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LINE, COLOR AND NEGATIVE SPACE: TRAINING OUR EYES TO SEE
A two-day workshop One of the grave disadvantages of not attending art school is that
we do not have the experience to observe and perceive with the same
acuity as an art student. This workshop is an attempt to redress
the balance. While the whole workshop will be about training the eye through painting and drawing, the ability to paint and draw is not a pre-requisite. The use of the drawing and painting will only be to see how well you, the student, have observed the object placed in front of you. The first day will consist of drawing everyday objects from memory after having looked at them for a short period and then comparing the drawing with the actual object and completing it. The second day will deal with
color analysis. Students will bring in an ‘objet trouvé’ (a
small stone, a piece of bark, a flower petal, etc.) and
paint its colors, much larger than
life, using a magnifying glass. These simple exercises will enable you to look more closely at letters
and see the subtleties that give them their unique character, as
well as giving students a greater appreciation of the tiniest nuances
of color. Bring pencils, charcoal, gouache, brushes and paper. PEN MANIPULATION TECHNIQUES A one or two-day workshop Edward Johnston once said, in a lecture, “The angle of the pen remains constant”. Actually, that was the sum total of the whole lecture!. However, later on, one of his students noticed that EJ’s pen did, in fact, change angle and made some remark to that effect. Unfazed, Johnston put this down to ‘sleight of hand’! Much later, Arthur Baker developed
his own approach to pen manipulation which has
given us, as calligraphers a totally new outlook on our
art. While some of Mr. Baker’s letters
are not too practical for general writing purposes,
the techniques
that he has espoused
open up whole new avenues for us to experiment with. During this workshop we shall look
at how to achieve these different effects in our writing; how we
must change our body positions and even the positions of the pens
in our hands, in order to make these different letters. There will
be plenty of demonstration of different alphabets with one-on-one
instruction.
You will need to bring lots
of ink, paper and large pens (Coit, Hiro, Automatic Lettering,
etc., not
smaller than 1/4" and preferably larger than that). You
can also write on old newspaper if you wish to save a little
money
on materials!
THE ANCIENT ARTS OF QUILL-CUTTING AND VELLUM PREPARATION A two-day workshop The use of quills and vellum for
producing the ultimate in quality in our calligraphic craft is fast
falling
into disrepute. As we search
for quicker and cleaner solutions to calligraphic problems by using
computers and other “quick” techniques, we are in danger
of losing our very heart and soul. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when we
can experience the stench of preparing vellum, the dubious joys of
cut fingers while we attempt to carve pens, etc. Seriously though, folks! There is enormous satisfaction in being
able to take a feather or reed and create our very own writing implement,
or sanding vellum down to the perfect nap to receive ink, the understanding
of the various ingredients which go into making a good pounce to
assist the flow of ink from our newly created pen to the beautifully
prepared vellum surface. We will cover all of this during this two
day workshop, with plenty of discussion about other traditional methods. You will need to bring a quill
knife, a sharpening stone, some reeds, some feathers (goose and/or
turkey
are ideal),
wet/dry sandpaper
(120, 220 and 240 grades), some vellum offcuts, a smooth
board for sanding the vellum on, a piece of 1/8” plastic
sheet (or old triangle, sandarac, whiting and powdered pumice.
I will
have
some
supplies in case you are unable to find something.
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