Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Practice of Calligraphy


Sample sheets given to me by a master calligrapher/teacher.
The coloring and notes are mine.

Calligraphy.  
The practice can be calming & satisfying.
But it can be frustrating, for one who is not
naturally gifted at it.

Gaye Godfrey Nicholls writes in Mastering Calligraphy:

"Calligraphers revel in the sensual, sinuous 
& arch elegance of italic..."

"Calligraphy 
is about discovering the pleasure 
of watching pigments in water meet, 
fall in love, 
& create new colors on paper..."

"You watch your own hand take over & create the forms
for which you have striven for so long. "

It takes practice, she writes. Maybe 3 years, maybe 7...
It takes persistence & patience. (I say.) 
Here, perfection is sought, not just progress.
 They say to set up a center where you can leave 
your practice work out & practice everyday.
I do.
Still, I am not perfect.
I may never be. It takes acceptance.
Inbetween writing the letter "a" over & over
on lined paper,
trying to get it to be consistent,
one can play with some letter designs.
Even if the letters haven't been mastered.
It gives one something to look forward to.

Meanwhile, one can take a little break from the concentration
& precision, & play at making seasonal decorations. 

9 comments:

  1. I like the way you are playing with the letters better than the tight precise calligraphy AND I love your "seasonal decor" and the pipe cleaners (smile)

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  2. Bravo for the work on your calligraphy. I think that's a challenging art and well done! And I adore your tree. It's the cutest thing ever!

    Thanks for coming over and hope you are feeling better now. I wanted to send a get well wish but didn't have your email so I'll send a belated one!

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  3. Lots of P words..
    practice,patience,persistence,
    progress and perfection... powerful possibilities ...the seasonal tree is so Rita...whimsical ♡

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  4. You're making art out of letters! No surprise there.

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  5. Rita I think you are doing a wonderful job with practicing calligraphy. I have played around with it and find it certainly daunting with all the different fonts. Happy week friend - Hugs!

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  6. Love the sense of play within the discipline but your playful seasonal tree is the bomb!

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  7. If you can already draw you ARE gifted at it. If you can not draw you will become gifted at drawing after practicing.
    But you must do the daily scales of loops and strokes before attempting actual words and fancy styles.
    C'est comme ça !

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  8. Also it is not about perfection and precision.
    All about 'flow'.

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