Trimaris Book of Kings: Information for Scribes

Congratulations and thanks unto you for the undertaking of this most unique project!

You have been asked or have volunteered to create a page of art that will represent the history of Trimaris, one reign at a time. To help you in this endeavor you will be provided with an interview from the Royal pair about whom you will be creating a page for the Trimaris Book of Kings. This page should be closely noted and used as a guide for style and color so that the Royal pair can be represented as they would like their reign to be remembered. Contact information has been provided for your Royal pair so that you may contact them should any questions arise as you complete this project.

These pages should be very, very grand. The Book of Kings will be displayed in may formats, both digital and in person so your work will long be lauded by the future populace of Trimaris.Consider the style requested by your Royal pair and find a historical piece that best represents that style. Each page should be based upon or inspired by an actual and extant illuminated page. We have not mandated a particular style or calligraphic hand so that the flavor of each Reign might show through and our history be displayed as a colorful patchwork of highlights rather than one homogenized project of pages that all look the same.

Please remember to work with your Royal pair. This page will be your art, but do remember that it is their history and they will likely have strong feelings about how their reign is represented. If any problems arise in working with your Royal pair, simply contact the project coordinator and they will be happy to help you take care of any issues.

• Pages are marked for cut down size and usable space. You have been given a whole sheet rather than one pre-cut down so that you will have some test page area to work with as scratch paper.
• All pages will be done on the recto (front) side of the sheet with the verso (back) side left almost entirely blank. Information about the artist or artist team will be calligraphed at the bottom of the verso side of each page. The verso (back) side of each page will be left mostly empty to serve as a page protector for the next reign page.
• Natural pergamenata, text weight will be the standard paper used for all pages of the book

Material standards:

• All gilding should be flat gilded on the page, not raised gilded. Raised gilding will be more difficult to house in book form and gesso used to achieve the raised gilding may chip or crack as pages are turned. Gilding adhesive will be a modern, store purchased, gilding size. Period recipes generally contain honey, sugar or gum Arabic which may attract insects to the artwork. As the book cannot be stored in a frame, we would rather avoid the chance of luring Florida's many insects to this piece of art by making it less delicious.
• Modern purchased pigments will also be utilized for the same reason. Many period paint binders contain compounds that are tasty to insects. Many scribes in Trimaris have already encountered missing paint of long-stored art pieces. Using modern gouache helps to minimize the use of binders and again, make the book less delicious.
• Each scribe will be provided with a handout of preferences for each reign page. These preferences will be solicited from the King and Queen of each reign and passed on to the scribe.

Process, delivery and display:

• You will be asked to photo document their process. The website for this project will feature a gallery of these photos for each reign page so that the process of your art is displayed along with your final project.
• Pages, when complete, should be delivered directly to the project coordinator. Please contact your coordinator when you finish your page and let them know when you expect to make delivery.
• New pages will be publicly displayed at the next Kingdom event after they are completed.
• New pages and their artists will be presented in Royal Court to Their Majesties Trimaris at the event where they are displayed.
• The Book of Kings project will be displayed at Kingdom Arts and Sciences Faires.
• The Book of Kings project will have a companion website. Each reign page will be a page on the website so that we may display this work, the process, our artisans and our history to the world.

If you have any questions, please do ask. Thank you for participating in this momentous project!

Good luck, and have fun!