Friday, September 2, 2011

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Santa Croce Design



Happy Flourish Friday everyone!
After viewing Jan Hurst's lovely photos of her vacation to France here,  I remembered that I had taken some photos in the Santa Croce church in Florence.  While all the other tourists were taking photos of the incredible paintings in the church, I was patiently waiting for people to move their feet in order to take photos of the floor. :)

©Jane Farr Calligraphy & Design LLC

 I made a tracing of one of my photos, put it under my layout paper, and used my light table. I used a Zebra G nib and Moon Palace sumi. (Only because that is what I already had out on my table.)

©Jane Farr Calligraphy & Design LLC

Just as I passed the halfway point, it dawned on me that Harvest Crittenden had taught us how to copy and flip designs in her Photoshop for Calligraphers online course.

So I did that.  I wish I had thought of doing that before I crossed the halfway point. As you can see, I needed to go in and erase the areas that overlapped and were misaligned.


I cleaned up the overlapping areas in Photoshop. I didn't draw the oval. I added it in Photoshop which was a process Harvest also taught in her course.  I then filled in my flourishing with the same black color as the oval.  However, I think I like the look of the original penwork better, so I think I will go back and change the color of the oval to match the penwork.

I think one of the most important things one can do to foster creativity is to observe your surroundings.
Look around.
Take notice.

Find a way to incorporate your observations into your artwork.

Enjoy your weekend!
xo
Jane

13 comments:

  1. This is so pretty, Jane... Hope you have a flourishy day! XO Love, love LOVE!

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  2. So lovely! I agree - observing our surroundings can really enhance creativity. Great job!

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  3. Hi Jane,
    This is SO gorgeous! And how cool that you scanned it into PhotoShop-the perfect mix of hand-drawn and hi-tech. Happy weekend!

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  4. This is beautiful :-) I took a picture of a flourish that caught my eye on the edge of a Sundial at Burghley House when I was there last weekend - this post has inspired me to have a go at tracing it (although it was pale grey against black marble so it might be tricky!).

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  5. Nicely done Jane!!! Always little treasures to observe in our travels. This makes a lovely border!

    Heather

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  6. gorgeous, jane!! what a great way to put those photos to good use.....creating something new using your favorite nib!! woo hoo! hope you have a great weekend! xox

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  7. Beautiful, Jane! I had to laugh at your description of waiting for people to move so you could photograph the floor. I've done that too; leave it to an artist to always be looking in the opposite direction! Thanks for another great post.

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  8. Hi, Jane, I love your design, so inspirational! A great combination of hand and technical skills! And thank you so much for the sweet comment on my blog about crying at the right moments! All of us artists are such sensitive creatures, aren't we?

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  9. Hi Jane - what a great outcome! From the moment of 'seeing' the design on the floor, to hand-working it to cleverly then using technology. A wonderful process.

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  10. its so cool. Simply superb i must say! keep observing :)

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  11. That's a lovely piece of work and, as usual with your designs, inspirational. I think I'll have to do some sort of tutorial in PhotoShop, though - it's a very hit and miss application for me! :-)

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  12. Stunning design! I love your original drawing photo with your glasses, it sure talks about all the precission and hard work! The final result is simply amazing!

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  13. I love this post, Jane! It is all so very true about how we look at things differently, or see beauty in something other walk past or over - literally!
    Such a gorgeous design. I love your interpretation.

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