Lettering & calligraphy - weekend workshop

Course Content:
Celtic Style Calligraphy workshop - Insular Minuscule
5th November – 6th November 2016

This course is specially designed for students wishing to learn an historical script.
Learn to write like a Celtic monk. Insular Minuscule is found in some of the grand medieval manuscripts such as Book of Kells, Lindesfarne Gospels and the Book of Durrow.

In this two-day class you’ll learn to use a broad-pen writing tool to make the lettering style that is uniquely Celtic. We will take as our model Bede’s Commentary on the Book of Proverbs and keeping many of the characteristics of the original script, develop a modern, highly useable version.

Modern Calligraphy
25th February - 26th February 2017

In this modern calligraphy workshop you will learn everything about how to get started with quirky handwritten lettering styles. In this two-day class you will learn how to write with a traditional dip pen, using lightness and pressure to create beautiful thin and thick strokes. We will cover pen “pressure and release” techniques along with the basics of illustrating letters.

We will explore different inks, pens and papers, as well as consider how to choose the best materials for your own work.
This is a practical, informal class and the focus will be on having lots of fun while learning. At the end of the workshop you will take home example alphabets, so you can continue to enjoy modern calligraphy.

Renaissance Italic (Cataneo)
10th June - 11th June 2017

This course is specially designed for students wishing to learn an historical script. Students will learn how to use the pen, the correct letterforms, spacing and writing words in Renaissance Italic. Bernardino Cataneo was a teaching master of Siena, Italy, circa 1545. This hand is known for its exquisite beauty. It features numerous pen lifts within and between letters, making it eminently legible (readable) - the cornerstone of good handwriting. Another sign of the Cataneo hand is that virtually each letter stands alone; there are none of the diagonal joins that inevitably develop in a true running script.

Modern Decorated Capital letters.
8-9 July 2017
Basic colour theory will be covered through controlled exercises in mixing watercolours as well as consideration of how colour can be used most appropriately for calligraphy. We will explore to how take advantage of the relationship between ink colour and paper colour to maximise the impact of a letter. In-class project includes designing a coloured modern letter.