And now part two of my exciting feature!! Yep this picture is less than perfect too….
Happy New Year!!!
…but you can at least see more of the glitter… I think I’ve got to grips with glittering my writing… with both copperplate and this quirky style… just getting it photographed that’s the problem…
Anyhow, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
P.S I have plenty of calligraphy related resolutions to make… such as clean glitter glue off nib before packing things away for the night….
http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2012/01/calligraphy-glitter-part-2/
I have been experimenting with calligraphy and glitter glue this Christmas, unfortunately the lighting is so poor today it doesn’t show in the photograph very well…. we will have to wait and see if the lighting is better for part two of this exciting feature…
Happy Christmas
I have been very busy lately… there has been calligraphy - including my own Christmas cards being written out nicely – heads turned in the local post office and I flushed a shade of crimson. I often leave my Christmas cards to the last moment, which leaves me little time for gratuitous flourishing… but I just about got it done this year…. anyhow…..
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2011/12/calligraphy-glitter-part-one/
Yes, there is calligraphy in progress, hence I haven’t been updating on a regular basis, plus I have been having a blogging crisis. I can’t really show anything I’ve been working on because my last commission was to do with Christmas and my current project is in its early stages, so this is a quickie post…
I’ve recently realised that most of my commissions this year have been in copperplate and there has also been a steady trickle of requests for Gothic script, but Italic has lagged behind. This is a shame because italic is an elegant and easy to read script, not as glamorous or as in your face as copperplate, but it can have its moments.
Anyhow, to redress the balance, here is a gratuitous shot of italic….
More Italic, Please!!!
http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2011/11/calligraphy-in-progress/
My sculpture is finished! Actually I finished it a while ago now but I have been too busy to post, due to one thing or another. This sculpture forms part of an on going project called Bottled Feelings, which I have been working on since 2006… they are exactly what they say they are… bottled feelings…. and as a collection they have been exhibited in spaces other than the traditional gallery. My most recent addition is Bottled Greed; this bottle contains a price tag on red ribbon. One side of the tag has the word ‘Air’ written in italic lettering, the other side reads: Bottled air, £1,000.
Bottled Air
BOGOF?
Those who have read and followed my other blog, The Scarlet Blue Archive, will know that I am fond of writing alternative narratives for well known UK commercials and will therefore also be aware that I have an issue with advertising; I do understand that advertising is necessary – how would we know what services and products are available without it? – my real issue is about how products are advertised. Every day I am bombarded with adverts, be it on television, disguised as magazine articles or via blogs and I find most of this advertising to be patronising, condescending and, of course, highly manipulative [duh, as if we don't know that they are dividing us up into our socio-economic groups and preying on our basic vulnerability of wanting to fit in with those around us]. The advertisers are after my cash, they have no personal interest in me, there is no motive behind their flowery and often insipid rhetoric other than a desire to extract money from my purse, they will say and do whatever they can to get it. The bottom line is often profit margin over product quality.
Anyhow, here is my artistic interpretation of how I feel about marketing in general. Bottled Greed which consists of a bottle of hot air…. a snip at £1,000…. please don’t all rush at once….
A bottle of air
Bargain!!
http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2011/11/bottled-calligraphy/
Apologies, I have done no calligraphy for the past two weeks! I cleared the decks for my wisdom tooth removal [glad I did as I felt wretched] and then last week I had visitors all week, so I imagine my studio space is a little dusty… and perhaps sparkly from flicks of discarded gold leaf. To be honest, I can be a lazy bugger… when I’m working on a commission for a client I tend to have loads of ideas for my own calligraphy practice and I feel desperate to get on with them, but as soon as the commission is finished all my wonderful ideas end up abandoned in my sketchbook! There is nothing like having to do something to make me want to do something else… but then when I do have free time I find myself blogging [not this blog - the other one] and generally being a social animal.
Anyhow, after waffling on to a fellow calligrapher [many apologies Angelo], I feel I am at a crossroads with what I want to do with my calligraphy, I would like to use it for more art based projects. I do have my sculpture to finish off. The tag in my gallery, which says ‘AIR’, is supposed to be part of something else… but have I finished it off… no I haven’t, because it’s for me and no-one else! And the other thing that has stopped me continuing with it is that I have a niggle and I know that this tag won’t look right for what I have in mind, so I’m going to have to experiment with a different style of lettering. These things take time, and if I want it to look the way I want it to, then I’m going to have to do the prep. Simple as that.
Hopefully this blog post will enable me to get on with it, because my next post here IS going to be the finished sculpture!!!! Actually Angelo’s fine copperplate style would work beautifully for one side of this tag…. but I will have to make do with my own efforts.
Hopefully this all sounds very intriguing and everyone will be rushing here for my next post!!!
Meanwhile, here is an unrelated photo opportunity….
...something else I didn't finish....
My capital ‘P’ for Pisces…. just never got around to doing a best copy with related text!!! Sorry this is so small. I painted this in 2004 and it was inspired by a project in the book The Art of Illuminated Letters by Timothy Noad and Patricia Seligman.
http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2011/10/the-lazy-calligrapher/
Many thanks to Sue for pointing me in the direction of this short clip. As I am recovering from my tooth extraction I’m going to indulge myself and post it here… truly inspirational and, like Sue, it makes me want to scribble my heart out!
Massimo Polello – Latest Works 2010 from Photophilla on Vimeo.
http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2011/10/calligraphy-inspiration/
A funny angle to capture the light on the bling....
