Topics

1

Workshops & Conference News / Exhibition of Berthold Wolpe's lettering archive

« on: September 28, 2017, 02:56:05 PM »

Hi all,

Not strictly calligraphic, but involving exquisite hand lettering, so I think it's relevant!

The Type Archive in Kennington, South London is reopening to the public, starting with a month-long exhibition of Berthold Wolpe's work.

http://www.typearchive.org/

I visited on Tuesday evening, and it's a beautiful exhibition - small, but condensed, looking at the design of five of Wolpe's typefaces, and some of his book jacket designs. If you can get along, it's worth the time.

2

Show & Tell / A bit of letter cutting in slate

« on: September 07, 2017, 06:13:00 PM »

I'm taking a foundation diploma at a residential art college in the South of England (it's 10 short courses over two years, so I go there for 3-5 days every couple of months) and my last course was "letter cutting in stone and slate" taught by Tom Perkins. If you've not come across his work, look him up - his work is exquisite.

I've not done any stone carving before, beyond a couple of hours a year or so ago, and a very brief go when I was about 10, so I'm quite pleased with how this has turned out, though I can see so many things that need improvement. Mostly down to familiarity with the tools - I have no finesse with the chisel. That should come with practice though.

First drew up the lettering on paper, then transferred that to the slate with white watercolour pencil
corvus 09 17 by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr

Then carved it out!
corvus 4 09 17 by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr

I'm looking forward to getting my own tools & some scrap slate to practice on. It's a very different experience to pen & ink work, but is really satisfying.

3

Copperplate, Engrosser's Script, Roundhand Calligraphy / Finally trying to learn copperplate...

« on: July 27, 2017, 08:14:40 AM »

Hi all!

I've not been drawn towards learning pointed pen calligraphy up until recently, but I've been prompted to actually try to learn, so I'm starting with an English Roundhand - I'm using these as my exemplars: https://blog.typekit.com/alternate/a-history-english-round-hand-and-the-universal-penman/

I have a way to go yet, but this is my third day of focussed practice, and I'm starting to believe I might be able to get there at some point! I'm looking to be able to execute a neat, graceful style - it doesn't need to be flourished or overly formal, elegance and grace is what I'm hoping to learn.

Roundhand practice by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr

Any critique & recommendations would be gladly received.

4

Show & Tell / Weeds!

« on: March 12, 2017, 11:24:24 AM »

I submitted this piece for the Calligraphy & Lettering Arts Society exhibition:

Submission for 2017 CLAS exhibition by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr

Annoyingly, I made four copies and in each one either stuffed up the weeds or the writing. And the deadline for submission was too close to do another copy, so this was the least wrong copy!

(BTW anyone in the UK that hasn't joined CLAS, it's worth joining for the newsletter & study days they run)

5

Show & Tell / A bit of uncial

« on: March 08, 2017, 03:19:53 PM »

Hi all!

Uncial is my go-to hand if I want to relax into calligraphy and not stress about it being perfect. I don't know why, but I find it a very restful hand to work in.

After going to an amazing talk on the art & culture of Anglo-Saxons, and a bit of Norse mythology, this felt appropriate:

Huginn & Muninn uncial by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr

6

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Upright italic - critique welcomed

« on: March 08, 2017, 03:14:08 PM »

Hi all,

I've not been on the forum for a while - life's been busy, in a good way, but also in an eating-my-brain way!

I've been keeping up the practice though, and am getting more comfortable with italic. I've got a job that calls for something formal / respectful and comfortably readable - upright italic seems to fit this, and they like the sample I've sent over.

But! I want to really scrub it up, and critique would be appreciated. At the moment I wobble a bit, and although I like some life in my lettering, I want it to deliberately be there, not be where I accidentally wobbled!

Audre Lorde quote for IWD2017 by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr

7

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Micrography!

« on: May 12, 2016, 05:47:33 PM »

Hi all,

Having seen people sharing images of tiny calligraphy on Instagram, I wanted to share some here - I've not put it into a specific style subforum to keep it open to broad nib / pointed pen folks

I don't know where "micrography" just becomes "small writing" - anyone got an opinion?

