Silver Tyger for Joshua Mustard aka Drunkey Bear Birka January 2018 AS 52

 Tales of one called Joshua Mustard have come

from the Northern Region of 

Tsar Ivan and Tsaritsa Mathild’s Eastern Realm,

and Thus have They found it Right to 

Ennoble him this day

at the Market Day at Birka AS LII, being 2018.

Hear Now, Good Folk of the East, of Our Newest Lord

AS A COMBATANT his Stout Blows and Sinister Strikes have
Felled Opponents who Dared Under Esteem his Prowess; … And

HIS SERVICE to his Campmates is such that he would Grind Two Pounds
of Seed for Cooking when a mere Two Drams would Suffice; … And

HIS HONOR is so Strong that when Threatened by Canvas and Pole, 
having Received a Telling Blow, his Humility moved him to Concede the Bout
 (Much to the Chagrin of his Good Lady;)… AND

HIS VISION and Foresight are so Keen that in a Place where others of Less Perspective
can find only Windows, he Observes a Door…

For these Deeds and Virtues are We Moved to Induct him into 

Our Order of the Silver Tyger and Award him Arms…

Words by Lord Nicol mac Donnchaid

C&I by Lady Sláine báen Ronán 

Heraldry (Tyger) by Master Vettorio Antonello

 This is the about 5th Draft. I had penciled this in properly & had marked off a good solid left margin line.

The spacing on the introductory paragraph was not really what I was looking for, but I was unsure how to get the look I wanted

This was about the 10th time attempting the Silver Tyger.

Damn Spikes!!

#TeamBlueSquare

I was not happy with the border, and the swords look like they were drawn by a child.  It was a good Idea, but the Execution was lacking.

I like vines and leaves.

They are from nature, and always appropriate.

They are not just so, but rather a more free-flowing irregular shape.  They are not geometrically perfect, so are easier to get right.

This is NOT right.  Again, looking child like.

 My Husband, Ronan FitzRobert, suggested that I set this aside and try again, after first practicing the vines and leaves on the same paper.  Work on it in a "safe" way, and then when I really like it, do it again for real.

After a LOT of practice I managed to get the vines to "grow" as I had envisioned.  There were color tests to see which mix of greens popped the best, to figure out where the vines should bend, and how the leaves should curl.  Again I was learning that I cannot just free-hand the whole thing. It may look organic, but it HAS TO BE PLANNED.  At least, *I* have to do it that way... 

   



I added the gold dots last.  I used a brush, and if you look closely, they are not as uniform as I wanted them to be.  The view from 5 feet away is good, so it works.  It was AFTER I had released this that I heard about the "toothpick method."  I will try that next time.

I created an area on the upper left for the Tyger to be placed by a better artist than myself.  I could not get it to come out the way I wanted. This one had a deadline, so I had to stop at a certain point and acknowledge my limit.  I gave the scroll to my artist, Vettorio Antonello, on a Monday. It was returned to me on Thursday, and given to a Courier that evening to transport up to Birka that Friday.

I also gave my courier a bottle of white ink, so the royals could sign it in the same color. 

       The upper left                                                                       The Whole Document

             The Tyger               

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better than mine!!!  He is a Laurel for this stuff, and trained as an artist.  I am working on getting that Tyger right.

The completed Scroll

It was signed by Ivan & Mathild

It has no Arms in picture or description because Joshua had not registered any when this was awarded. 

As is standard, I put my contact info on the back, and let him know I will happily add the missing bits as soon as his Arms are passed.

Link to Facebook for Presentation Photo