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 - Grace & Blackletter

Happy Flourish Friday!  

This piece was done with my ever faithful Dr. Martin's Bleedproof White and 

an Esterbrook 356 pointed, flexible nib. 

I started this journal in February of last year.  My goal was to letter a different alphabet exemplar on each page.  ....ahem...this is page 2! gulp!! I guess I will have to live to be 250 years old, if I'm going to finish it. Either that or work in it more than once per year.  If you'd like to see page 1, click here.

Last week, I was the lucky winner of Elvie Studio's 400th Blog Post Giveaway.  Lori Vliegen is the warm and witty soul behind Elvie Studio.  Her blog is one of the first ones I started following in 2008. She has a very engaging writing style, and she is extremely creative.  I always enjoy popping over to her happy, inspiring blog.  After a long and tiring day on Monday, I came home to find this wonderful package waiting for me!  The little journal with repurposed, Hobby Lobby gift card covers was wrapped up in this wonderful sheet of calligraphy themed paper.  Little cords with tags, stickers and cards were all cleverly tucked in the packaging. Swooooooon!!  Thank you Lori!!! If you're not already following Lori's blog, get on over there by clicking here.

Have a great weekend everyone.
Go Forth and Flourish!
((Hugs))
Jane

My Work Table Overfloweth

Years ago I learned a handy tip from my first calligraphy teacher, Ellen Simon.  She told me whenever working on a piece of paper that extends beyond my working surface, to slit a large wrapping paper roll and put it over the edge of my work table.  This technique prevents the paper from getting creased as I lean over the paper while working.  It gives the paper a nice curve to wrap around.

I am working on a Quaker style wedding certificate.  The bride and groom have designed a special mark, or seal, with their initials and a cross.  They wanted their seal incorporated into the piece.  I've masked off the rest of the certificate hoping to protect it.  (Otherwise this will become another "finished rough" draft!)

They wanted the seal to have a 3-dimensional look.  The bride provided a grayscale image of the seal, which helped immensely in determining how to accomplish a 3-D look.

The bride is of German descent, so I did the calligraphy for their names to reflect her heritage. The rest of the lettering is done in a modified copperplate.

I still have the border and illustrations to do.  The groom is from Texas, so there will be a few stars of Texas worked in for him.

I hope you'll check back Friday for this week's flourish!

Calligraphy and Woodworking

Several weeks ago my sixteen year old son asked if I would letter his initials for him.  He wanted a specific size and style.  He was designing a chess board and case in his Manufacturing Processes class at school.   His class was learning veneer and inlay techniques, and he wanted to include his initials on the bottom of the case.  I thought he might abandon the idea once he got started.  It is hard enough for me just to cut curved letter forms out of heavy paper let alone wood, but he did it. Here is his result:

I think he did a great job.  He stayed after school many days to work on his design.  He is fortunate to attend a public school that has a varied curriculum.  The art and design departments are extensive, and it is difficult to choose from all the great courses offered.

I think Matt has been bitten by the handcrafted bug!  He took two years of ceramics and loved it.  Now in this class, he is learning woodworking and metalcraft. He was so excited to show us his work and talk about the different woods and tools he used.  His case is now being displayed in the Principal's office.

I am on the hunt to find some chess pieces to match his board for his birthday next month.  His class has moved on to learning about assembly line construction by designing and creating Adirondack chairs!