Flourish Friday - IAMPETH Reflections: The Fundamentals of Flourishing with Jake Weidmann

I spent day four of IAMPETH in Jake Weidmann's class: The Fundamentals of Flourishing.  Bill Kemp (on right) introduces Jake to the class.

Jake is the  most recent person designated as a Master Penman by IAMPETH.  Although young in years,  I feel he's an old soul when it comes to respecting the Golden Age of Penmanship.  He has studied and knows the fundamentals, but his skill goes way beyond the fundamentals.  

Jake wanted us to try flourishing as the penmen of old. That meant throwing the strokes away from your body using a straight penholder.  To help prepare us for throwing strokes, he had us practice with a pencil.  The goal was to freely throw long strokes that we wouldn't be able to accomplish by pulling with an oblique holder.

Then we moved on to ink with the nib in a straight holder. (Lord, help me!)  I felt as though I was using my other hand; it was incredibly awkward for me.  Jake encouraged us to keep the entry and exit of the strokes feathery.  In order to do this successfully, he wanted us to start the stroke motion before the pen  hits the paper and continue the stroke after the pen has left the paper.

It will definitely take more practice before I feel comfortable throwing strokes, but I have to say there is more life and freedom in throwing strokes. You can also work much larger by throwing the strokes.  In the photo above, the two plumes on top I threw with a straight holder.  The feather and plume on the bottom,  I pulled with an oblique holder.  Although the strokes are less wobbly, the bottom two seem tighter and more contrived.

After lunch, Jake taught us his method for creating a bird resting in its nest.  We used a pencil to rough in the areas for the different elements.

My bird! :)

Jake's lovely work on screen.

 A copy of Jake's feather was made available to the students. Yay!

 Jake's gorgeous work - Love his capital C and the capital B on "Because"

More of Jake's incredible work.

This is a note my tablemate and friend, Glenda Swan, passed to me during class. :) 

I couldn't agree more!  Jake is extremely gifted and talented, including being an excellent and fun instructor. If you have the opportunity to study from him, seize it!

Visit Jake's website by CLICKING HERE.

Thank you for visiting.

Go forth and flourish!