Materials for Scribes – From Basic to Advanced
Welcome to the art of Calligraphy and illumination!
These are examples of some of Ealdormere scribe’s favourite tools and those we recommend to new
scribes. We have listed lots of options, so you have an idea what to shop for, and what to work up to if
you decide scribal arts are for you.
Tools
A few basic tools can get you started: pencil, eraser, ruler, tracing paper, good smooth paper for wet
media, writing tool and ink, a few inexpensive paint tubes, a pallet and brushes.
Drawing tools and materials:
These are some of our favourite things:
Calligraphy and Illumination Tools:
Materials
We wanted to give you lots of options to choose from until you find your own favourite papers, inks etc.
These materials are some of the ones recommended by scribes in Ealdormere. Listed roughly least
expensive to most expensive, although some items will have additional shipping costs.
Paints:
Calligraphy and Illumination Paper:
Buying in sheets is more economical than buying paper in a pad and you can cut the sheet to the sizes
you like.
Ink:
Gilding:
Not all that glitters is gold, so we have listed artificial and precious metal paints and leaf options.
Aids and Supports
Lighting is a thing - fluorescent is still the worst for eye strain, but cool white/day light LED bulbs are hard
too. You can switch bulbs to a warm white hue in a flex-neck lamp, when there’s not enough indirect
sunlight. So, when purchasing a lamp with magnifier, one needs to look for the ability to swap that light
or change colour.
Aids to make scribal arts physically easier:
These are examples of some of Ealdormere scribe’s favourite tools and those we recommend to new
scribes. We have listed lots of options, so you have an idea what to shop for, and what to work up to if
you decide scribal arts are for you.
Tools
A few basic tools can get you started: pencil, eraser, ruler, tracing paper, good smooth paper for wet
media, writing tool and ink, a few inexpensive paint tubes, a pallet and brushes.
Drawing tools and materials:
These are some of our favourite things:
- HB Pencils, sharpeners, White eraser, craft knife, thin tracing paper, masking tape – you can find many of these at dollar stores
- Big fluffy brush or feather for brushing off eraser crumbs
- Moldable erasers, gum erasers, Staedtler white erasers (everyone has their own favourite eraser) – Curry’s or Deserres
- Eraser guide (lets you erase selected areas without messing up ink, paint or pencil lines you want to keep) – Curry’s or Deserres
- Zebra metal barreled pencils
- Steel ruler with cork backing, Raised edge ruler
- Strathmore or Canson Tracing paper (trace your design and use pencil to transfer it to your good paper) – Curry’s, Deserres, Michael’s
- Ames lettering guide (for drawing lines spaced for lettering) - Deserres
Calligraphy and Illumination Tools:
- Curry’s Brand round brushes (series 2600- 0, 2x0 are good) – Curry’s
- Curry’s brand series 2603 ¼ inch angled brush (a good all-purpose brush, use for wider areas or turn the brush to use the narrow part for smaller areas) – Curry’s
- W&N Cottman brushes
- Brushes for miniature figurine painting or nail art – online sources
- Sable brushes series 66 round # 1, 0, 2x0, 3x00 (really awesome brushes for painting lines) and series 103 5mm (for wider areas) – A.S. Handover www.handover.co.uk
- Squirrel hair period brush – Guild Mirandola at Pennsic
- Quills (wing feathers from goose, swan, peacock or other large bird) – ask someone who has birds or check areas where birds flock in early summer when they molt. These birds just give them away!
- Speedball dip pens and nibs – Curry’s or Deserres, AboveGround Art Supplies in Toronto
- Wooden nib holder (can be carved down to make more comfortable)
- Left-handed nibs – TheArtStore in Waterloo
- Brause nibs – Pen and Ink
- Viking knife – Ragnar’s at Pennsic
- Exacto style knife for cutting quills with round blade #10 or #12 and re-used old cutting board. Long needle nose pliers, tweezers or dental tool for pulling membrane out of quill.
- Exacto knife and blades #10 or #12 (for gently picking or scraping off mistakes in calligraphy) – Curries, Deserres, Michaels, online sources
- Pen knife – let us know if you find a good source for these!
- Blotting paper – Phidon Pens in Cambridge, pen stores, online sources
- Scallop shells for keeping paint in, eye dropper or small syringe, small palette – Dollar stores
- Saki cups, shot glasses or small pottery vessels (for paints and inks)
- Lidded paint tray – Curry’s or Deserres
- Raised edge ruler (for guiding paint and ink lines, pick straight up and wipe after each line)
- Glass muller for grinding pigments – Limner’s Guild
Materials
We wanted to give you lots of options to choose from until you find your own favourite papers, inks etc.
These materials are some of the ones recommended by scribes in Ealdormere. Listed roughly least
expensive to most expensive, although some items will have additional shipping costs.
Paints:
- Pentel water-colours in tubes. (The set of 12 or 18 are very inexpensive) – Deserres
- Pebeo Gouache (in an inexpensive set which includes Vermillion, Primary Cyan, Spring green, Yellow Ochre, Permanent white) – Deserres
- Paint making kit with period pigments – Guild Mirandola has a great starter kit with blue, yellow ochre, zinc white, red, green earth, and gum Arabic.
