Ink Spatters

Bun-bun lives on.... in medieval manuscript. :-D

In tribute to Sluggy Freelance, one of Artimis' favorite web comics (and one of my favorites, and one of my boyfriend's favorites....), I smuggled into the acanthus leaf border of Artimis le Beau's Sagittarius scroll (archery award) some of the key characters from the daily strip. Bun-bun, the psychotic but loveable switchblade-totin' lop rabbit poses with a medieval crossbow at the ready - complete with the trademarked "ka-klick" from the pages. Kiki the hyperactive ferret poses on tiptoe with a longbow (of course). And "Riff" is shown wearing Artimis' new dress kilt, sans shirt, and sans the sunglasses to make it look a little more.... believable. ;) He's armed too, tinkering with another medieval crossbow (sorry, siege weapon wouldn't fit, and it's an archery scroll).

Each of these little doodles measures between 1/2" to 1" high on the page, and the text for 'ka klick' should measure to roughly 8 pts in graphic design terms. I wanted to get these little guys in there not just for laughs, but also because the original manuscript, the Vienna Codex (Black Hours) called for all sorts of little beasties hidden between the twisting acanthus leaves on the page.

Hopefully Pete Abrams, the original artist, won't mind this dedication. I know Artimis was thrilled just looking at the pencilwork phase of these critters. :) Just one more detail remains on this scroll in particular - the portrait of Artimis, to be set into the right rondel, whenever he finds one appropriate for painting. Meanwhile, this piece and Holt's Award of Arms will be on display this weekend at the East Kingdom King's and Queen's Archery Championships, in the Arts and Sciences display there over in NJ.

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