Author Topic: Developing your own style - have you done it?  (Read 652 times)

Offline Ngaire_W

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Developing your own style - have you done it?
« on: February 14, 2021, 02:40:33 PM »
I'm a novice calligrapher who's been learning on and off for quite some years. Currently re-acquainting myself with Italic with the ambition to finally get really comfortable with it.

I notice a lot of the masters have their own little 'flavour' to their hands - a specific vibe or rhythm, sometimes little stylistic quirks or alterations that make it unmistakably 'theirs'. My question to other more experienced calligraphers, have you made it to being that comfortable with a script that you developed your own style or flair? And how did you get there - did it come over a long time with years of practice and without you realising, or did you actively try to cultivate this?

I'm just curious, hope to get there one day myself :)

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Developing your own style - have you done it?
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2021, 11:41:18 PM »
This is such a great question. I started learning with Blackletter and Italic. I did mostly Italic for many years until I found pointed pen. But the same ideas apply to all styles. I definitely have developed my own style over time and especially when doing modern calligraphy. There isn’t one way to get there, but I think in some ways it happens very naturally. I think we pick up things we like over time and they start showing up in our style. There are some times that I will be very strict in sticking to a straight style but other times will intentionally give it my own flair. It never gets old!

I actually teach a whole class on this - creating a unique style by altering traditional script. This is a brief take on it:

https://theflourishforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=165.0

Hope that is of interest!  :D
Warm Regards,
Erica
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Offline Ngaire_W

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Re: Developing your own style - have you done it?
« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2021, 04:41:40 AM »
Beautiful Erica! I would love something like this for Italic. I guess I can just gather examples for myself of different variations and 'try them on'.

How long would you say your were practising a style consistently before you started to see your own 'flair' developing?

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Developing your own style - have you done it?
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2021, 08:36:53 AM »
I do think it is a good idea to learn the foundations of the script first if you are working with a historical style like Italic. But there are also many variants of what is considered traditional for Italic. I would search Italic Calligraphy on Pinterest or Instagram to see lots of variants. Definitely take a look at John Stevens website. Look for the work of Sheila Waters and Julian Waters. I just took an extensive Italic course with John Stevens that was incredible. He teaches different variants of that traditional hand.

I don’t think I developed my own style per se of Italic but I do use different styles of certain letters from various exemplars.
Warm Regards,
Erica
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