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Messages - idrawletters

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Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: IAMPETH 2015
« on: July 21, 2015, 10:05:57 AM »
Ahhh IAMPETH was great! It was awesome to meet IG friends in person and also to meet heroes and longtime calligraphers and learn from them. I was truly astounded at how NICE everyone was, and so willing to talk, teach, and get to know me (especially the more senior folks who made an effort to talk to me after seeing my "first time attendee" badge!). So many memories and lots of laughs.

Like Debbie said, I'm really curious to see how they plan for Portland and the (probably even larger and more overwhelming) surge of enrollment. Hopefully they'll be able to strike the right balance where not too many people are disappointed, and where the long time members aren't disgruntled!

I plan on being there! :)

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Completed/Past Exchanges / Re: Broad edge pen exchange
« on: July 21, 2015, 09:56:04 AM »
I'm up for it!!

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The Library / Re: Il Perfetto scrittore, di M. Gio. Francesco Cresci
« on: June 30, 2015, 07:51:15 PM »
Oh amazing! Thank you so much for sharing.

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Oooh thanks for your post, Estefa—I should have clarified, rather than relied on my overly minimal definitions!

Calligraphy is writing—a single pass of the pen/tool

All styles that I (and the many books to the subject) regard classically as calligraphy, but are made of several strokes, would be lettering by this above definition – like all formal bookhands, Fraktur, Unciale, Textura, you name it! Even Cancellaresca / Italic is made up of single strokes, and so I tend to respectfully disagree.

By "single pass of the pen" I don't mean only one fluid motion to create the whole letter. Rather, I meant that a calligraphic letter is comprised of multiple single strokes/passes of the pen that come together to from the full letter. This would be in opposition to "lettering" which as a description is open to the interpretation of a letter that has been drawn or illustrated, using, say, a pencil and eraser a drawn outline that is then filled in with color, etc. I absolutely consider all the blackletter variations, uncial, italic, etc to fall within the description of "single pass of the pen"


Also wouldn't say that working with typography is writing, sorry, for me it's typesetting …

I don't think we are in disagreement here either—again, my bad as I should have elaborated on my definition!

What I meant is that with typography, you are creating writing by typesetting lead type, wood type, digital fonts, etc., and therefore using pre-designed, prefabricated letters, as opposed to forming those exact letters by hand at the time of writing. At the risk of being overly simplistic again, I would extend that (modern) definition to cover not just typesetting in a press environment, but also using a typewriter, and any word processing program on a computer.

I do agree that the distinction between calligraphy and lettering is quite fluid as there will always be exceptions to everything!

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Great topic!

In the absolute simplest of terms, this is how I like to define the differences, and I'm gonna throw in "Typography" into the mix too since that gets misused/misconstrued a lot:

Calligraphy is writing—a single pass of the pen/tool

Lettering consists of built-up letters—drawing with multiple strokes

Typography is writing with prefabricated, pre-designed letters


This is, in essence, what really defines the three from each other (the definitions above are from Gerrit Noordzij, letter theorist extraordinaire) :)

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Welcome Alyssa!!!!

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Tools & Supplies / Re: This is my pen cleaner formula, what's yours?
« on: June 20, 2015, 12:19:12 AM »
I use good ol' fashioned saliva. And water too when there's a lot to clean haha!

I'm sure most people know of saliva as a method for preparing nibs so its probably nothing new. Though I've also heard that it seems to protect your nibs once clean too, lol. Seems to work for me! :P

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Just echoing what everyone else has said already!

I've been a member of Society of Scribes here in NYC and we're very welcoming to new members, regardless of experience. Older members love the enthusiasm, and new members love the experience of those who have been around for awhile. I think there is so much to gain and nothing to lose!

:)

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Favorite Resources / Re: Paul Shaw's Lettering and Design blog
« on: June 14, 2015, 08:30:28 PM »
Paul Shaw is amazing! Cheeky and opinionated is definitely a great way to describe him hahaha! :P

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Favorite Resources / Re: Good supplies store in Boston+NYC ??
« on: June 14, 2015, 07:45:05 PM »
Ah darn, good point. Definitely check it out though!

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Favorite Resources / Re: Good supplies store in Boston+NYC ??
« on: June 10, 2015, 11:18:12 PM »
Hi Eric! I actually buy most of my specialty calligraphy supplies online too—unfortunately the online shopping phenomenon has forced lots of specialty pen shops and local art stores to close down (there was an awesome one in mid-town that I was last at in 2013 but it has since closed). Art supply shops don't carry much beyond the basics.

Like Alaina said, Dick Blick does have standard calligraphy supplies, AND New York Central Art Supply had a bit of a nib collection last I checked. However I just got word today that they're selling off a LOT of their inventory  at a discount over the next few months to be a bit more of a specialty art store, so you might find some gems there when you visit!

If you're into paints and pigment, I highly recommend you check out Kremer Pigments. It's like a candy store for artists! :)

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Prasad that sounds awesome! I've been wanting to re-introduce cursive writing to children these days as I feel so passionately about the lack of it! Excited to see how you get on.

I can say from personal experience that calligraphy was awesome to learn as a kid. We were taught Foundational hand at my very English primary school when we were about 7/8 years old. It was only a year or two after we learned cursive! Our teacher brought in broad nib fountain pens so that we could at least get the experience of working with ink, but so we wouldn't get frustrated with the dipping aspect (and all that comes with it). I think that would be my biggest recommendation—either calligraphy markers or fountain pens—because you'll get to focus on the actual fun of calligraphy rather than on helping the kids troubleshoot their nibs.

Good luck!!

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Open Flourish | General Discussion / Re: Calligraphy Overwhelmed
« on: June 09, 2015, 11:23:40 AM »
I think this is something we all feel, especially these days with the constant flow of inspiration!

Philosophically speaking, you will find that mastering something (as opposed to just explore in any direction) brings great pleasure, especially when one begins at the bottom of the ladder.

I completely agree with Eric, and I think that's how I've tried to approach calligraphy from day one. It's easy to feel overwhelmed when you think you have to "keep up" or that you have a very limited time to do all you want to do. But, if you think about it as a journey, a lifelong pursuit of excellence, the small strides forward that you make every day become more and more fulfilling.

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Tools & Supplies / Re: How do you store your nibs?
« on: June 01, 2015, 12:00:06 PM »
Thanks guys! I randomly discovered that the nibs fit perfectly in corrugated cardboard after assembling some Ikea furniture haha!

The book itself though isn't my original idea as I found Ann Elser's blog post about hers and modified it for my own! Here's what I did: http://bit.ly/niborganizer

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Coffee & Nib-bles / Re: I'm married!!!
« on: June 01, 2015, 11:02:32 AM »
Oooooh lovely! Congratulations!

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