A calligraphy poetry commission this week, which meant fiddling with gold leaf and writing with size [sticky stuff]. I must apologise for this pic as I was holding the poem in one hand, trying to catch the sun [plenty of that around this morning], and taking the picture with the camera in the other hand. It’s all very high tech here!
I like experimenting with gilding, I had thought of using blue variegated metal leaf for this project and did a little test….
...another funny angle to highlight the bling...
This copperplate capital hasn’t been burnished as it was just a little experiment, but it shows the colourful potential of variegated metal leaf as an alternative to gold leaf.
Anyhow, I don’t think I will be in the studio much next week as it is time for my wisdom tooth extraction….. blimey…. they are going to have to tie me down if they want to get that out….
http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2011/10/gold-calligraphy/
I’ve been experimenting with free flowing calligraphy. I have great admiration for calligraphers such as Betsy Dunlap and Kate Forrester, who take a lettering style and make it their own. Obviously I don’t want to copy their unique styles, but I thought it would be fun to try and design my own. My natural handwriting, the one I use to scribble notes in my notepad and to leave rude messages to family members, often receives compliments [and this is often before people know that I have an interest in calligraphy] so it seemed sensible to base my personal script on my own handwriting. To be honest I write my notes very very quickly and without much thought to letter construction so I had to write this short poem out in pencil before going over it with a pointed nib, as I couldn’t remember how to write my own writing when my hand was forced to slow down!
My handwriting, calligraphed!
Interesting eh? When going over the pencil in ink I was literally retracing my thoughts. I’m liking the texture and I think that my normal writing has potential, but it needs some work when used in a block of text! I tried it out on a left over place card though, and think it looks quite effective.
Scarlet!
Meanwhile, I have been working on a commission, and finally I have been working with some colour… think it was getting a little bit gloomy on this blog with all the black and white, so this is a relief!
A bit of colour!!!
This is a close up of part of a commission. I can say no more. This is prior to a good clean up…. and the overall work, when photographed was described as looking like a forensic crime scene! I did laugh! It’s a good job I’m not sensitive. Anyhow, it was good to have the freedom to mess around and have fun with a piece of work. Please visit Sue Simpson at The Creative Spirit to see somebody else who believes in having fun with her lettering.
Anyhow, I think that’s it for the time being… other than I apologise for the quality of the pics…. somebody has ‘borrowed’ the good camera and I took these on my phone just as the sun decided to hide behind a cloud.
http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2011/09/free-flowing-calligraphy-and-lots-of-fun/
Gothic Calligraphy written in ghostly white gouache is proving to be a popular choice for Halloween parties [okay, so I only have one batch of Halloween place cards to do, but one lives in hope].
Here we see Lindsey, Robert, Julie, Alex, Louise and Hilary settling down for a Murder Mystery Party. They will probably be bobbing apples and carving pumpkins when a seasonal power cut will interupt their fun and games, plunging them into darkness. There will be a kerfuffle followed by a deathly scream. Is it Robert in the conservatory beating Alex over the head with the lead piping? Or is the murderer Lindsey in the Library prodding Julie with a pointy dagger? Who knows, as sadly I wasn’t invited.
Ghostly Gothic Names
Anyhow, for white calligraphy I usually use Dr Ph. Martin’s Bleedproof White, but this was just a little too opaque for the effect I was trying to create. I did try thinning it with water… but it didn’t look as good as plain old zinc white gouache on Canford black paper. Gothic lettering seems to be a natural choice for all things ghostly, maybe it’s because it has an air of antiquity… and because we see it so much on creaking old pub signs?! In any case Gothic is synonymous with all that is old, mysterious and meaningful.
I recently had to use this style for a logo; I was feeling a little rusty with this script beforehand, but all this work has restored my interest in it. My next mission is to teach myself a good Gothic cursive style, which is based on traditional Gothic, but is a little more free flowing… possibly with a hint of Italic to loosen it up a bit. I shall report back when I have something to show.
http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2011/09/calligraphy-halloween-place-cards/
My Calligraphy commissions pop up out of the blue. Literally.
I wasn’t quite sure how successful having a website for my work was going to be, I still get most referrals word of mouth, but it has introduced me to a couple of new clients. One of my first new clients contacted me whilst I was wandering around the grounds of Exeter Cathedral licking an ice-cream. My phone bleeped, I opened the email, and then read an incredibly romantic request from a young man. He had written a heartfelt poem for his bride to be and wanted me write it out in calligraphy so that he could give it to her on the morning of their wedding. Now I’m not a soppy person… those closest to me may even describe me as a cynical old whatnot… but this email did melt me a little [just a little, I don't want to ruin my reputation by confessing to inappropriate swooning]… and I thought it was a beautiful gesture. This young man has gone some way in restoring my belief in romance!
Anyhow, my client wanted the poem written out in copperplate and he also wanted to incorporate a Calla Lily into the design. I made about four rough plans for him to choose from, which he whittled down to two that he liked before making a final decision. All our correspondence was done via email, with me sending him pics of my progress so that he was included in all the design decisions and was in control of the project. Finally, when the work was complete, I had the poem framed and then delivered to him. I really enjoyed working on this project and working to a brief rather than just doing my own thing; it made a change.
But what to do with the illustrations I didn’t use? Well, this work doesn’t go to waste as I intend to use them with other suitable poems of my choice…. when I get the time!
Waste not, want not...
http://www.scarlet-blue.co.uk/calligraphy/2011/09/calligraphy-poems-and-illustration/