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In the summer of 2007 I was asked by my duchy to create a hanging cloth wall scroll for a member of my park that was about to be Lorded. It was sort of a last second deal, but luckily there were very talented friends who wanted to work on it at the disposal of the person who asked for this. It was finished in about three days. Preliminary | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Award Ceremony |
| Preliminary | |
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This person had a Japanese persona, and I wanted to carry through with the scroll for that. He wasn't given a circlet at his Lording, because it was felt that it would not be Japanese enough, so he was given a sword to carry. The image I was instructed to use this image, which is a phoenix and a dragon in battle. Since our park is Phoenix Tears, and the dragon could be made more asian in appearance, it was my duty to make it happen.
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| Step One | |
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First, I took some scrap white cloth that I had lying around, about two feet wide, by four feet long. It was either cotton, or a cotton poly blend. I cut it to size, then washed it, in the sink, because I'm poor and don't want to waste three bucks on a scrap of cloth. I used only detergent, because fabric softener can mess up the ability for the paint to set right. I let it dry over my shower curtain rod overnight. This step is not necessary, but it will stop any shrinking issues that can happen. |
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After it was dry, it was still very wrinkled. I ironed in on the cottons setting of my iron, making sure to get rid of all wrinkles. I only used a light mist of water, if needed, not any starch. Using starch could ruin the setting of the paint. |
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I set up my painting surface. Here, I took a garbage bag, and cut it open over my coffee table. I didn't want to dig out a paint palate so I used some wax paper, which worked just as well. I used paint, cheap Walmart acrylics for the piece. Acrylics because they would dry faster than oils, and because they were readily available. |
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Here I have taped down my work piece, after quickly learning that it would move on me. I painted several thin coats of white acrylic to act as a primer, and be the whitest possible surface, as well as the best texture for the painting. Then I let the whole thing dry for several hours. |
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Generally I do not work with elaborate sketches in acrylics, just a few basic pencil marks to show me where the picture will need to go. |
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Here the dragon and the phoenix have taken shape, and are accented by gold fabric paint (not my best choice, in afterthought). This painting takes up the upper 1/3rd of the title. |
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I suck at doing lettering, and this piece was set to have "Lord" and "Naoki" written in Japanese along the two sides. I'm not exactly sure if what is written there is in fact the correct words, but I'm pretty sure it's not in Japanese, but Chinese. Anyway, I didn't do any of the lettering, here is Lockland doing the work. |
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Ahh, minions. Here is Pyi starting the lettering in english. |
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Here she is after her marker pen work. It also shows a better look of what the Asian writing is on the sides. |
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Here is some painting and text together. |
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It says: In recognition of loyalty and service to Amtgard, the Duchy of Phoenix Tears is the Kingdom of the Rising Winds hereby awards Naoki With the title of Lord on this 9th day of September, 2007 |
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It could say "Buy my giraffe mounted tv launchers" for all I know. This is either Lord or Naoki, in theory. Here you can see I already mounted it on the black cloth. |
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And this is the other one. Notice the gold accents placed in the thick areas of the asian writing. |
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I sewed black edges and created tunnels for the bamboo to rest in. This is more of a banner/ wall hanging than I've ever seen as an award. I think it turned out pretty nice. |
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Here is Lord Naoki at Coronation, after receiving the title and the sword. |