Archives October, 2010

2010 Exhibition

2010-10-23

The Société des calligraphes de Montréal will hold an exhibition at Espace Ars Longa (2320, Mont-Royal Avenue East, Montréal), from November 5 to 14.  Come and see our members’ works; there will also be two demonstrations. Calligraphers will be on site at all times; it’s a great opportunity to meet some of our members.

INVITATION AU VOYAGE (INVITATION TO WANDER – click to download the poster)

Espace Ars Longa (2320, Mont-Royal Avenue East, Montréal)

Opening on Friday, November 5th , 2010 from 6 to 8 pm

The exhibition continues until November 14th, 2010.

Visiting hours:

Wednesday from noon to 5 pm

Thursday and Friday from 2 to 8 pm

Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 pm

Demonstrations:

Sunday, November 7th: illumination, from 2 to 4 pm

Saturday, November 13th: calligraphy, from 2 to 4 pm

Raphael Boguslav

2010-10-17

Raphael Boguslav, a famous American calligrapher, died last summer after an accident. A video that he filmed in 1987 as popped up on the internet. This video is a slide show of Mr. Boguslav in his studio and of his work, and he talks about the art of calligraphy and one specific project where he had to reproduce the handwriting of an ancient document.

Twisting and turning

2010-10-10

Books can be useful, but for some alphabets that require more pen manipulation, you really need to see how a pen twists and turns to understand. We’ve found three videos that can help with this.

World-renowned calligrapher John Stevens demonstrates how to draw Roman Capitals with a flat brush. The first two videos on the page are clear enough to see him change the angle of his brush.

Another video shows the pen turn for the Bastarda: the tricky “f” can be seen at around 1min 40sec.

And finally, a video showing you how to twist a flat brush for the thin vertical strokes and serifs of Rustic Capitals.

References – Rustic Capitals

2010-10-03

There are quite a few books on calligraphy, and the internet is full of images. But how do you find the quality material? This year we are offering a series of short articles that will point you to references our members have particularly appreciated. Our first alphabet is the Rustic Capital, which was in use approximately from the 1st to the 6th Century.

For an easy to understand version: Pott, Gottfried. Erste Hilfe und Schrift-Training mit Muster Alphabeten. Mainz: Verlag Hermann Schmidt, 2007. Pages 72-75. This book is only available in German. No ductus, but the images give you a few exercise ideas to tame this alphabet.

For another simplified version, and a few historical examples, you can consult : Harris, David. The Art of Calligraphy. London: Dorling and Kindersley, 1995. Pages 16 – 19.

Two books examine the historical aspect of Rustic Capitals in detail:

Brown, Michelle P. et Lovett, Patricia. The Historical Source Book for Scribes. London: The British Library,  1999. Pages 25, et 30 à 35.

Mediavilla, Claude. Calligraphie. Imprimerie nationale Éditions, 1993. Pages 108 à 125. An English translation, titled Calligraphy, was published in 1996.