Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Capital E

This job proves that exercises such as the one I posted this past Friday come in handy.

The bride and groom had three capital E's between them.  They wanted each "E" on their wedding invitation to be unique.

I love making E's, and "Elizabeth" is an especially great name to letter.

Happy Flourish Friday!!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Exercises

I confess. I am a sucker for ornamental, capital letters. (Capitals, upper case, majuscules - whatever you want to call them.) I love to find different examples of each letter that I can practice. The more they are flourished, the more I drool over them.  I also enjoy trying different nibs.  It makes practicing fun, and I learn so much in the process. (For instance, I learned this paper and the pointed pen despise each other! lol!!)

You can find all sorts of delicious examples at the IAMPETH website.

Thanks for stopping in at A Place to Flourish!

Enjoy your weekend!!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Song of Solomon

Summer is zipping by, isn't it?!

I did this piece several months back, but in honor of wedding season, I thought I'd post it today.

"My beloved in mine, and I am his." Song of Solomon 2:16 (King James Version)

The piece was done with walnut ink on handmade watercolor paper.  I love working with walnut ink.  I buy the crystals from Paper and Ink Arts and then add water. 

A close up.

I hope this past week was a good one for you and wish you a wonderful weekend!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Mandala

Thank you, my sweet blogging friends, for all the birthday wishes!

I had a great day! :)

This mandala was done with a Hiro 700 nib, Dr. Martin's Bleedproof White, and FW Pearlescent Liquid Acrylic (color: Silver Pearl).  I never tire of making mandalas, but you probably get tired of seeing them! lol. 

Put some flourish in your Friday!

Calligraphy Flourish for Independence Day

I hope my Canadian friends had a great time celebrating Canada Day.

This Sunday, July 4th, Americans will celebrate our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain.

There will be fireworks, parades, and cookouts.

There will also be chocolate cake with carmel icing for my birthday, which is tomorrow.

Yum, Yum!! :-)

I thought I'd show you the step-by-step of the piece above:

Using blue, painter's tape, I masked off an area on watercolor paper. (Before I use a punch on painter's tape, I put the tape onto a piece of the waxy, paper left over from a sheet of postage stamps.)

I brushed clear water over the masked off area.

I then dropped in some red and blue gouache.

Using the small end of my stylist, I made random strokes through the wet paint.

I set is aside to dry.

I removed the masks.

Using a larger, star punch, I added two more masks and added more strokes with the stylist, a pointed brush, and gel pens.

I let it dry, removed the masks, and splattered some paint over the design. I then sprayed the piece with Krylon Clear Finish.

I added the text with a pointed pen and Dr. Martin's Bleedproof White.

Wishing my American friends a safe and happy Independence Day!!

Celebrate!!!

If you are a member of the Yahoo! Ornamental Penmanship group, then you have probably seen the video below.  It is sooooo beautiful and full of flourishy goodness!!  I'm not sure I have successfully captured and copied the video below, so you may have to copy and paste the link at the bottom.

If you like flourishes, then be sure to watch it.

Enjoy!! I know I did!

http://50.drmartens.com/artists/cinematic-orchestra