THE PROFOUND AND FAR-REACHING FULSOMENESS OF THE FOUNDATIONAL HAND
A TWO DAY WORKSHOP

When Edward Johnston first developed his Foundational hand from the 10th Century Winchester hand of the Ramsey Psalter, he probably had no idea of its far-reaching effects. This hand is still the yardstick by which we can measure our progress; it is the one hand where the letters stand or fall entirely on their own without embellishment of any kind.

During this workshop we will cover the hands of the Carolingian era, as an introduction to what Johnston made as his model. We shall also look at how that basic and rather severe letterform can be adapted for present day use, and how it may be utilized in the future.

Please bring samples of your own work with this hand so that we can work on your own style of Foundational, rather than a blanket, one size fits all approach.

You will need all of your normal tools and include some larger pens such as Coit, Hiro, Automatic Lettering, etc.

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ON THE LUSCIOUS, NAY, LASCIVIOUS “LETTERS FROM HELL”
A TWO DAY GOTHIC WORKSHOP

There is a feeling held by a number of calligraphers that the best learning hand is the Gothic Black Letter, and while it is true that there are two basic strokes in a Gothic hand there are many subtleties which require earnest study...

and then there are “Letters From Hell”.

These manipulated Gothic letters caused one well-known calligrapher at a recent conference to opine that he had never been so humiliated in all his life! Well, they are not as bad as that. With a little practice and application the basics of these attractive manipulated letters can be yours, and the more decorative and interesting ones will follow as you become more proficient. There may be much cursing and gnashing of teeth to begin with but all of this will change to sunny smiles and feelings of superiority very quickly.

Bring lots of paper, ink and large pens such as those from Coit, Hiro and Automatic Lettering – the bigger, the better!

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ON THE CAREFUL CONSIDERATION OF CORSIVA CANCELLARESCA
A TWO DAY ITALIC WORKSHOP

Oh, boy! I love alliterative phrases. This workshop will be devoted to the study and/or improvement of the most delicate and graceful hand that we, as calligraphers, keep in our arsenal. The various names that the Italic hand has been called are legion, but the Chancery cursive (Corsiva Cancellaresca) is the hand that developed directly from the Humanist hands of the early Renaissance in Italy.

Rather than have me teach you a whole new Italic alphabet, I hope to work on each person’s hand individually, in order to make adjustments and improvements appropriate to each student. Obviously, there will be general pointers that we will cover at the beginning, but the flavor and tenor of the workshop will be one-on-one instruction.

With this in mind, each person should come armed with a piece of his or her own italic hand. This does not need to be a finished piece but should consist of several lines of writing.

You will require all of the usual tools that you would take to a workshop, plus some large pens such as Coit, Hiro, Automatic Lettering Pens, etc. and plenty of paper.