- Pigments for making period paint – naturalpigments.com, kremerpigments.com, Guild Mirandola or Guild of Limners at Pennsic
- Gum Arabic (for binding pigments to make paint) – check middle eastern grocery stores such as mid-East Foods on Belfast Rd. in Ottawa – Guild Mirandola or Limner’s Guild
- Doctor Martins Bleed-proof White – (for whitework) – Curry’s or Deserres
- M Graham Goauche – online sources
- Winsor and Newton Gouache (in tubes: Cadmium Red, or Spectrum Red, Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue, Permanent Green Medium or Sap Green, Ochre Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Umbers and Siennas, Permanent White for whitework, Zinc White for mixing to lighten colours) – Deserres or Curry’s
Calligraphy and Illumination Paper:
Buying in sheets is more economical than buying paper in a pad and you can cut the sheet to the sizes
you like.
- Artists Loft 140lb water colour paper – Michael’s (use a coupon!)
- Pergamon in sheets (paper that looks like parchment and takes to calligraphy better than paint) – Deserres or Pre-cut Pergamenta from johnnealbooks.com
- Canson Student Bristol Smooth 100 lb in sheets – Curry’s or online sources
- Strathmore Smooth Bristol Series 300 – Curry’s, Deserres, online sources, Michaels (Use a coupon!)
- Strathmore Mixed Media 140lb pad – Deserres or online sources
- Fabriano hot pressed 140 lb sheets or pads (much more economical in sheets) – Deserres
- Strathmore 400 Heavyweight Printmaking in pads – online sources such as The Paint Spot www.paintspot.ca or from the States if you have someone to ship to across the border www.cheapjoes.com can be a good option.
- Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolour paper in sheets or pads (much more economical in sheets) – Curry’s or Deserres
- Animal Vellum or parchment – Guild mirandola or Limner’s guild at Pennsic, pergamena.net
Ink:
- Royal (not bad and cheap) – Curry’s
- Demco (not bad and cheap) – Curry’s
- Higgins Eternal Ink (feels like writing with Gouache) – Curry’s
- Speedball Super Black India Ink (dries quickly for smudge free erasing) – Curry’s or Deserres
- Yasutomi Sumi Ink – Online sources
- Iron gall ink – The Green man - https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/GreenManCalligSupply
Gilding:
Not all that glitters is gold, so we have listed artificial and precious metal paints and leaf options.
- HWC Holbien Artists’ Water Colour Gold (pretty nice and convenient for working with at events) – Online sources
- Pearl Ex gold pigments from Jacquardproducts.com (can be mixed with gum Arabic and water to make very nice gold water colour paint or mixed with acrylic medium for use with acrylics) – Guild of Limners
- Sumi gold – John Neal
- Fine Tec gold and silver – John Neal
- Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colours Watercolour Pans (Japanese Watercolours in a range of metallics, with great coverage at low cost) – Wallack’s in Ottawa, dickblick.com
- Speedball Mona Lisa Metal Leaf Starter Kit artificial gold with size (An affordable learning kit. Also includes sealer, base coat and glaze you won’t need for illumination) – Curry’s or Deserres, or online sources
- Fuzzy worn out brushes for laying down and smoothing gold leaf, sharp scissors to cut into manageable pieces.
- Precious metal leaf, gilding products – goldleafsupplies.co.uk
- 22k Patent gold leaf – Guild Mirandola or Limner’s Guild at Pennsic
- Shell gold – Guild Mirandola, or Limner’s Guild at Pennsic
- Shell gold watercolour 23.5 K Yellow – L. Cornelisson & Son www.cornelissen.com
- Robertson shell gold – www.goldleafsupplies.co.uk
- Burnishers – Baron Halfdan mka Jack MacKinnon makes nice ones, or L.Cornelisson & son
- Glassine paper (for burnishing, or re-purpose old film negative envelopes which are made of glassine paper)
- Use shell gold in a dedicated container and with dedicated brushes, one for fine lines and one for larger areas, that you don’t clean out. You don’t want to wash gold down the drain.
- Size (glue for attaching gold leaf) eg: fish glue, garlic, glair – Guild Mirandola or Limners guild
- Kolner Size – www.goldleafsupplies.co.uk
Aids and Supports
Lighting is a thing - fluorescent is still the worst for eye strain, but cool white/day light LED bulbs are hard
too. You can switch bulbs to a warm white hue in a flex-neck lamp, when there’s not enough indirect
sunlight. So, when purchasing a lamp with magnifier, one needs to look for the ability to swap that light
or change colour.
Aids to make scribal arts physically easier:
- OTTLight brand magnifying lights
- Thicker handled brushes or make brush holders
- Arthritis Crafters gloves
- Squishy pencil grips
- Good erasers and sharpeners mean less work for your hands.
- Comfortable seat and good posture.
- Writing slope instead of flat surface
- Use an artist’s bridge or set a sheet of paper over your work so you can rest your hand for stability if you have hand tremors.