Micrography, Darwin quote by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr

Written with a #4 William Mitchell Roundhand nib, with 2mm guidelines.

8

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Angled uncial - progress

« on: February 17, 2016, 11:58:35 AM »

Hi all,

A quick quote from the last chapter in On The Origin Of Species:

Darwin quote, Uncial hand. by Robin Inkysloth, on Flickr

My progress is slow, but present. At least I'm not backsliding! All critique is welcome.

9

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Italic struggles

« on: November 06, 2015, 08:59:33 AM »

Hi all,

I'm really struggling with italic. Can anyone give me any pointers at all on getting to grips with this hand?

10

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Using calligraphy to cheer sick kids up

« on: September 22, 2015, 07:00:19 PM »

Hi all!

I've just been pointed towards Post Pals, which is a volunteer-run charity co-ordinating getting nice letters sent to sick kids who spend a lot of time in & out of hospital.

I think I'll take part in this, and might see if there's anything similar for elderly residents, or adults in care homes. Does anyone know if there are?

http://www.postpals.co.uk/index.php

Best wishes!

11

Broad Edge Pen Calligraphy / Fraktur-ish - looking for miniascule w & v variations

« on: September 10, 2015, 02:50:46 PM »

Hi all,

I'm currently doing a lot of calligraphy using this hand:

red comparison by Robin Bray-Hurren, on Flickr

I'm not totally satisfied with the miniscule w, nor the v. However, they are very readable, and some of the alternatives out there seem less clear. Can anyone point me toward different forms of these two letters please?

Edited to add: Also, is this closest to fraktur? Or is it closer to something else?

12

Show & Tell / Trying out lettering for a friend

« on: June 05, 2015, 06:02:35 PM »

A friend who has a theatre company asked me to do some lettering for them, so I did some quick bits and bobs to send them so they could say what sort of style they liked.

Anyway, I quite liked the way this looked with the watercolour still wet! The lettering itself is pretty rough, but the colours worked well.

The technique is writing with plain water, then dripping in the colour.

soul bear lettering wet by Robin Bray-Hurren, on Flickr

13

Show & Tell / Bene Gesserit Litany against Fear

« on: June 03, 2015, 03:15:52 PM »

Hi all,

I've been mulling over the Litany against Fear from Frank Herbert's Dune, and wanted to write it up nicely, so I've gone for Uncial.

All feedback is welcome!

If I was to redo this, I'd remember to leave breathing room between the lines, and possibly use a 2 1/2 nib rather than a 3, but I'm fairly pleased with how this came out.

Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, hand lettered by Robin Bray-Hurren, on Flickr

14

Open Flourish | General Discussion / Charity shop find - old hand lettered land lease

« on: May 10, 2015, 04:38:21 PM »

Hi all,

I had a nose round a charity shop today, and found an old land lease from 1887, for sale of some land in Croydon, Surrey (to the South of London). As it was only £2.99 I bought it, as the lettering was rather lovely, and I thought it'd be interesting to study the shapes of both styles used. When I got it home I realised it was parchment rather than paper, which I find quite exciting as I've not handled parchment before.

Lease by Robin Bray-Hurren, on Flickr

Lease by Robin Bray-Hurren, on Flickr

Seal on lease by Robin Bray-Hurren, on Flickr

Does anyone have any advice on how I should be storing this?

How would you classify the lettering?

15

Tools & Supplies / Winsor & Newton gold drawing ink - horrible stuff!

« on: May 01, 2015, 05:43:39 PM »

Does anyone on here use W&N gold drawing ink?

I've had it specified by someone (as it's precisely the colour they want, and I offered samples of NINE other gold inks, but W&N it must be!) but I find it horrible, horrible stuff. Globby, settles really quickly (the pigment is fine bronze particles), and flows only when it wants to.

Any tips for getting it to flow from a pointed nib?

(And "use a different ink" is no good, unfortunately.)