Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Fraktur Caps

Following is a reposting of my November 13, 2009 Flourish Friday.  I love ornamental Fraktur capitals, and my recent workshop with Reggie Ezell has given me even more ideas...

To view the comments from the original post CLICK HERE.

For this week's Flourish Friday, I tried my hand at Ornamental Fraktur. Believe it or not, this is the letter A.

I used some blue ink that was packaged with the pen my husband bought me in Venice. (You can see that glass pen in an earlier post here.)

I used my 6mm Pilot Parallel Pen. I filled a spent cartridge with a Monojet syringe. I like the Parallel Pen for practice. It is easier for me to get consistent thins from this tool than it is from a broad edge dip pen.

My reference was chapter 6 from Bill Hildebrandt's wonderful book "Calligraphic Flourishing." Some Flourish Friday I'll have to show you the Whopperplate I bought from Bill! :-)

I hope you're all Flourishing out there! Have a great weekend!!

Flourish Friday - IAMPETH Reflections: Will Flourish for Chocolate with Kathy Milici

My last class at the 2012 IAMPETH convention was Will Flourish for Chocolate with Kathy Milici. Above is the beautiful Kathy prior to class.

Kathy + chocolate =  A Good Time

OR you could reduce that to Kathy = A Good Time

(and I mean that in a good way...)

I'm pretty sure you would find Kathy's picture next to the definition of cheerful in the dictionary.  She does a great job of engaging her students. She's very clever and witty. This is the second class I've taken with Kathy.  I think she expertly blends both fun and serious study into her classes.

Kathy has the class recite The Flourisher's Pledge which she composed, hand lettered, and provided in our handouts.  

We spent the first half of the class learning the basic Do's and Don'ts of beautiful flourishing.  Kathy gave each of us a sticker to remind us of an important Don't:  No Plates of Spaghetti!

A full house!

Kathy answers questions during the break.  The Saturday classes were only half day - unfortunately! 

After the break we went through a step-by-step of designing and executing a flourish.  Most students did their names, but I did "Happy Anniversary" instead. We started on graph paper, penciling in an oval or football shape. (an American football that is....)  We moved on to tracing paper as Kathy stepped us through with tips and pointers about shape, direction, visual balance, etc.  We sketched in flourishes, adjusting our designs with pencil and eraser.

Once we had our design how we wanted it, we traced the lines we wanted to keep.

Then we inked our designs on to good paper.

I've already used my design! :)

I owe Kathy a sincere "thank you" for all the time she put into her handouts.  She takes her teaching seriously, and I appreciate the care and thoughtfulness she put into preparing for her class long before we arrived in Milwaukee.  (and also a big thank you for the delicious Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar - yum!)

The name of Kathy's business is 24 Karat Designs. She has a storefront located in Newton, New Jersey. If you're within traveling distance, Kathy offers calligraphy classes there. To visit Kathy's website or to arrange to have her come and teach at your guild, contact her by CLICKING HERE.

Have a great weekend everyone.
Go forth and flourish!

September 26, 2012 Update:
Click Here to listen to Jo Latino's special interview with Kathy at BlogTalkRadio.com

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!