can all purchase them in cake forms.  What matters is buying good quality paint.  When it comes to paint, what you pay for is what you get.  Cheaper paint will fade faster, and not re-hydrate as well as a higher quality pant.  Below are brands that scribes have had success with. 

Good Student Grade Watercolors:

• Cotman by Winsor & Newton – about $2.00 for a 8 ml tube.
• Van Gogh Watercolors – about $1.50 for a 10 ml tube.
• Grumbacher Academy Watercolors – about $2.00 for a 7.5 ml tube.

Professional or Artist Grade Watercolors:

• Grumbacher Finest Watercolor – about $5-$7.00 for 16 ml tube.
• Holbein (note, some of Holbien’s contain traditional artist’s pigments that are toxic.  Read containers for cautionary instructions).  Cost is about $5.00 to $15.00 for 15 ml tube.
• Winsor & Newton Artists’ Watercolor – comes in 5 ml and 14 ml tubes.  Cost ranges from $4.50 to $12.00 depending on the tube size.

Gouache:  Note – “acrylic gouache” is not really gouache because it has an acrylic polymer binder.  People call is “acrylic gouache” because it produces similar properties to true gouache, such as the opacity. 

Recommended brands:

• Winsor & Newton Designer’s Gouache – common tube size is 14 ml, but come in larger sizes.  Price ranges about $4.50 to $10.50 depending on the tube size.
• Holbein Artists’ Gouache – Tubes come in 15 ml or 40 ml sizes.  Prices range about $4.50 up to $11.50, depending on the tube size.

Gold paint: In period, manuscripts were gilded with gold leaf or painted with shell gold.  You do not need to have real gold on your scroll and many scribes have found suitable alternatives.  Some have found that when they mix the various gold paints together, they get better results.  Here are a few that scribes have recommended.

• Holbein Artist’s Gouache in gold
• Winsor & Newton designer Gouache in gold
• Winsor & Newton drawing ink in gold
• Schminke powder gold (this might need some additional gum Arabic mixed in)