Back 2 Basics Italic Class

This class on August 20th is now full with eight participants.  Look for the next class in October!

Photos from our August meeting

Thanks for the tri-fold card demonstration, Cecelia, and all the time you put into making our meeting a success! Here is a glimpse of what some of our members have been working on. Cheryl Cary brought a beautiful charcoal portrait of her grandson Finn and I am so sorry I didn't get a picture of that (but I'll post it if someone else did!)

Minutes from August

Meeting Minutes 9 August 2011
26 present
6:50 PM start

Intro:
**We began with an extended time of show and tell and since we had a number of visitors, we also did introductions--telling a little bit about ourselves and why we like calligraphy. We took a few minutes and asked those who attended the IAMPETH to share something about the conference
Books from the book fair were on the table for perusal and purchase.

Business:
**Our next workshop will be November 5/6 with Krisitin Doty. All skill levels are welcomed to learn more about drawing for calligraphers.

Presentation:
**Cecelia showed us how to make a great tri-fold card using a fun monoline alphabet she modeled with a B3/B4 nib. After passing out clear templates for us to cut at home, lined paper to practice at our seats, and an exemplar, she showed us how to use the nib making sure the rounded end was flat on the paper. Again, the overhead camera/projector came in handy. She went around the room to make sure we all understood where to cut and how to fold. We look forward to see what everyone has created next month!

Article on the necessity of calligraphy

Here's an article written about a calligrapher from California you might find interesting.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-calligraphy-20110809,0,2269586.story

BTW, what a wonderful guild meeting last night. Thanks to all who attended and who made our five newbies feel welcome.

Back 2 Basics Saturday Class on August 20th

To inspire you, our Guild is now offering Back 2 Basics classes.  Back 2 Basics  is a continuing series of classes that will be offered six times this year  Upcoming classes include:  Italic (Aug. 20), Pointed Pen (Oct. 15) and Carolingian (Nov. 19).  Classes will run from 9 a.m. to noon.

All Guild members are invited to participate.  Registration is first-come, first-served, up to eight people per class.  The cost is $5 per class.  When you attend a class, paper, nib, nib holder & ink will be available for in-class use.  Catalogs for ordering your own supplies will be available.

The fourth Back 2 Basics class on Saturday, August 20th is  Italic taught by Cheryl Cary.  

Registration will open on August 5th for this fourth class.  To reserve your spot, e-mail Sally Liverman at springsS_9@msn.com beginning on August 5th.  Only e-mails received on the 5th or after will be considered for registration.  Cost is only $5 and you’ll need to pay your $5 at the Guild meeting on August 9th or at the class. 

If you are one of the first eight to register, you’ll receive a confirmation e-mail and the location of the class.  Each class will meet at one of the teacher’s homes, giving you the opportunity to see their workspace and tools. 

Denis Brown

A note from Denis Brown with a link to his homepage. http://www.quillskill.com/
(Purchasing his 6 part series might be a good purchase for our guild.)


Denis Brown here with my calligraphy news mail for August 2011


A 3rd module, 'Freeing the Rhythm: Variation & Swing' is complete & available by online subscription and for those who have pre-ordered the DVD set.
6 new movies on 'Wild Swash Capitals' were uploaded today to Calligraphy.TV to complete the third module in the program, 'Italic Rhythm to Polyrhythm, Expanding Writing Dynamics'. With 108 minutes of video, this is significantly larger than either of the preceding modules on Italic, yet remains at the same price.

Link 1: Subscription and pre-ordering info.
Link 2: Watch the Calligraphy.TV sample movies.

The program as a whole is outlined at www.calligraphy.tv, below is a note on the new module.

Freeing the Rhythm: Variation & Swing
Advanced exercises to liven the italic with increased dynamics and a freer interpretation of rhythmic principles outlined in the Italic Theory & Practice module. Extremely advanced techniques with 'Dangerous lines' and 'Wild swash capitals' will challenge even highly experienced calligraphers. Nonetheless, all levels may be thrilled just watching the live video demonstrations, and picking up useful information without feeling need to master all that is presented right away.
Well over 5 hours of video is now online at Calligraphy.TV including basic advice all the way up to precise instruction on my advanced personal techniques. I have previously announced the complete program would include six hours worth of videos, now it looks likely to have more than eight hours. It may be 2012 before it is all complete, although I am devoting all my time to this when I am not traveling to teach.

Those who have pre-ordered may feel excitement from experiencing the development of this ambitious project as they watch new sections online, as they are released. They may also feel good that their pre-payment directly facilitates my commitment of time to the project. Also they benefit from remaining unaffected from likely price increases due to bad US dollar performance against Euro, as they look forward to a very special package in the mail on publication. (See the forewarning below about impending price increase).

My travelling for workshops in Chicago, Minnesota and Switzerland will provide a break from production until September, and then I shall be developing the more experimental module of the program regarding polyrhythmic calligraphy.



Apple's iPad with its ultra flat 9" screen may be the coolest way to watch calligraphy.tv right at your calligraphy table. Since I received my iPad 2 I've been working to making sure all works well on this device, as also on PC and Mac desktop and laptop computers.

A Forewarning!
Weak US Dollar rate means pricing must increase in September. Pre-order now to save. I live in Ireland and use Euros but for the convenience of my many US buyers, I price in dollars. The dollar has devalued a lot against the Euro in the past year and my pricing unfortunately needs to be redressed. This notification is a chance to get ahead of the price increase. Those who pre-order are fully pre-paid and will be immune to any price changes.





Images above from live video discussion& demonstration of 'Wild Swash Capitals', a subsection of the new module 'Freeing the Rhythm' in the program, Italic Rhythm to Polyrhythm'

Thanks for reading,
Denis Brown, Dublin, Ireland

Turn your calligraphy into Christmas Cards . . . starting: now!

Time again to think about working smart.  There are only 146 days left until Christmas so now is the time to get thinking, planning and implementing those vague concepts you’ve been stashing away at the back of your brain.  If you want to do a bit of back-planning, you have about 12 weeks to get your design into a finished form, ready to print.  

If you spent the next two weeks on design, that would leave you 10 weeks to work out the execution of your idea.  After that you would have about three weeks for production (copying or scanning, printing, assembling), addressing envelopes and then being ready to mail your cards in late November or ready to hand out at a certain December Guild meeting. Think about it and decide to make your own action plan to finish on time and not stressed.