To change my mind a bit, I just made a small gilded versal on a pebble.
The patterns are inspired by those found in a 12th century manuscript and I will teach the construction of this kind of initials (but not on a pebble) in March 2023 in an online course in English that will be broadcasted by the gentle penman
This year, we celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Marcel Proust's death and the thirtieth anniversary of Peyo's.
As a tribute to these two great artists, I made this little lettering as a wink.
A first version gave this :
And, as I'm really fond of justified text columns, here is a second version :
These are drafts, there will probably be a third version, with decoration and color!!!
If you like this kind of lettering and composition exercise, there are still a few places left for the online course on September 3 & 4. Information and registration here. Beware ! It's in French !!
More and more in search of original shapes, I continue to experiment with lettering and distortions.
Here are two small compositions (there should be 4 in the end) with the alphabet and Arabic numerals which makes a total of 6² (easy to lay out).
As I already said, I will be giving online classes on my approach to lettering, basic shapes, mechanics, layout...
The English course will take place on July 9th and 10th 2022, info and booking here
The French version will be a little later in the season, on September 3rd and 4th. Registration is already open, info here.
A verse from Walt Whitman to tell you that I love his poetry.
And also that I have scheduled a course on lettering.
Not just any lettering, no. Ferret lettering!
Well, okay, it's just my own version of lettering but it's still pretty nice, isn't it?
Just a small note with a variation on the NEULAND, a script that I particularly like for its plastic qualities.
And as it is never enough, some filigrees to embellish the whole.
I wish you all a very happy new year 2022, health, happiness and calligraphy :-)
And here is an A as in Appy New Year!
It's that time of year so I'm sharing with you something quick made with liners, just to show that I'm thinking of you this time of year.
And if you don't find what you like under the tree, I've just updated the agenda with face-to-face classes as well as the list of online classes.
I have been neglecting you lately, I apologise.
I'm posting on social networks because it's quicker than describing my whole journey and taking the time to really address you here.
So a new message so that those who are not on those evil networks can see that I am still thinking of them.
These days I'm working on a commission from the town hall of Plouider, a small seaside town in Finistère.
I like this township, they plant a tree for each birth in the township and asked me to calligraph the children's names so that we can know which tree corresponds to whom. I did it last year and will do it again this year.
But today, it is another project: to calligraph 3 fragments of poems about the chapels and to put them around the Saint Fiacre chapel. The order is to do it on slate, it's up to me to choose how.
So I decided to use Art Nouveau lettering and acrylic paint on large 40x40cm slates. The advantage is that I will be able to use the same layout for the 3 poems and thus have a unity of treatment that I would have had more difficulty in obtaining with another writing.
Here is the first text, a french translation of Shakespeare.
And whilst I've got your attention, I'd like to talk about something completely different. I have been selected to participate in the Write on the Edge International Calligraphy Conference in Sonoma, USA, next summer, and as part of that I have just answered a number of questions about my practice. You can find the transcript of this conversation here. And if you want to register for the courses, you can find the description of my two contributions here and there.
It is often difficult to find compositions to enhance a short sentence or a single word.
Luckily, there are solutions!
You are a star !
I'm offering a class on puzzle versals and how to use them for small compositions.
It will take place on November 13th & 14th, more information and registration on this page.
And don't forget, we are all stars!
There are a few seats left for the next online course in English about filigrees on September 25th and 26th.
Information & registration there
If you speak French, there's another course on October 9th & 10th.
For those of you who are not on instagram, I am currently participating in a little challenge launched by a group of Swedish women.
It's about calligraphy words or expressions in Swedish.
Here are my first realizations.
tindra which means "twinkle"
äntligen fredag which means "thanks god it's friday"
fika for "getting together over a cup of coffee"
Or rather, while waiting for things to become clearer in my head about my next composition, here are my morning scribbles.
Four little Payne's gray initials with their filigree. You've already seen dozens of them, but it's always nice, isn't it?
After a first keyboard in the medieval style, here is a keyboard in NEULAND and embossing.
This time I only put the letters of the alphabet and not the other keys and besides, the letters are a little bit bigger than the embossed keys, keys which are not all the same size. :-)
I call it by this name because of the well-being it provides in exchange for the care we provide but it's just my garden.
Here is a calligraphic version in NEULAND variations which lists almost all the contents of the place.
And could I do it without filigrees?
Of course not, I even invented some new patterns for the occasion
And, for once, I put, not only color, but GREEN !!!!
Lots of different greens, mixed with red, blue, yellow, brown but still greens.
The scale is not always respected but the layouts and the general shape are.
I haven't posted anything on this blog for ages, too busy elsewhere.
Summer is here, time to make the workshop more visible for the tourist on the go.
I am open every Saturday morning from 9:30 am to 1 pm and at other times of the week, as soon as I am at work, the workshop is open.
You will have noticed that my taste for shimmering color mixes is becoming more and more pronounced with time.
New version of the periodic table of elements. After a reinterpretation of the first version of the Mendeleïev table, this time I used a classification of the elements by energy of first ionization.
The abscissa of the graph is the atomic number (Z) and the ordinate the energy in electronvolt (eV).
Some elements are indicated by their symbol written on an embossed square, the others by a simple golden square with the atomic number in Roman numerals.
For the decoration, I used my small arched filigrees and a copy of the traces left by the disintegration of particles in the CERN collider.
Finally, I added some equations used in the field of ionization.
and here is the final result
I was recently commissioned to do a street number in the Art Nouveau style and with my inevitable filigrees. I did the work on paper and with walnut ink, it will then be engraved, probably on metal by people with the necessary laser engraving equipment.
And while I'm on the subject of filigrees, I'd like to take this opportunity to announce a new (and final) online course in french on the subject on 22 & 23 May.
If you want to participate, you can register here.
A new filigree initial, in the same style as the previous one. A D this time, still 3 cm high, still gold leaf, Payne grey for the letter and Prussian blue for the filigree.
I'm back to my obsession and present you with the latest one, a Payne grey initial I with a Prussian blue filigree and a few gold dots on the leaf.
And I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you that there are still a few places left for the Filigree 2 course in English on April 10th and 11th (registration and information here).
The letter is 3 centimetres high, a little bit more than my usual small initials.
I shared this before the fateful date on social networks but I didn't take the time for those of you who are not affiliated with it.
So I'm fixing my mistake, with a little delay.
