Calligraphy class

Week 5

Homework:

• Lettering practice -- continue with italic capitals, consulting the exemplar provided today; also continue with italic minuscules if you'd like feedback on the the last day of class.
• Settle on a layout, paper, writing fluid and pen (use new materials or continue with old ones) and create the final version of your quotation. Bring it to class next week and be prepared to talk about your piece and your process.

The week in review:

• Handout -- plain italic capitals exemplar
• Analysis & critique -- We looked at all my trials for the capitals exemplar, and discussed why the rejected letters didn't make the cut. Some were rejected for line quality, some for shape, some for malformed or inconsistent finials, some for pen angle, some for awkward joins.
• Survey of pen nibs, writing fluids.
• Students tried out Tape and Brause and Mitchell nibs; gouache and metallic inks; various papers.
• We had a discussion of fountain / cartridge pens. I like the Manuscript pens available at Michael's: they're inexpensive and make a good line. Better and more versatile are the Pilot Parallel Pens. I mentioned the instruction sheet that Carol DuBosch has made; it can be found as a PDF on her website here.
• Preliminary discussion of how to correct a mistake
• Discussion of how to determine the size and style and placement of attribution (author) and scribe's mark.